Interesing rules info

Interestingly, if you rename rules.dat to rules.txt its quite understandable.

Now, my rules weren't working (so I reinstalled- note to self.. bad plan). After the reinstall, still no work.

Create new rule.. compare new rules to old rules. Identical in rules.dat.

only difference, new rules folders have .msf, old dont.

Question: Any way to regen msf?
Why can't we copy them.
Is the MSF unrelated to why the rules doesn't work.

Does everyone already know this already>

Chris

 

Hi Chris,

Opening rules.dat in Notepad, and changing the file name to rules.txt and opening, produces identical files.

I'm not certain about your reference to msf in the rules.dat file. I have numerous filters, but my rules.dat file contains no reference to msf? I'm thinking maybe you know something I don't!

Do you have a backup of the original rules.dat file, the one before you changed the name to rules.txt? If the answer is no, did you try renaming the rules.txt file back to rules.dat?

If the rules.dat file is corrupt, and you have no backup, your best bet is to recreate your filters.

Ramona

 

*.msf file = index file.

I do not believe the rules.dat file has a corresponding rules.msf (index) file. If you have a *.txt file in the Netscape mail directory, it will assume it is a mail file and generate a corresponding *.msf (index) file when accessing the folder for the first time (rules.txt in this case).

The best thing to do in your case is to attempt to use the original rules.dat (renamed from rules.txt) again, and failing that, recreate the rules from scratch and keep a current backup. Of course, if someone has a better idea I am sure they will chime in.

HTH

tranquilo

 

More....

Hi Ramona

You're such a wizard, I expected you to read my mind and understand my ramblings = ).

In essence, filters stopped working for some reason. (Basically, a crash anytime I tried to edit them). A reinstall fixed the crashing (at least so far), however, the filters don't work, saying that the folder for the filter doesn't exist.

So, in a "hmm maybe I can poke around" kind of mood, I looked at the rules.dat file. The rules looked OK. Created new rule. It worked - and looked the same as the other rules.

Poke around some more - the only difference I can see between the rules that work and the rules that don't work is that the folders for the rules that work have .msf's and the folders for the rules that dont, well, don't.

So, I was wondering is that a known bit of info? Is there a way to recreate an MSF.. etc etc. ad nauseum.

Bye the way.. this is a GREAT site.

Chris

 

Hi Chris,

My ESP was definitely blitzed!

O.K., here's the drill:
With Netscape closed:
Open the rules.dat file in Notepad, and verify the first line reads version= "8 ".
Do this for each mail server.

Open Netscape
Go to Mail, select the account, and click on "Create message filters ". Your filters should be there.
To ensure they are enabled
Select the first filter
Click on "edit"
Check to see that "Perform this action" has the correct folder destination

If you have done this and your filters still don't work, then you will have to recreate them. The fact that Netscape crashed when trying to edit the filters, tells me that your rules.dat file is most likely corrupt.

Ramona

 

yeah, I've verified the '8'
And I've verified essentially every line of the rules.dat file.

Thats the weird thing. All the rules look ok.. even with a hex editor.

Some work - some don't. The ones that don't, uniformly don't have msf's for the folders.

I have recreated the rules.. all 255 of them. And backed them up.
Still I thought it Odd.

You know.. not only are you supposed to read minds.. but you're supposed to wave the magic wand and have the answer too.

Well cmon....
Get waving!

 

I'm waving already yet!

Hi Phydeaux,

No magic wands, but I wish!

However, have you checked out Mozilla 1.3 alpha? Look at the What's New:

What's New in Mozilla 1.3a

Mozilla 1.3a contains many great new Mail and Newsgroup features and fixes.

Mozilla Mail now has basic junk-mail classification capabilities. This means you can train your client to distinguish between good mail and junk-mail. For this first release the junk-mail controls can mark a message as junk but automatic deleting has not been enabled. To learn more about this new feature check out the Mozilla Spam Filters info page.

This release also contains some great new filtering tools. We now have new multiple actions for filters so you can do things like moving and labeling at the same time and newsgroup filters have also been implemented.

Message Views is a new Mozilla Mail feature which will help users locate, organize and prioritize their mail messages. A View is used to filter and display only those messages matching a given set of criteria. Mozilla ships with a set of pre-defined Views, but users can also create their own.

We have improved interoperability with certain imap servers (especially iMail) and ACL problems on Cyrus servers have been fixed.

The Mail team also fixed the problem with biff not working on accounts you haven't logged onto and Message Search on the body of local messages doesn't lock up the UI anymore
-----

Looking pretty good...

What you want to do, regarding your filter problem is use your Feedback to voice your interest and problems:

Click on Help | Feedback Center

Register your suggestions there, and do it frequently. If we, as users, don't voice our likes/dislikes nothing will ever be changed.

Ramona

 

Oh .. you're involved in the Mozilla project?
That is cool.

I still use netscape basicly to support the concept. And I think after a rocky start its making good progress. Right not I "m not at a place I can start using alpha software........

Things I would love:
-The ability to apply rules to a folder (now!).
-Less clunky folder navigation.
-Co browsing.
-Help that WAS. And wasn't on the net.

Oh - better to stop fighting the microsoft. Render as microsoft does and be done with it.

Best

Chris