MHonArc Frequently Asked Questions


Generated 03/22/96

About the FAQ

This documents contains answers to some of the frequently asked question on MHonArc. MHonArc is a Perl program for converting e-mail messages as specified in RFC 822 and RFC 1521 (MIME) to HTML. MHonArc has the ability to maintain an archive of converted messages, or it can be used as basic e-mail->HTML converter.

The FAQ is intended to compliment the documentation provided in the MHonArc distribution. Hence, the documentation is still the key source to answers to any question you may have.

Author

Earl Hood, ehood@convex.com


General

What is MHonArc?

MHonArc is a Perl program for converting e-mail messages as specified in RFC 822 and RFC 1521 (MIME) to HTML. MHonArc has the ability to maintain an archive of converted messages, or it can be used as basic e-mail->HTML converter.

What's the latest version of MhonArc?

1.2.1.

Where can I get MHonArc?

The latest information on MHonArc, and its availability, may be obtained at <URL:http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/mhonarc.html>.

How much does MHonArc cost?

Its FREE! MHonArc is distributed under the GNU General Public License. A copy of the license is included in the distribution. Please read it for more information.

Where can I get help on MHonArc?

The first place to try is the documentation that comes with MHonArc. The documentation is quite extensive, and may provide answers to most of your questions.

Second, you can read this FAQ.

Third, a mailing list, mhonarc@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de, is available to provide a discussion forum on the usage and development of MHonArc. Appropriate topics for the list include: usage questions, bug reports, behavioral enhancements, documentation bugs, and general help.

To subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to mhonarc-request@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de with the command,

subscribe

as the message body.

If you send mail mhonarc@rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de, your message will be distributed to all subscribers on the list.

The mailing list is archived by Majordomo. You can also use the WWW to access the archive (with full text search using glimpse) at <URL:http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/mhonarc/>


Supported Platforms and Environments

What platforms can MHonArc run under?

MHonArc is known to run under Unix, MS-DOS/Windows, WinNT, and Win95.

What about Mac?

MacPerl support is in the works. Please notify the author if you are interested in testing MHonArc under MacPerl.

What version of Perl is required to run MHonArc?

MHonArc can run under Perl 4 or 5.


Supported Mail User Agents (MUAs)

What MUAs does MHonarc support?

MHonArc can convert mail that is stored in UUCP mailbox format (ie. all messages are in a single file), or in the format used by the Rand Message Handler (MH) (messages are contained in separate files within a directory). MHonArc is known to work with the following MUAs: MH, mail, Mail, Elm, Eudora, WinVN, Windows Trumpet, and NUPop.

NOTE

To support some MUA's, it may require redefining the MSGSEP resource.

Why does a message get split into mulitple messages with no headers?

If you are processing UUCP mailbox files, messages are separated by a line starting with "From " (ie. The word "From" followed by a space). Some mail software will prefix lines in message bodies with a `>' to avoid MUA's from incorrectly treating the line as a message separator. However, some mail software doesn't.

To avoid incorrect separator detection, many MUAs perform a more stricter detection of separators beyond "From ". MHonArc, by default, will treat lines starting with "From " as a message separator, which can lead to incorrect message termination if the From line has not been escaped with a `>'.

To fix the problem, use the MSGSEP resource to instruct MHonArc to use a stricter test detecting a message separator. The following MSGSEP resource setting is known to work well:

<MSGSEP>
^From \S+\s+\S+\s+\S+\s+\d+\s+\d+:\d+:\d+\s+\d+
</MSGSEP>


Threading

How does threading work?

MHonArc utilizes the References and In-Reply-To fields of mail messages for generating threads. It is up to the mail user agents (MUAs) to define these fields. The References field is normally utilized by news software, while In-Reply-To is normally utilized be e-mail software.

Why isn't threading working for me?

If the mail you archive does not contain References and In-Reply-To fields, MHonArc will not detect a thread, even though there are messages that are follow-ups to existing messages.

Why not use subjects for detecting threads?

Subject text is imperfect. Problems with subject based threading:

It is possible to use some heuristics combined with References and In-Reply-To fields, but I have not had the time to work on it.

How can I get my MUA to define the References or In-Reply-To field?

The answer varies depending on your MUA. You'll need to look at the documentation of your MUA to find the answer.

For MH users, the following in your replcomps file will work:

%<{date}In-reply-to: Your message of "\
%<(nodate{date})%{date}%|%(pretty{date})%>."%<{message-id}
             %{message-id}%>\n%>\

Or, you can use the following if you prefer the References field format:

%<{message-id}References: \
%<{references}%(void{references})%(trim)%(putstr) %>
            %(void{message-id})%(trim)%(putstr)\n%>\

Author welcomes feedback from users on how to configure other MUAs.


MIME

What is MIME?

MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME is defined by RFC 1521 and 1522. An HTML version of the RFCs are available at <URL:http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/ehood/MIME/MIME.html>.

In sum, MIME "redefines the format of message bodies to allow multi-part textual and non-textual message bodies to be represented and exchanged without loss of information." [RFC 1521]

Does MHonArc support RFC 1522?

Not yet.

How can I get MHonArc to recognize content-types it states it does not recognize?

This question can be anwsered by reading the "MIME" section of the MHonArc documentation. The solution may require registering a pre-existing filter for the given content-type, or hooking in a new filter.


Archive Operations

Can I have additional indexes beyond the default main and thread index?

Yes. In version 1.2, a resource file element was added called OTHERINDEXES. With this element, you are able to define an arbitrary number of indexes you desire. The additional indexes may be in any format you desire and that is supported by MHonArc. Refer to the documentation for the usage of OTHERINDEXES.

Can I sort messages by author?

No. Since the existance of author names is not guaranteed, or consistent, sorting messages by author would not be perfect.

Do I have to respecify the resource file each time I update an archive?

No. The archive database stores all resource settings. The only time you need to respecify the resource file is if changes are required in the layout of the archive.

NOTE

When utilizing the OTHERINDEXES resource, the resource filenames listed in the main resource file are stored in the database, but the resources for each additional index are NOT. Hence, the resource files defining the additional indexes must be accesible.

Can I move a message from one archive to another?

No. In order to achieve the same effect, you must add the original, unprocessed, message to the destination archive, then remove the appropriate HTML version of the message from the source archive.

Can I reconstruct a database from the HTML messages?

Maybe. There is currently no utility to perform this task, but is possible to write one. The utility can scan each HTML messages and extract the necessary information required to restore the database. How well the database is reconstructed is heavily dependent on how the messages are formatted.

When I have more time, I may develop a recovering utility, but do not hold your breath.


Generated 03/22/96