Subject: question

From: Ed Lee <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 08:23:23 -0700 (PDT)

Hi, I was wondering if it's possible on version 3.93 of Pine to sort
incoming mail as it comes in.  For example, if I get a message from
[email-masked], the message will go to the "joe" folder.  Then if another
message comes in from [email-masked], that message will go to the "happy"
folder...  Thanks!

-Ed Lee

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From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 16:52:56 +0100 (BST)

No... Pine (and all other mail reading programs) ar for reading mail AFTER
it has been delivered.

To intercept and redirect incoming mail you need to get in at the point at
which it is being delivered (which is nothing to do with Pine).

Some systems provide a utility such as "procmail" or "filter" to do this.
Try asking your local help desk if such software is available on your
computers and, if it is, how it is used.

Cheers,

Mike Brudenell                                         <[email-masked]>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Computing Service, University of York, Heslington, York, YO1 5DD, UK
Tel: +44-1904-433811  FAX: +44-1904-433740  http://www.york.ac.uk/~pmb1/

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From: Shawn McMahon <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 09:10:30 -0500

> which it is being delivered (which is nothing to do with Pine).

Many mail readers in other settings (such as QWK readers in the BBS
world) have the capability of being set to ignore messages from folks
you don't like, or on subjects you don't like.

I find it difficult to believe that a program that is capable of reading
and deleting messages can't be modified to do so automagically based on
rules.

The code to do so isn't difficult; integrating it with the existing code
is more difficult, but probably not much more.

  Shawn McMahon          | Smokesignals Computer Company
  Senior System Operator | Southern Oklahoma's Internet Service Provider
  Chickasaw Nation Net   | 405 332-0033   http://www.chickasaw.com

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From: Ed Greshko <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 00:30:16 +0800 (GMT)

> is more difficult, but probably not much more.

	The model that pine follows is that the filter process should
be done a delivery time.  This way the messages you won't want to
see at all will not be placed in your mailbox.  If it is done by
the UA (pine) it must travel from your mailbox to the UA.  In the
case of a UA which is running on a PC with access to the mailbox
over a modem connection this can undesirable.

	So, you are right, pine could do it if they added the code.
However, the current model was choosen as having more benifits.

	Regards,

		Ed

Edward M. Greshko                       Technical Manager, Electronic Commerce
                                        Control Data Asia/Pacific Region
Voice: +886-2-715-2222 x287             6/F, 131 Nanking East Road, Section 3
FAX  : +886-2-712-9197                  Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C

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From: Shawn McMahon <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 11:36:49 -0500 (CDT)

> However, the current model was choosen as having more benifits.

I don't mean to imply that the Pine development team doesn't have good
and sufficient reasons to follow the model they do; I was merely
addressing the other fellow's assertion that it couldn't be done.

Thanks for the extra info.

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From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 18:12:05 +0100 (BST)

What I was referring to was (if memory serves) the original question about
*redirecting* incoming messages into separate folders.  For example,
Pine-Info mailing list messages are placed into a "pine-info" folder ready
for reading rather than be ing left in the INBOX along with everything
else.

(If I misread the original question, my apologies!)

Your description is for a "kill-file" like behaviour for reading messages
in a folder AFTER delivery (which is quite different from redirecting
arriving messages into folders other than the INBOX).

Pine does indeed provide commands to do this (Select, Apply and Zoom), but
admittedly can't be set up to *automatically* perform a sequence of these
when a folder is opened.  (Probably a good thing, otherwise the hidden
messages would probably be left sitting there ad infinitum:-)

Cheers,

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From: Shawn McMahon <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:41:19 -0500 (CDT)

> messages would probably be left sitting there ad infinitum:-)

What would be neat is if it could automagically delete them.  Of course,
this is code that would need extensive debugging before it went out the
door.  :-)

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From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 10:08:47 +0100 (BST)

It certainly would!  (It's quite different for kill-files for Usenet News
because there the offending articles are merely "hidden" rather than
permanently deleted, so it is possible for you to "get them back" if need
be.)

Personally I think extending this to a feature within a mail reader would
be putting a worryingly powerful facility into the hands of potentially
naive users.  I think sticking with a delivery filter such as procmail to
redirect/return/trash messages may be better, as these tend to be only
used by the more advanced user.

Cheers,