Thread Index Customization

The thread index compliments the main index. If a thread index is created, each message in the archive will contain an extra link to the thread index.


Filename

By default, the filename of the index page is "threads.html". However, a different name may be specified with the M2H_TIDXFNAME environment variable, the TIDXFNAME resource element, or the -tidxfname command-line option.


Title

The title of the index page is controlled by the M2H_TTITLE environment variable, the TTITLE resource element, or the -ttitle command-line option. The text for the title is placed in the HTML TITLE element of the index page, and the text also occurs at the very top of the body in a H1 element.


Listing Layout

For the thread index MHonArc lists the threads in chronological order. The thread with the oldest initital messsage is listed first, and the thread with the newest initital message is listed last. The TREVERSE resource may be set to have the thread listing from newest thread to oldest thread.

HTML markup can be added to the thread index page by defining the THEAD and TFOOT Resource File elements. Usage of THEAD and TFOOT is discussed later in this section.

MHonArc uses HTML unorder lists for formatting the thread index list. Nested list markup is used to show the threads. Since threads can become very large, the TLEVELS resource can be used to limit the number of nested lists allowed. The default nesting level is 3.

Customization over the thread index list format is more restrictive than the main index. All thread index entries are contained in the HTML LI element, which is contained in an UL element. The entry text itself can be customized via the TLITXT Resource File element. Usage of TLITXT is discussed later in this section.

THEAD

The THEAD resource element specifies text to be inserted before the thread index listing. The text can be any valid HTML markup. Plus, MHonArc defines the following variables you may use which get expanded at run-time:

$CURDATE$
The current date and time.
$DOCURL$
The URL to MHonArc documentation.
$GMTDATE$
The current UTC/GMT date and time.
$IDXFNAME$
The filename of the main index page.
$IDXTITLE$
The title of the main index page.
$LOCALDATE$
The current local date and time.
$NUMOFMSG$
The number of messages in the archive.
$PROG$
Name of program.
$VERSION$
Version number of program.
MHonArc's THEAD default value is the following:

<THEAD>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="$IDXFNAME$">Main Index</A></LI>
</UL>
<HR>
</THEAD>

TLITXT

The TLITXT specifies the markup to use for each entry in the thread index. Only markup that is legal within the HTML LI element should be used. When you define the contents for the TLITXT resource element, you may use the following variables defined by MHonArc (see Resource Variables on the usage of variables):

$A_ATTR$
The NAME and HREF attributes to use in an anchor to link to the archived message. The NAME attribute links the messages to the index page.
$A_HREF$
The HREF attribute to use in an anchor to link to the archived message.
$A_NAME$
The NAME attributes to use in an anchor for messages to link to the index page.
$DATE$
The date of the message.
$ICON$
The context-type sensistive icon. See Icons for information.
$ICONURL$
The URL to the context-type sensistive icon. See Icons for information.
$NUMFOLUP$
Number of follow-ups for the given message.
$FROM$
The complete text in the From: field of the message.
$FROMADDR$
The e-mail address in the From: field of the message.
$FROMNAME$
The English name of the person in the From: field of the message. If no English name is found, the username specified in the e-mail address is used.
$MSGNUM$
The message number assigned to the message by MHonArc.
$ORDNUM$
The current listing number of the message.
$SUBJECT$
The subject text of the message wrapped in an anchor element that hyperlinks to the message.
$SUBJECTNA$
The subject text of the message without the anchor element.
NOTE:
Do not specify $A_ATTR$, $A_NAME, and $SUBJECT$ together in the TLITXT element. Since all of these variables contain the NAME atrribute. Invalid HTML will be created since multiple anchors will have the same NAME identifier.
TLITXT's default value is the following:

<TLITXT>
($NUMFOLUP$) <STRONG>$SUBJECT:40$</STRONG>, <EM>$FROMNAME$</EM>
</TLITXT>

TFOOT

The TFOOT resource element specifies the text to use after the end the thread index list. The text can be any valid HTML markup. TFOOT may contain the same variables as THEAD.

TFOOT's default value is nil.


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MHonArc 1.1.0 -- Thread Index Customization