Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think!linus!philabs!philmtl!ray
From: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: Dealing with "Followup-To:" in RN
Message-ID: <992@philmtl.philips.ca>
Date: 5 Feb 90 20:30:04 GMT
References: <1990Feb3.222514.435@athena.mit.edu>
Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd.  Product Group PC.  Montreal.
Lines: 90

In referenced article, wdstarr@athena.mit.edu (William December Starr) writes:
>...article that didn't have Followup-To lines in them, I'd wind up with
>something like
>
>	Newsgroups: ---- misc.legal ---- misc.legal
>
>which seems to indicate, against all reason, that the %F value is
>simultaneously (a) not null, (b) eyeball-visibly identical to %C and
>(c) not really identical to %C.  Rather than try to believe six
>impossible things before breakfast, I've defaulted to assuming that I
>don't really know what the heck I'm doing.  Can anybody help?

This anamoly is due to the fact that you cannot have a variable expanded in
a "pattern" field in the rn stuff.

If you are using emacs, you might like to try the following:

Define the following in your .login file:

setenv NEWSHEADER 'Newsgroups: %(%F=^$?%C:%F)\
Subject: %(%S=^$?%"\n\nSubject: ":Re: %S)\
%(%R=^$?:References: %R\n)%(%D=^$?:Distribution: %D\
)Organization: %o\n\
%(%`expr "%F" = "%n"`=1?:{warn_ray_newsgroups}%n\n)'
setenv MAILHEADER 'To: %t\nSubject: %(%i=^$?:Re: %S\
Newsgroups: %n\nIn-Reply-To: %i)\
Organization: %o\nCc: %L\n\n{posn_cursor_here_emacs}'


then define the following in your emacs .emacs_pro:

(defun
  (rn-mode ans
    ;define any pet local conditions you might want for rn replies
    (text-mode)
    (setq right-margin 76)
    (setq mode-string "rn")

    ; position cursor as instructed in header info
    (if (!(error-occurred (search-forward "{posn_cursor_here_emacs}")))
	(provide-prefix-argument 24 (delete-previous-character))
    )
    ; process any newsgroup followup warning
    (if (looking-at "{warn_ray_newsgroups}")
	(progn
	  (provide-prefix-argument 21 (delete-next-character))
 	  (kill-to-end-of-line)
	  (delete-next-character)
 	  (save-excursion
	    ; display original newsgroups on line following new Newsgroups:
	    (beginning-of-file)
	    (next-line)
	    (insert-string "Originally: ")
	    (yank-from-killbuffer)
	    (newline)(newline)
	    (beginning-of-file)
	    ; bell the user - the ^G should be replaced by a CTRL G code
	    (send-string-to-terminal "^G")
 	    ; ask if want to replace current ones
	    (setq ans
	      (get-tty-string
		(concat "Use original Newsgroups? ")))
	    (if (| (= ans "y")(= ans "Y"))
		(progn
		  ; yes - delete current, insert original
		  (search-forward ": ")
		  (yank-from-killbuffer)
		  (kill-to-end-of-line)
		)
	    )
	    ; fix-up header - remove Originally: lines
	    (next-line)(beginning-of-line)
	    (provide-prefix-argument 3 (kill-to-end-of-line))
	  )
	)
    )
  )
)
(auto-execute "rn-mode" "*.letter")
(auto-execute "rn-mode" "*.article")


This will flag clearly when there is a difference between the newsgroups and
followup-to lines of an article you are replying to, allow you to chose one
or the other, and automatically fix up the header.
-- 
Ray Dunn.                    | UUCP: ray@philmtl.philips.ca
Philips Electronics Ltd.     |       ..!{uunet|philapd|philabs}!philmtl!ray
600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd | TEL : (514) 744-8200  Ext : 2347 (Phonemail)
St Laurent. Quebec.  H4M 2S9 | FAX : (514) 744-6455  TLX : 05-824090