Re: Recognize mbox files?

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

>> Is it reliable enough to recognize mbox files that we could visit
>> them automatically in Rmail mode?

>    I don't think so.  Mbox files are lines that begin with "From ",
>    separated by arbitrary data.  There's not enough information to
>    autodetect them.

Agreed.
OTOH, the format of that From line is somewhat free, so we could
arrange to place some kind of cookie in it (maybe even "-*-rmail-*-"
could fit).

Note that we need to set not only the major-mode, but also the
coding-system (binary).

> What about assuming that rmail files always start witj "RMAIL" or
> "XMAIL" (and ignore case-sensitivity)? Then RMAIL.foo would be a RMAIL
> file, and xmail.123 would also be a rmail file.

Yes, a naming convention seems easier.  a ".mbox" extension seems like
an obvious choice as well.

> That would work for most normal cases.  That way if you open
> /com/mail/ams or some other mail spool file, RMAIL will not do
> anything funny with it.

It's important that if opened on a non-mbox file, Rmail shouldn't do
anything bad (e.g. it shouldn't modify the file).


        Stefan