Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!apple!amdahl!pacbell!pbhyf!rob From: rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo) Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm Subject: Re: From To: and more! Message-ID: <4449@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> Date: 28 Dec 88 14:53:59 GMT References: <1324@vsi1.COM> Reply-To: rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo) Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA Lines: 90 In article <1324@vsi1.COM> lmb@vicom.COM (Larry Blair) writes: +I don't see why the "From To:" syntax was chosen for this purpose. A +much simpler solution is to display the "To:" name whenever the "From:" +name is the user. This is the solution used by "mush". This was one of the very first enhancements implemented in the development of ELM 2. (Since enhancements were not allowed in ELM 2.1, you'll see this feature in ELM 2.2.) In fact a number of changes regarding From and To. 1. As above, instead of doing a weird From line in the saved copy of your outbound message, the copy is saved with all headers as in the outbound message, plus Bcc. For the purposes of display, ELM shows the To instead of the From when the To is the user. 2. When the To is the user, when saving a message to a file, the save-by-name option causes the logname of the From to be used in formulating the file name rather than the logname of the To. (This helps ensure that correspondence to and from and individual will be in the same save file, and is consistent with the automatic save-by-name option in the elmrc.) 3. When creating an alias for the current message, if the To is the user, the address of the From is used instead of the address of the To. This allows you to create an alias for someone, even if you only have a message you sent. It saves you having to manually formulate and enter the address. +Btw, I think you should be able to suppress the "Press return to return to +elm" at the end of viewing a piece of mail. I use "less", which provides +the marvelous ability to go backwards at the end, rather than falling out +like "more". This ends up meaning that I have to either type an extra +, or give up the ability to go backwards. I sometimes use less to, and I think this is a fantastic idea. I'll implement it in ELM 2.2. +I just started using elm, so I'm not aware of who does what here. Are +all new features "Do it yourself if you want it", or are there one or +two serious elm hackers that like to do these kinds of enhancements? Well I'd normally let our ELM coordinator answer a question like this, but since I'm here ... ELM is officially in the hands of an all-volunteer development group organized a ways back in this very news group. Syd Weinstein is the coordinator for this effort. The developers (I'd say that there are about a half a dozen ones who regularly submit changes and a dozen others who regularly call attention to bugs and offer opinions on proposed changes.) ELM 2.1 was our initial effort, largely chaotic under another coordinator. We are currently working quite organizedly on ELM 2.2. We submit patches to Syd who then changes the official ELM code, kept under version control and issues back an official patch to the developers. Syd does some checking (although he can better tell you about this), but if one developer's patch does something untoward to ELM, you can be sure that the other developers will catch it and help correct it. Development of ELM 2.2 will come to a close shortly (don't have the schedule in front of me) after that it will be tested (and only bug fixes will be accepted from the development group), and then shortly after that it will be released. I think that will be towards the middle or end of 1Q89. +If I do make the enhancements, is the a patch repository that would +be interested? The following is my opinion and I can't claim to speak for the entire development group: Let's make a distinction between 1. bug fixes (ELM doesn't do what it was intended to do) and "changes" (ELM doesn't do something that would be an obvious improvement and the change is in keeping with ELM's style and the change is not extensive or controversial.) 2. "enhancements" (A change that is either extensive, introduces a new style or feature to ELM, OR may be controversial.) (For example, your suggestion about an option to avoid the prompt and keystroke after the external pager is done fits into the #1 area, not the #2 area.) By all means call our atttention to #1, either in this group or by writing directly to Syd Weinstein . If you have a patch or even less formal description of how to fix the bug, let us have that as well. We will try to implement the bug fix in ELM 2.2. But as a change nears that of type #2, I'd rather the issue be merely brought up for discussion, again either in this group or by writing to Syd. This allows the "serious" developers who are quite familiar with (parts of) the ELM code to consider the change from an internal (code) point of view as well as from an external (user) point of view. -- Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library Email: ...![backbone]!pacbell!pbhyf!rob OR rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM Office: (415) 823-2417 Room 4E750A, San Ramon Valley Administrative Center Residence: (415) 827-4301 R Bar JB, Concord, California