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OT message issues

Aahz Maruch aahz at panix.com
Mon Jan 14 13:04:39 EST 2002 
In article <a1ugob$9t9$1 at news.tpi.pl>, kacper <hash at removethis.tlen.pl> wrote:
>
>I was reading c.l.py and by the way figuring out the base on which my
>newsreader groups messages into threads, as I need such functionality in my
>current project. I found out there are 3 methods of guessing where a message
>belongs, based on (in order of checking):
>
>- in-reply-to header
>- references header
>- message title (last resort)
>
>But some messages here make me confused (and my reader too). The message I
>am replying to sits below the main thread msg, BUT it's NOT the reply to
>that message. 

The problem is a long-standing conflict/ambiguity in RFC-822 (the e-mail
standard).  RFC-1036 (the netnews standard) requires the use of the
References: header, but RFC-822 *allows* either, neither, or both of
In-Reply-To: and References: -- more than that, the format of the
In-Reply-To: is not standardardized, although you can *usually* rely on
a properly formatted Message-ID being present.

I've suggested in the past that the Mailman news gateway needs to handle
this, but I've never had the time/energy to write up such a patch
myself.  I can probably provide design/code review assistance for anyone
who wants to tackle it.
-- 
                      --- Aahz  <*>  (Copyright 2002 by aahz at pobox.com)

Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6                 http://www.rahul.net/aahz/
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