[Tutor] Email list functions

[dman]

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On Wed, May 15, 2002 at 12:12:51AM -0400, kirk Bailey wrote:
| OK, thinking about lists, and 2 new functions, digests and archives.
|=20
| Archives are pretty simple. IF a file exists, ( such as
| '(listname).archive') we append a copy of the complete assembled
| message to it IN THAT FILE. So much for building the archive.

<grin>

Archives are only simple if all you want is a mail folder containing
all the messages.

| We also create an alias; '(listname)-archive'. Anyone wishing to
| examine it sends a email to it. We have an autoreply program sitting
| in the alias pointed at the archive program; said archive is the reply
| to the request.

Looks like that's what you want, but that's an unusual way to browse
archives. =20

The fun part about "regular" archives is decoding the email message,
figuring out which messages it relates to (threads), and then
re-encoding it into an HTML page that is actually usable by the users.
There are many different archives out there, and some of them just
plain suck, and others are quite easy to use and follow threads and
search for information you need.  Some of them do bad things like
_not_ decode quoted-printable messages.  Real fun to read =3Dp.
=20
| As for digests, this is still under the microscope, but it's not too
| hard at all. Just how important do y'all feel this sort of thig is to
| add to TL?

If you really have the time and ambition to re-invent the wheel while
attending the School of Hard Knocks, go ahead.  Otherwise I recommend
taking a look at mailman.  It can do the job for you if you just want
to be an admin.  If you want to learn, why not see what pitfalls
others have already fallen in and see how they climbed out?  If you
find something new you can help build up and improve an already-mature
and well-known product.  The more people who work on a project the
more likely subtle issues will be noticed and corrected.  This is just
my aversion to recreating complex software from scratch and
effectively wasting resources.

-D

--=20

If you hold to [Jesus'] teaching, you are really [Jesus'] disciples.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
        John 8:31-32
=20
GnuPG key : http://dman.ddts.net/~dman/public_key.gpg


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