[comp.mail.mh] replies

goog@a.cs.okstate.edu (GOOG ??) (06/21/88)

I was just wondering if there was some way to get one of those neat little
'>' signs at the beginning of the line of a message that you reply to.

Presently all I get is two spaces...


Steve Koinm                Internet:  goog@a.cs.okstate.edu  
124 S. Duncan                         steve@nemo.math.okstate.edu 
Stillwater, OK  74078      UUCP: rutgers!okstate!goog 
Department of Mathematics  Oklahoma State University
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always keep a record of your data.  It shows you've been working.

bd@hpsemc.HP.COM (bob desinger) (06/23/88)

GOOG ?? (goog@a.cs.okstate.edu) writes:
> I was just wondering if there was some way to get one of those neat little
> '>' signs at the beginning of the line of a message that you reply to.

With this set up below, I just type `reply' (instead of `repl') and it
puts me in the editor with the old message all bracketed nicely.

1.  Make a symbolic link from `repl' to `reply'.

	cd /usr/local/bin/mh	# or wherever you keep your MH programs
	ln -s repl reply

If you don't have symbolic links, use a hard link:

	ln repl reply

2.  Now add the line to your .mh_profile:

	reply: -nocc me -anno -inplace -filter mhl.reply -editor vi

I actually use an editor setting of `emacs', but if you were using
Gnu Emacs like me you wouldn't be asking this question.  (I don't
use `reply' per se any more; Gnu Emacs has one built in.)

3.  In your MH Path directory (probably $HOME/Mail), put this file
there and call it "mhl.reply".  Remember to strip off the leading tab.
It too is just one line:

	body:component="> ",offset=0,compwidth=0

I think John Romine came up with this a long time ago.

-- bd

mmorse@NOTE.NSF.GOV (Michael Morse) (06/23/88)

> I was just wondering if there was some way to get one of those neat little
> '>' signs at the beginning of the line of a message that you reply to.

> Presently all I get is two spaces...


Use:   repl -filter filterfile

Where filterfile contains the following:

compwidth=0
:
body:component="> "


This works with the following options:

version: MH 6.5 #51[UCI] (note.nsf.gov) of Sat Aug 15 15:46:24 EDT 1987
options: [BSD42] [BERK] [TTYD] [DUMB] [MHE] [NETWORK] [BIND] [RPATHS]
         [SBACKUP='"#"'] [MMDFMTS] [MMDFII] [POP]

I hope this helps.

--Mike

goog@a.cs.okstate.EDU (GOOG ??) (06/24/88)

> 
> > I was just wondering if there was some way to get one of those neat little
> > '>' signs at the beginning of the line of a message that you reply to.

> > Presently all I get is two spaces...


> Use:   repl -filter filterfile

> Where filterfile contains the following:

> compwidth=0
> :
> body:component="> "


> This works with the following options:

> version: MH 6.5 #51[UCI] (note.nsf.gov) of Sat Aug 15 15:46:24 EDT 1987
> options: [BSD42] [BERK] [TTYD] [DUMB] [MHE] [NETWORK] [BIND] [RPATHS]
>          [SBACKUP='"#"'] [MMDFMTS> ] [MMDFII] [POP]

> I hope this helps.

> --Mike


well...golly gee it works...now...another question while i seem to have found
someone who knows how to do these things...
how do i get it to appear on the lines with nothing on them...so that there
is a solid body of >'s down the lefthand side of the page?

thanx much...


Steve Koinm                Internet:  goog@a.cs.okstate.edu  
124 S. Duncan                         steve@nemo.math.okstate.edu 
Stillwater, OK  74078      UUCP: rutgers!okstate!goog 
Department of Mathematics  Oklahoma State University
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beware of a tall dark man with a spoon up his nose.

As soon as Eve ate the apple, she reached for a fig leaf: when a woman begins to think, her first thought is of a new dress.

jamesp@dadla.la.tek.COM ("James T. Perkins") (06/24/88)

> Use:   repl -filter filterfile

> Where filterfile contains the following:

> compwidth=0
> :
> body:component="> "

> This works with the following options:

> version: MH 6.5 #51[UCI] (note.nsf.gov) of Sat Aug 15 15:46:24 EDT 1987
> options: [BSD42] [BERK] [TTYD] [DUMB] [MHE] [NETWORK] [BIND] [RPATHS]
>          [SBACKUP='"#"'] [MMDFMTS] [MMDFII] [POP]

But it doesn't work with MH5, which my employer is still running.  So, I
do it this roundabout way (note that I do not use mhl anywhere), in my
.mh_profile:

mhlproc: /usr1/jamesp/sbin/replfilter
repl: -filter /dev/null

And my /usr1/jamesp/sbin/replfilter program looks like this:

# 
# Read a mail message on stdin, and echo the body only with all lines
# preceded by "> "
#

sed -e '1,/^$/d' -e 's/^/> /' $@

Hope this helps!

 _	___
| |    / _ \   James T. Perkins, jamesp@dadla.la.tek.com, (503)629-1149
| |__ | |_| |  Tektronix Logic Analyzers, DAS System Software, Disk Services
|____||_| |_|  MS 92-725, PO Box 4600, Beaverton OR 97075

This package is sold by weight, not by volume.  Some settling of contents may
have occurred during shipping and handling.

bd@hpsemc.HP.COM (bob desinger) (06/24/88)

> 1.  Make a symbolic link from `repl' to `reply'.
< [and so forth.]

Oh yes, this nonsense about using repl vs. reply is so that you can
get the old (quick) behavior by typing `repl' and also get the new
angle-bracket-with-editor behavior by typing `reply'.

-- bd

P.S.	I don't know of any way to get the angle brackets on empty
	lines without going through sed or awk.  There are a couple
	of solutions to this problem shipped with mh-6.5 somewhere, I
	think; look down the miscellany/ subdirectory.  Most people
	prefer having no brokets on empty lines because it gives them
	a chance to inject their own comments closer to the part that
	made them want to comment.
	

jwalsh@bbn.com (Jamie Walsh) (06/24/88)

In article <8806231658.aa14871@ICS.UCI.EDU> goog@a.cs.okstate.EDU (GOOG ??) writes:
>well...golly gee it works...now...another question while i seem to have found
>someone who knows how to do these things...
>how do i get it to appear on the lines with nothing on them...so that there
>is a solid body of >'s down the lefthand side of the page?

Easy, DELETE the empty lines (and while you're at it, the previous
signature and other portions not relevant to your reply),what do you need
to quote empty space for?  If you really need a blank space here and there
for readability, it's not difficult to edit a ">" in.

-- jamie (jwalsh at cc6.bbn.com)
"There's a seeker born every minute."

allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon S. Allbery) (07/03/88)

As quoted from <26220@bbn.COM> by jwalsh@bbn.com (Jamie Walsh):
+---------------
| In article <8806231658.aa14871@ICS.UCI.EDU> goog@a.cs.okstate.EDU (GOOG ??) writes:
| >how do i get it to appear on the lines with nothing on them...so that there
| >is a solid body of >'s down the lefthand side of the page?
| 
| Easy, DELETE the empty lines (and while you're at it, the previous
+---------------

Bah, humbug.  Try this on for size:

body:component="> ",compwidth=0,formatfield="%<(null)> %|%(putstr)%>"
		^				     ^

To use a different insert character (I use "|") change the characters
pointed to by the carets (^).  (I don't know if the "compwidth=0" is
necessary, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" -- it took me 3 years to
figure out the incantation above, I'm not going to risk losing it!)
-- 
Brandon S. Allbery, uunet!marque!ncoast!allbery			DELPHI: ALLBERY
	    For comp.sources.misc send mail to ncoast!sources-misc