Appendix: Bugs

Reporting Bugs

To report a bug against MHonArc, send mail to mhonarc@ncsa.uiuc.edu and please include the following information:

Version of Perl (can be retrievied by "perl -v").
Version of the program (can be retrievied by "mhonarc -v").
The operating system you are using (on Unix the output of "uname -a" is useful).
The exact command-line used to invoke the program.
Error/diagnostic messages from the program.
Any other information that might prove useful (eg. input files, resource files, environment settings, etc).

If possible, avoid sending a huge mail message. Try to make the bug reproducable with the smallest amount of data that is possible. If this is difficult, then either provide URLs to any data needed to reproduce the bug, or state that data can be provided via private mail to any persons concerned.

Note, some bug reports are not actual bugs, but usage errors. Make sure you have checked the problem against the documentation and FAQ before sending a report. Also, check the bug list in the documentation to see if the bug has already been reported (and maybe fixed). You may need to go the MHonArc home page to check the bug list in case you are not using the latest version of MHonArc.

Bug List

The following gives a list of bugs reported against MHonArc. Each bug listing shows the version the bug was reported against (the bug may be applicable to earlier versions), a description of the problem, and if applicable, a solution and version of MHonArc the bug was fixed.


Version	2.3.0-2.3.2
Problem	-otherindex and -perlinc command-line options do not work. Using them has no affect.
Solution	Subtle precedence issue in Perl variable operations; problem fixed.
Fixed	2.3.3

Version	2.3.0-2.3.2
Problem	Resource variable expansion not working properly in MAILTOURL resource.
Solution	Certain variables in read_mail_header() where put in my() declarations when they should stay as local()'s. Changed back.
Fixed	2.3.3

Version	2.3.0-2.3.2
Problem	Next/previous message link resource variables are reversed when REVERSE is on.
Solution	REVERSE check was left out in new v2.3 replace_li_var(). Check added in.
Fixed	2.3.3

Version	2.3.0, 2.3.1
Problem	Some resource variables (eg $SUBJECTNA$) expand to blank values when using -single.
Solution	SINGLE mode sets @MListOrder and %Index2MLoc to support the new way in v2.3 replace_li_var() resolves resource variables.
Fixed	2.3.2

Version	2.3.1 (maybe earlier versions also)
Problem	MHonArc does not handle message range specification with leading zeros in numbers in -rmm mode.
Solution	int() is used within Perl's range operator to force the stripping of leading zeros.
Fixed	2.3.2

Version	2.3.0
Problem	Attachments of the same type get written to the same filename.
Solution	Another my/local gotcha. Note, writing attachments has been redone so other filters besided mhexternal.pl can write data to files.
Fixed	2.3.1

Version	2.0.0 - 2.2.0
Problem	A bogus TCONTBEGIN may get printed at the beginning of a thread index page. Most common when TREVERSE specified.
Solution	@TListOrder now serves as the basis for list iteration when printing a thread index page instead of the list returned by t_sort_messages(). Note, old method may cause other minor errors in thread index page generation.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.2.0, 2.3.0 beta
Problem	Duplicate index list entries are generating for threads indexes generated via OTHERINDEXES with TREVERSE active.
Solution	All key data structures are now reset when recomputing threads.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.2.0, 2.3.0 beta
Problem	Threads are not listed in reverse order when THREAD and TREVERSE are set for an OTHERINDEXES resource file.
Solution	Thread data structures are now reset before each OTHERINDEXES index. If an OTHERINDEXES resource file specified THREAD, than threads will be recomputed for the given index defined by resource file.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.3.0 beta
Problem	Mail addresses in message headers are not getting converted to mailto links.
Solution	MHonArc still uses typeglobs for passing data around by "reference" (left-over from Perl 4 days). One of the variables in the message header formatting routine was changed back to a local() variable to supporting passing it via a typeglob sub-routines.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.3.0 beta
Problem	Cannot copy file error occurs during installation when copy documentation to destination location.
Solution	Updated install.cfg to reflect file changes to documentation.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.3.0 beta
Problem	Author index generated via the OTHERINDEXES resource does not list messages in proper order. Other main indexes generated via OTHERINDEXES may suffer the same problem.
Solution	The write_main_index() did not reset %Index2MLoc properly, affecting resource variable resolution. If @MListOrder is recomputed, %Index2MLoc will be redefined.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.3.0 beta
Problem	PG(PREV) and PG(TPREV) did not resolve to IDXFNAME and TIDXFNAME, respectively. They resolved to (T)IDXPREFIX with the page number 1.
Solution	Simple fix to page number check.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.2.0, 2.3.0 beta
Problem	Messages grouped under wrong date in date-based index.
Solution	The problem is related to a descrepency of GMT time and local time, and what time format is being used in the DAYBEGIN resource. The resource USINGLOCALTIME has been added to give the choice betweem GMT or local time for determining day groups.
Fixed	2.3.0

Version	2.2.0
Problem	Get "times not implemented at mhamain.pl line 74" error on Win32 systems.
Solution	Call to times is put in an eval block.
Fixed	2.3.0 alpha

Version	2.2.0
Problem	When a message that gets automatically deleted via MAXSIZE or the message expiration, related message sometimes do not get update -- causing messages to have links to non-existent messages. Problem manifiest when main sort option is not by date.
Solution	Automatic message deletion now properly marks related message by specified main sort option.
Fixed	2.3.0 alpha

Version	2.1.2
Problem	The @TListOrder array is empty in .mhonarc.db when MULTIPG is set. This may cause some messages not getting properly updated when new messages are added.
Solution	Removed use of splice on @TListOrder when MULTIPG. Now, array slices are used so @TListOrder is preserved.
Fixed	2.2.0

Version	2.1.2
Problem	Convert ISO-2022-JP messages can generate "Out of Memory" errors.
Solution	The cleanup of mhtxtplain.pl's iso-2022-jp code introduced a bug that caused an infinite loop and to gobble memory until it ran out. The fix was straight-forward.
Fixed	2.2.0

Version	2.1.2
Problem	Quoted text that is broken due to maxwidth setting of the mhtxtplain.pl filter did not have the quote character prepended to broken the text.
Solution	A regex updated to dealing with a leading space before quote character.
Fixed	2.2.0

Version	2.1.1
Problem	Documentation of MAILTOURL incorrectly states that the $TO$ resource variable is the value of the To: message header field.
Solution	Fixed documentation to state that $TO$ represents the address being hyperlinked.
Fixed	2.1.2

Version	2.1.1
Problem	Attachments saved to files with spaces in filename (due to "usename" option set to m2h_external::filter), will cause anchors to the attachments in the HTML message contain spaces.
Solution	Fixed m2h_external::filter to escape special characters in the URL linking to the external file.
Fixed	2.1.2

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Message with dates after 2037, or before 1970, will hang MHonArc, not get processed, or listed in wrong order.
Solution	The problem is that Perl's timelocal.pl library cannot handle dates out of those ranges (same applies to Time::Local). Since get_time_from_date() is the only routine require the services of timelocal.pl, the routine will generate a warning of bad years and use the current year.
Fixed	2.1.1 (Work-around)

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Anchors to attachments in a message converted via SINGLE do not contain OUTDIR if OUTDIR is specified. OUTDIR may want to be set to all attachments to be contained in a separate directory from the converted message.
Solution	mhexternal.pl now checks $SINGLE variable set by the main code during startup. If set, the value of $OUTDIR is prepending to any hrefs to external files.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	February is misspelled "Febuary" in mhtime.pl.
Solution	Change the spelling so its correct.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Lowercase timezones in dates are not recognized.
Solution	Code modified to convert zones to uppercase when performing hash lookups.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Specified filenames of attachments sometimes have a ';' appended when utilizing the "usename" option is set for mhexternal.pl.
Solution	Fixed MAILhead_get_disposition() in readmail.pl to strip off ';' parameter separator.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Specified filenames with spaces of attachments are not recognized properly. Filename gets truncated to first occurance of a space.
Solution	Fixed MAILhead_get_disposition() in readmail.pl to to handle filenames with spaces.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	The HTMLEXT resource does not affect the numbered index page filenames of a MUTLIPG archive.
Solution	write_main_index() and write_thread_index() fixed.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Anchor text of MAILTOURL links is translated to URL escaped text.
Solution	mailUrl() routine fixed.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Message 0 could not be deleted if specified with more than one 0 (eg: 00000);
Solution	rmm() routine fixed.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	SUBJECTHEADER does not get stored in the db.
Solution	output_db() routine updated to save SUBJECTHEADER.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Empty links can be created if there is no "From" defined for a message and it is used as link text.
Solution	Use 'No Author' as "From" if not defined.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	If a user defined resource variable is a string that Perl interprets as a false value, it will not be used.
Solution	Changed code to used define() function in replace_li_vars().
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.1.0
Problem	Expired messages are not removed when a the main index is not sorted by date.
Solution	Always sort message by date when doing expire check.
Fixed	2.1.1

Version	2.0.1
Problem	An undefined subroutine error occured during an RMM operation when there are messages with non-ASCII encodings in message headers.
Solution	Proper libraries are now loaded for RMM operations.
Fixed	2.1.0

Version	2.0.1
Problem	Subjects using the "... -Reply" convention started a new thread.
Solution	Fixed typo in regexp.
Fixed	2.1.0

Version	2.0.1
Problem	Nested anchor markup occurs on index pages when a message's subject contains a URL and the subject is used to link to the message page.
Solution	Replaced default routine that converts subject text to HTML to a routine that does not hyperlink URLs.
Fixed	2.1.0

Version	2.0.0
Problem	Bogus empty entry shows up in the database. Bogus entry appears if a duplicate message is detected. Potential visible problems of bogus entry are: mailto links in headers corrupted; a blank listing in the index. Maybe other potential problems.
Solution	There is a bug in some versions of Perl where a hash key gets added invalidly. The section of code that this occurs has been modified to avoid the problem. For existing databases with a bogus empty entry, MHonArc now removes any empty key entries. However, it is recommed to rebuild the archive.
Fixed	2.0.1

Version	2.0.0
Problem	Index pages are not properly updated if zero messages are in the archive (like through the -rmm option). Even -editidx cannot cause a proper update.
Solution	Page count was set to zero when no messages exist. This caused problems in conditional checks in the write index routines. To fix, page count is forced to 1 if their are no messages.
Fixed	2.0.1

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Index pages with last page links are not updated when a new page is added.
Solution	All index pages are regenerated if a new page is added.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	"-idxsize 0" does not give unlimited page size.
Solution	Problem fixed and now works as documented.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	"-maxsize 0" does not reset archive with unlimited messages allowed.
Solution	Problem fixed and now works as documented.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Non-ASCII text encodings (=?ISO-..?...) are not properly decoded when EDITIDX is set.
Solution	The charset filter libraries are now loaded for EDITIDX.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	MODTIME resource setting not remembered across archive updates.
Solution	MODTIME resource is now properly stored in the database.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Specifying -rmm and -single caused confusion on what MHonArc does.
Solution	The case is properly handled, with -rmm taking precedence.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	4 digit year not checked before 2 digit year when parsing dates.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Some index pages in multipage indexes not updated when messages expire.
Solution	Fixed; all pages are regenerated when a message expires.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Setting MONTHS and MONTHSABR had no effect.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	$TNEXTFROM$ actually gave the value of $NEXTFROM$.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Numerical timezone offsets not handled properly when the offset contained non-zero minutes. This caused message to be sorted wrong by date.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Some characters were not properly escaped when specifying the "in URL" modifier to a resource variable.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	Thread (formatting) information lost when a thread is split across multiple pages.
Solution	Fixed. New resources (TCONTBEGIN, TCONTEND, TINDENTBEGIN, TINDENTEND) exist to preserve formatting of threads across pages.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 3
Problem	If specifying the REVERSE resource, the next/prev links in messages do not point to the proper message as one may expect.
Solution	This should be fixed by the new behavior of $NEXT...$ and $PREV...$ resource variables.
Fixed	2.0.0

Version	2.0.0 beta 2
Problem	Perl aborts with message "Undefined subroutine &main::output_db called ..." when the GENIDX resource is set.
Solution	Fixed. The output_db function is not applicable when GENIDX is active.
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 3

Version	2.0.0 beta 2
Problem	Duplicate resource filenames are not removed from the OTHERINDEXES resource. This caused duplicate work to be performed.
Solution	Fixed. Any duplicate filenames are removed before applying the OTHERINDEXES resource.
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 3

Version	2.0.0 beta 2
Problem	Indexes created via the OTHERINDEXES resource contain no messages.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 3

Version	2.0.0 beta 2
Problem	The markup defined by TSUBLISTEND may appear when there is no corresponding TSUBLISTBEG.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 3

Version	2.0.0 beta 1
Problem	A multipart boundary specified with a capital boundary parameter, and not in quotes, was not recognized.
Solution	Fixed
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 2

Version	1.2.3
Problem	Generation of links of message-ids when editting messages w/o consideration that the message-ids may already be linked. This caused nested anchor markup.
Solution	Fixed. Only new message-ids are checked for.
Fixed	2.0.0 beta 1

Version	1.2.2
Problem	The ';' character may appear in derived files if the "usename" option is set for the mhexternal.pl filter.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.3

Version	1.2.2
Problem	The '/' character is not properly recognized in e-mail addresses when e-mail addressess are being converted to mailto links in message headers.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.3

Version	1.2.2
Problem	Database read failures occur in add operations on MS-DOS systems.
Solution	Fixed (?)
Fixed	1.2.3

Version	1.2.1
Problem	The TIDXPGEND resource actually sets the value of the TIDXPGBEG resource.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.2

Version	1.2.0
Problem	MHonArc will abort execution under MS-DOS due to regular expression error.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.1

Version	1.2.0
Problem	install.me will abort execution under MS-DOS due to regular expression error.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.1

Version	1.2.0
Problem	A reverse index listing is incorrect if the index size is less than the archive size.
Solution	Fixed.
Fixed	1.2.1

98/11/08 12:24:47