List of xmail 1.3 bugs and fixes

Michael C. Wagnitz michael at berlioz.nsc.com
Thu Jun 20 08:45:12 AEST 1991


   The following is a list of known bugs and problems with version 1.3 xmail.
Each of these will be addressed in the next patchlevel (4) to be released in
a few more days (I'm awaiting some assistance with HP portability issues %^).

Imakefile	- Removed the support for NO_WAIT3 as unnecessary.

Mailwatch.c	- The mailhost variable is incorrectly referenced in a test for
		  a NULL value.

		  Added the definition for MAXHOSTNAMELEN if it is not defined.

callMail.c	- SYSV ioctl calls incorrectly reference an undefined variable
		  "tty", which should be "slave".

		  Some systems do not like the test for return value from the
		  ioctl calls.  The test(s) will be eliminated.

		  Removed the duplicate inclusion of the <sgtty.h> file.

actions.c	- Change access to the "command_pattern" and "output_pattern"
		  variables, in keeping with the correction of the global
		  definitions of same.

		  I find that I was mislead in my beliefs that the pipe (|)
		  command was universal in Berkeley mail.  Instead, it is
		  a unique feature of Sun's version of mail.  This makes the
		  current (1.3) method of printing messages on the printer
		  unusable for all but Sun mail users.  A change will be
		  implemented that supports all Berkeley mail users.

callbacks.c	- Change the access to "command_pattern" and "output_pattern"
		  variables, in keeping with the correction of the global
		  definitions of same.

		  Changed the way I handled fork failures, now reporting the
		  cause of the failure, and attempting to save an undelivered
		  message in the user's dead.letter file.

		  I also find that the "~[a|A]" commands are only available
		  in Sun's version of mail, making the [A|a]utograph buttons
		  useless to all but Sun mail users.  I will add a function to
		  use a .signature file, if no signature can be found in the
		  user's .mailrc file and a .signature file exists in their
		  home directory.

		  Replaced the wait3() call with wait() when terminating xmail.

		  Removed the duplicate inclusion of the <sys/time.h> file.

environs.c	- In building the aliases list, I did not take into account the
		  fact that GetMailrc() returns a NULL if no aliases were
		  defined.

handler.c	- Fixed a bug which caused non-expert users with deleted
		  messages in a folder to have to complete a Confirmation
		  response when terminating xmail from the iconic position.
		  (The question was moot, as being iconic made it already
		  too late to ask for confirmation of the deletes.)

mail.c		- Changed the way in which I control the message composition.
		  The current (1.3) method is horribly wasteful of cpu cycles,
		  and doesn't allow the user to continue reading other mail
		  messages until after the editing session concludes.  The new
		  method ensures only one message composition at a time occurs,
		  and allows immediate continuation of other xmail functions.

		  Eliminated the call to wait3().  It is no longer needed.

		  Eliminated the full path xterm specification in the default
		  edit command.  This because some users choose to install X11
		  in a non-standard (/usr/bin/X11) location.

		  Changed the way I handled fork failures, now reporting the
		  cause of the failure when trying to start an edit session.

regex.c		- Changed all occurances of alloca to malloc, for those system
		  environments that do not include alloca functionality.  This
		  has the added side effect of reducing the image size.

xmailregex.h	- Changed the global definitions for command_pattern and
		  output_pattern to be consistent throughout.

I'd like to thank all of the users who have responded so far to the current
version of xmail.  If there are any additional bugs which have not been
mentioned here, please forward your particulars to me as soon as possible,
as I would like to try and get the new patch out within the next two weeks.
--
Michael C. Wagnitz    M/S D3-677      Domain: michael at berlioz.nsc.com
National Semiconductor Corporation     Phone: 408/721-3266
2900 Semiconductor Drive   Santa Clara, CA    95052-8090
UUCP: {apple|decwrl|hplabs|sun}!nsc!berlioz.nsc.com!michael



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