> What *are* the various formats ? I downloaded several QWQ/ SOUP
> packages just to know about that, but couldn't find *any* information
> about that for their part there - typically. I didn't unpack a Pegasus
> package yet but I suspect it's likewise. With n-teen different
> mail(file/folder) programs around, first thing to do would be to make
> such basic things more transparent.
This ``Tower of Babel'' problem is confusing. Mail or message formats
vary on several dimensions. One is number and types of files per message.
Often the number and types of files per message are different for incoming
and outgoing messages. Eudora uses 2 files per message file: one file
contains the actually messages, another ``toc'' file contains the index of
header information for the first file's messages. Other mailers have 2 files
for each message: one file with the message body the other with its header.
Still other programs put a series of messages with bodies and headers all
in one file.
Then there is the format of the header for a message, which again can
vary for incoming and outgoing messages. Pegasus, for instance uses
a header like this:
$$From somebody
T somebody@somewhere
C [EMAIL PROTECTED]
B [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: somebody@somewhere
From: somebody
Cc [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bcc [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In other words it uses a 2 part header with the characters $$ signaling
the start of the whole message, a specification of who the message is to
and from in its own format, a blank line, followed by the same information
in a more regular format.
Soup headers and their relatives like Yarn distinguish themselves by the
way theysignal the start of messages: A four byte number signals the start of a message
where the number stands for the exact number of bytes in the message, but
the number is written in base 8 arithmetic, instead of the base 10 we
are used to. This makes Soup files a funny combination of binary data and
text, quite sensitive to any form of file corruption which would change the
byte count of messages.
The number of formats for mail and news is so diverse and large that
the phrase ``bloatware'' again comes to mind. It is sad that more
uniform standards have not emerged. As you say, these packages often do
not have a clear appendix on message formats, but assume you have read some
RFC-nnn document or other. Often I have to configure a whole package to
the point where I can write and save a mail message -- just to find out
what format it writes messages in.
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