[Alpine-info] Re: Attaching another mail in a reply

[Beartooth]

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:29:15 -0400, S P Arif Sahari Wibowo wrote:


> Is there any way to attach another mail in a reply? So, I am replying to

> one e-mail and I want to attach 1 or more e-mails I have in my Inbox as

> Message/RFC822 attachment, can it be done, somehow?


	YES, and easily -- in fact there are two similar and related 
things you can do in such a situation; I'll describe both.

	First off, the big secret (which both have in common) is 
exporting to your shell.

	From your inbox* [see Footnote 1 below], either before you start 
the reply, or with it postponed, highlight the first message you'll want 
to attach or incorporate. Hit E (for Export -- whether or not it shows on 
the bottom of the page). Alpine will offer you a file name; make sure it 
has no spaces, either by removing them, or by using a whole different 
(and, perhaps, shorter more easily remembered) name.** [see Footnote 2 
below]

	Now go to your reply, by starting it, or if you already had, then 
by retrieving it from  your postponed-messages folder.

	With that reply open in the composer, choose whether you want to 
attach or incorporate the other email.

	If, as in your question, you want to attach the other, get the 
cursor into the headers in your composer; hit ^J, then type the name of 
the file in your shell (or use ^T to be able to find it in your home 
directory).

	If you prefer to incorporate the other, then get the cursor into 
the body of your own message, at the exact point you want the other to 
appear; hit ^R, and type the name (or, again, use ^T to find it).

	* [Footnote 1] Actually, the other email doesn't have to be in 
your inbox, or any particular folder, so long as you have *one* folder 
that contains it. You may often want to work from your sent-mail folder, 
or an Fcc folder, or a special folder called something like "boilerplate."

	** [Footnote 2] In one common and very useful case, you may want 
to insert a step here. Get into your shell (by suspending Alpine with ^Z, 
if you have enabled that, or by opening a new terminal or a new terminal 
tab); open the newly exported file; and trim out superfluities, such as 
headers or passages that may have become outdated.

	Example: suppose that, last month, you wrote an explanation of 
how to get to your house from the nearest train station. Now another 
welcome guest is about to set out. If the exact same directions will 
still work, go ahead and attach them from your sent-mail (or wherever). 
If something has changed (such as a detour), incorporate them instead, so 
that you can edit your earlier text to take account of the changes.

	Marginalium: this is a classic Pine/Alpine example. When you need 
to do a thing, Lo! and Behold!, the Pinemasters're a jump ahead of you -- 
the way to do it is already in the software. Blessed be they all in their 
exemplary foresight!

-- 
Beartooth Staffwright, PhD, Neo-Redneck Linux Convert
Remember I know precious little of what I am talking about.