Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bbn!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!ucbvax!CVL.UMD.EDU!sharat
From: sharat@CVL.UMD.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.mail.mh
Subject: Re: Sorting messages by Date and Subject?
Message-ID: <8808070534.AA02696@cvl.umd.edu>
Date: 7 Aug 88 05:34:10 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 49


Recently  Jeff posted the question

> Has anyone written a script to sort messages by Date and Subject?
  > Sortm(1) appears to only handle date sorts, which would be the first
  > thing to do.  However, after that, I'd like something to go thru and
  > resort the messages based on their subjects (e.g. "X", "Re: X", ...)
  > and still maintain the chronological order for each new subject.

and subsequently answered the question by providing  a
`newer' sortm.  

I really wanted something like that but the problem with
the newer version is that it cant distinguish
subject-headers which are the same but from unrelated
people.  Specifically let Nancy sent me a msg on 1-1-86
titled Hi (and I reply); If a year later Bob sends me a msg
with the same title "Hi", the newer `sortm' puts Bob's
message after Nancy's but before several messages in 1986.

One would also like a `modified lexicographic' behavior.
What I am thinking of is that if the subject heading is the
same, and within a window of dates, sortm should do the
`Jeff' sort.  A window of dates could be something like 10
days, a normal period within which people would have sent
replies.  In my example Bob's new message falls outside the
window and thus will not be considered in the `subject'
sorting.  This will also allow multiple messages to be
`sorted' (ie X, Re:X, Re:X, Re:X posted by several people
on a mailing list).  Another option would be to sort by
subject only if the sender is the same (loses above
advantage).

Thus formally, messages are sorted by subject and dates
within blocks.  Blocks are sorted strictly on date.  (X and
Re:x count as the same subject).  Block size is dependent
on user.

Makes sense?  Suggestions?  Comments?  Do I have a kludge to
get this behaviour?  (I could of course do a sortm without
the subject and the sortm with the subject flag on specific
messages; something on the lines of using pick on the dates
and then sortm on those messages --- but it gets a trifle
hairy; i.e.  I don't know how to do that!)

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