--- name: "splitdigest" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "splitdigest" version: "2.4-5" release: "Debian 3.1 (Sarge)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/splitdigest" --- # splitdigest(1) Undigest a mail folder. ## NAME splitdigest - Undigest a mail folder. ## SYNOPSIS **splitdigest** \[ *options* \]\[ *file...* \]\ ## DESCRIPTION *Splitdigest* undigests a mail folder that has one or more digests concatenated together. The result is a series of mail folders named according to the digest name, number and volume. The folders are in a form suitable for reading by a mail user agent, using, for example, "mail -f" or "elm -f". Each message in the digest would have been separated by *splitdigest* so that you can read and reply to each message individually instead of having to deal with the whole digest as one mail item. If *splitdigest* is invoked without arguments, it will take its input from stdin. Otherwise it will take its input from the file(s) listed on the command line. The types of digests which *splitdigest* can handle as well as the output filename it generates can be customized by modifying the file *splitdigest.config* which is by default placed in the */usr/local/lib* directory. As shipped, *splitdigest* will unconcatenate linux-kernel-digest digests generated from *vger.rutgers.edu* into *kernel-volnum.digestnum* where *volnum* is the digest volume number and *digestnum* is the digest number. Likewise, *splitdigest* will unconcatenate *comp.os.linux.\** digests files generated from *news-digests.mit.edu* into *digestname.digestnum.volnum* where *digestname* will be replaced by a truncated form of the digest name, *digestnum* will be replaced by the digest number, and *volnum* will be replaced by the digest volume number. For example, Linux-Admin Digest #565 Volume 1 will be captured in the file - *admin.565.1* ANNOUNCE Channel digests from Linux-Activists will be extracted to into *announce.date* where *date* is the date of issue of the digest. This is because the Linux-Activists digests do not appear to have digest numbers. MSDOS announce digests from SimTel are extracted to *msdos.digestnum.volnum* where *digestnum* is replaced by the digest number and *volnum* is replaced by the volume number. Other digests may be supported as well. Check *splitdigest.config* for the complete list of supported digests. The names can be changed by a simple modification of the *splitdigest.config* file. No recompilation of the sources is required. Similarly, if you wish to extend the number of digest types *splitdigest* can recognise and undigest, you only have to modify the *splitdigest.config* file. Again, no recompilation is required. For further information on the format of the *splitdigest.config* file, see the instructions included at the beginning of the configuration file. The complete list of supported digest types (as shipped) can also be obtained from the configuration file. ## OPTIONS - \-C\ Use the configuration file specified in the argument. This is useful for testing a new configuration file without replacing the existing one. - \-V Display the version number. The program terminates immediately. - \-c Compress the output file. This option is obsolete. - \-d\ Specifies a directory where all the undigested files are to be placed. The directory is created if it does not exist. - \-h Display usage information. The program terminates without any further action. - \-l Do not remove the "Content-Length:" header when undigesting. By default, splitdigest will not copy the "Content-Length:" header to the output file when undigesting since it has been reported to confuse some mail user agents. This option suppresses the feature. - \-o\ Specifies that the output should be written to outfile. A special case of *-o* is when you specify *-o-* which will be taken by **splitdigest** to mean that you want the output sent to stdout. - \-t Do not compress the output file (default). This option is obsolete. Splitdigest does not compress the output file by default. - \-v Verbose mode. ## EXAMPLE *splitdigest* saved-folder-1 In this example, if *saved-folder-1* consists of comp.os.linux.admin digest files numbers 446 to 448 the output will be - admin.446.1\ admin.447.1\ admin.448.1 in the current directory. The extracted files, admin.\*, can be read using a mail user agent such as *elm* as follows: - elm -f admin.446.1\ elm -f admin.447.1\ elm -f admin.448.1 If you are using *mail* the following commands will read the extracted files. - mail -f admin.446.1\ mail -f admin.447.1\ mail -f admin.448.1 The files will have the individual messages in each digest appropriately "undigested" so that they may be read and replied to as individual messages. ## FILES /usr/bin/gzip\ /usr/local/lib/splitdigest.config ## SEE ALSO gzip (1). ## BUGS - 1\. *splitdigest* does not know how to handle files which has ordinary mail stuffed into them besides the digest files. - 2\. *splitdigest* merely copies till the next "From " header the moment it encounters a string that matches the end-of-digest marker in the digest. This generally yields the correct behaviour. However, if the digest itself contains embedded digests (such as digests that contain bounced mail which are themselves digests), it is possible that *splitdigest* might terminate the digest too early under certain conditions. I have not encountered a situation where a confluence of factors led to this, but it's theoretically possible (and hence, under Murphy's Laws) is bound to happen some day. Please send all bug reports, fixes, comments and suggestions to me at my email address below. I am also interested in knowing any additions you make to the configuration file so that *splitdigest* can recognise other digest types. ## COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 1994-1998 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved. This program is released under the conditions of the GNU General Public License. In addition, you may not remove or alter any of the copyright notices and/or the conditions for use and distribution. You can email me at one of the following addresses: - cyfheng@singnet.com.sg\ ChristopherHeng@pobox.org.sg A link to the latest version of splitdigest can be found on my home page, http://www.singnet.com.sg/~cyfheng.