Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cbmvax!vu-vlsi!devon!paul
From: paul@devon.LNS.PA.US (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Some possible fixes for the references line
Summary: But what about changes in Subject:
Message-ID: <1717@devon.LNS.PA.US>
Date: 15 May 89 14:07:09 GMT
References: <3222@looking.UUCP> <3243@looking.UUCP> <283@xdos.UUCP> <3248@looking.UUCP>
Reply-To: paul@devon.LNS.PA.US (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
Organization: Devon Computer Services, Lancaster, PA
Lines: 33

In article <3248@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:
+---------
| Another idea that I think might be valuable is to put in a placeholder
| message-id when you delete some.  So if you have
| 	<1@a> <2@b> <3@c> ....  <26@z>
| you might turn it into
| 	<1@a> <D> <26@z>
| 
| or somesuch, at the minimum.  Again, you should try to preserve sub-roots
| wherever possible.  This lets back-following software know that items have
| been deleted, and it should try other methods (like the history database)
| to go backwards.
+---------

Of course, all of Brad's ideas assume that child articles always refer
back to the original parent (e.g. <1@a> above).  Many times I've seen
(and started) followups that change the subject thread.  In my own
case, I edit the References: header to only show article id's that I
know my response is referencing (isn't that what References: is for?).

Which is my point:  I also edit the Subject: header when I do this,
though most people don't.  If you can't get people to properly edit the
Subject: header (when the discussion thread changes), how are you going
to get them to correctly handle the References: one?

The Notes software package has "base-notes" from which the responses
(followups) are "attached."  How is that done, and could the same (or a
similar) method be incorporated into B-news 2.11, 3.0 or C-news?

- paul
-- 
INTERNET:  paul@devon.LNS.PA.US		|   How many whales do you have to
UUCP:	   ...!rutgers!devon!paul	|	save to get a toaster?