Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab.ge.com!sundance7!brooks
From: brooks@sundance7.dab.ge.com (Stephen Brooks)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: ELM & folder sorting question (Answer)
Message-ID: <10198@ge-dab.ge.com>
Date: 14 Jan 91 15:50:22 GMT
References: <9829@ge-dab.ge.com> <8787@uwm.edu>
Sender: news@ge-dab.ge.com
Organization: General Electric SCSD, Daytona Beach FL
Lines: 57
Nntp-Posting-Host: sundance7.dab.ge.com


  I originally asked:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|   Is there an easy way to take a mail folder and save it in the actual
| order that elm sorts it by?  In other words, I start with a folder in
| elm which has 4 messages shown in this order:
| 
|         1  Mon dy user_A   (20) message A
|         2  Mon dy user_B   (31) message B
|         3  Mon dy user_C   (15) message C
|         4  Mon dy user_D   (93) message D
| 
| Now I change the sorting criteria (via the options key), and the messages
| in the folder get displayed in a new sorted order:
| 
|         1  Mon dy user_B   (31) message B
|         2  Mon dy user_D   (93) message D
|         3  Mon dy user_C   (15) message C
|         4  Mon dy user_A   (20) message A
| 
| Now I'd like to save the messages in the above sequential order to a new
| (or the same) mail folder such that "B" was 1st in the file, "D" follows "B",
| etc. I could do it manually by saving each message one at a time to a new
| folder, but this would be tedious for larger mail folders.  Any suggestions?
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------

John G Dobnick (jgd@convex.csd.uwm.edu) replied:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| [I actually found a use for "tagged" messages. :-)]
| 
| I "tag" the messages ("t" command), and then do a "save".  Elm then
| processes the messages in the current sort order.  (And marks them as
| deleted as it progresses.)
| 
| This was _not_ obvious (to me, at least) from the documentation.
| However, that might be my fault in not reading carefully.  A little
| empirical verification (i.e., experimentation) quickly showed me
| what was happening, though.
| 
| In your case, just "tag" all the messages and do a "save" to a new folder.
| (I have no idea what happens if you save to the "current" folder.  It
| _might_ work, but I'm not brave enough to find out.  :-) )
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I also got 2 e-mail replies which said basically the same thing: tag all
the messages using control-T and enter the "space" character as the pattern
to match which should probably match just about everything (if not, then tag
those that were missed).  Then do a S)ave to a new folder.  That's all there
is to it.  Thanks Dave & Gertjan!

P.S.  Hey CSC!  Did you get my reply to your mail?  I sent it twice: 1st
time it bounced, 2nd time no bounce (yet)...?
--
%% Stephen (Steve) M. Brooks       %% brooks@ge-dab.ge.com              %%
%% GE Simulation & Control Systems %% ...!uunet!ge-dab.ge.com!brooks    %%
%% P.O. Box 2825, Rm. 1370         %% ...!uunet!sunny.dab.ge.com!brooks %%
%% Daytona Beach, FL  32115-2825   %% voice: (904) 239-4855             %%