NOS Mailbox

[Dave Goodwin <GOODWIN%SMCVAX.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>]

I'd like to offer a suggestion on a modification to the NOS mailbox code.
One of the complaints I hear frequently from local NOS users is that they
always have to look through messages in the non-personal areas to figure
out where they left off, since NOS doesn't store last message read data.

Although I'm beginning to learn the C language, I'm certainly not up to
modifying something of NOS' complexity.  I have thought about it a little
however.

Since NOS doesn't number messages consecutively, but instead starts at 1
within each area, we can't just save the last message number read.  We have
to store that number for each area independently.  Also, we need to modify
NOS so it doesn't always start renumbering within areas at 1.  It seems to me
we then have two approaches; we change the numbering scheme within areas as
described previously or we can change NOS to simply number messages in
consecutive order as most PBBS systems do now.

If we go to consecutive numbering, we simply need to modify NOS to save each
user's last message read number somewhere.  Perhaps a user file.  If we choose
to allow NOS to continue keeping separate numbers within message areas, we
then have to track them separately per area.  Perhaps an approach there is
to write out the area name and last message number to a file whenever the
area is changed or the mailbox is exited.  By doing it this way, we don't
have to have any pre-prepared formatted file of area names.

Any comments from other NOS users or the code writers?


Dave Goodwin, N1HRO
GOODWIN@SMCVAX.BITNET