Editting Headers to Continue Threads in Digest Replies . . . . . . . . (was Re: Quoting for Thread Breaking Digest Replies) [tlug]

[Jim <jep200404@example.com>]

Josh Glover replied to Ken, 

> But if you could dig out that References header, the
> archives would thank you. :)

Actually, if he was going to correct the headers, 
the "In-reply-to:" header line is much more important for 
continuing threads. The "References:" header lines are nice also, 
but insufficient for continuing a thread. In my own replies, 
the "In-reply-to:" header lines are already correct. All I can 
do is restore lost information to the "References:" line, 
but that is insufficient for darning a broken thread. 
I'll put that lost references in this email, but it won't 
won't help much. It'll just show up as links in the archives. 

If one could edit the headers, one replying to a digest would take 
the "Message-ID: " line from the _body_ (which seems to be readily 
available), and put it in the header of the reply, 
changing "Message-ID" to "In-reply-to". 
This is much easier than figuring out what stuff to put in the 
"References:" lines, but is still too much to expect for an 
writer to do. 

> On 24/06/07, [Ken] <burlingk@example.com> wrote:

> > If there is a "References:" line, it is not one I can get too.
> 
> Isn't there a "View message source" or "View original" option of some sort?

Although I'm ignorant of the details of Ken's email program, I also expect 
that it has a "view source" option as Josh suggests. The hard part is 
_editting_ (not viewing) the headers of the reply. I editted the header 
by saving a draft, then manually editting that saved draft with vi, 
then sending that draft. That's tedious, and relies on my email 
program's ability to save email in plain text, my ability to 
figure out where that draft file is, and my ability to understand 
the format of headers. This is too much to expect from any user, 
regardless of the email program. It's fun to do as an experiment, 
but not as a regular practice. 

Ken, you've done as much as is reasonable. Relax. 

Jim