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From: merithew@amy9.stanford.edu (Robert Merithew)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Elm <-> MH utility?
Message-ID: <1990Oct11.065856.23565@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 11 Oct 90 06:58:56 GMT
References: <15473@reed.UUCP> <26435@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Sender: news@portia.Stanford.EDU (USENET News System)
Organization: Stanford University - AIR
Lines: 27

frechett@snoopy.Colorado.EDU (-=Runaway Daemon=-) writes:

>alias packit 'packf +\!^ -file \!$ ; cat \!$ | sed "/^A^A^A^A/g" | tee > \!$'
>
 ....
>This little alias will create a file that you can read with mail.  
>

I find that this does not work for me.  When I use elm to try to
read the resulting file, it complains that the file is corrupt.  The
only way I can get elm to recognize a file as a folder is by pasting
the first line from a valid mbox-formatted file (generated elsewhere)
into the first line of the file that your alias generates.  Such a
first line is:

From portia.stanford.edu!shelby!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!mephisto!ncsuvx!mcnc!duke!egr.duke.edu!dukee!js Mon Sep 10 18:17:00 PDT 1990

If I do not do this cut-and-paste, each message generated by your
alias starts with 'Return-Path:' etc.

What is the real definition of an mbox file?  What the heck is supposed
to delimit messages?  What can I change the ^A^A^A^A to to fool elm into
analyzing the message headers?

-Robert M.
 AIR Consulting
 Stanford University