PE> Why did you send me this message about 5 times, in various stages
PE> of construction?

FM> I don't bloody well know, Paul! I noticed it after the packet
FM> had gone ('cos I copy everything sent back into my incoming), but
FM> I'm damned if I know how it happened. Certainly I did revisit that
FM> message several times, but I don't know why what happened, happened.

RS> You will get the effect if you re-edit a message a few times,
RS> then dont shut down OLX properly.

FM> That's probably what happened. I think I was playing
FM> with something with OLX open and I crashed Windows.

You want to watch that sort of thing, look what its done to Bob.

RS> Each of the versions of a message end up in the OUTBOX on the
RS> disk as you do each edit, but OLX keeps the message status on
RS> which ones were edited and replaced in memory.

FM> Surprising!

Not really.

FM> I would have thought it would replace an edited message over the
FM> top of the old one.

Its heaps simpler to put the new one on the end of that simple linear
file. Gets more messy when the new version can be bigger than the old
one otherwise. Particularly when it can be quite a large file, it can
take a while too the other way.

Personally I would have a separate status file which is ALSO updated
as the new version is written, say just a simple list of deleted
message numbers or something.

FM> Obviously not. Certainly I didn't see these multiple versions when
FM> I was going back to change it ('cos in that case, OLX knows not to
FM> show them to me 'cos it's got it's stuff in memory, as you say).

Yep.

FM> And I had no reason to look when I went back sometime after
FM> the crash to export replies before I sent the packet.

Yeah, tho I find its no big deal to be aware you have had a crash say
due to a power flick and you have to delete those old deleted messages
manually. Rather quicker in the OUTBOX than in the exported REP too,
tho it can be done either way.

--- PQWK202