[Mailman-Users] Threading for integration with message board

[Brad Knowles]

At 7:56 AM -0500 10/5/06, Robert Hsiung wrote:

>>  That would require potentially re-parsing and modifying every
>>  single message in the archive, every time a new message comes
>>  into the list.
>
>  Why would it imply that? The message comes in, you determine
>  which thread it belongs to, and all you have to do is (1) go
>  back in that thread until you reach the point where it belongs,

Right, but a new message can come into a thread at any time in the 
future, potentially years in the future.  You'll have to change the 
"next" and "previous" links in the affected pre-generated HTML files 
(for each of the different types of sorting, including date, thread, 
and subject), plus the associated indexes.

And then all links which people have put into their messages will 
break, if the archives ever have to be re-generated.

>  which would just involve re-parsing those messages, and (2)
>  insert it there, which would involve linking the previous
>  message to it and linking it to the next message, or
>  modifying two messages.

Take a look at the code.  Understand what it actually does.  This 
process is not nearly so straightforward as you think.


Yes, in theory everything is trivially simple.  I mean, Jamie's 
algorithm has a pretty short description, right?

In practice, things get a lot thornier.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

  Founding Individual Sponsor of LOPSA.  See <http://www.lopsa.org/>.