Re: [Evolution] HELP/new explanation/Biggs

[Brewster Gillett <bg fdi us>]

Brewster: [earlier]
> > The primary difficulty I am experiencing is that Evo is sorting
> > two different ways, depending upon where the Address Book is viewed.
> > When I am in the main Contacts (Contact adding and editing) area,
> > the Contact entries are sorted as they have been requested to be
> > sorted - last name first. But when I access the second instance,
> > the pop-up that responds to the "TO:" in the "EDIT" (email composing)
> > mode, that window is ignoring the instruction, and displaying the
> > Contacts sorted on "Full Name", rather than on the "File Under" field.

Pete Biggs:

> It looks like the address selection popup extracts just the email
> addresses from the address book and then sorts them in a fairly
> simplistic manner (probably leaving the widget to do the sorting) - if
> it doesn't extract the sort order, it can't sort them in that order.
> Sure, it probably should be sorting them in what you think is the
> correct order, 

Brewster:

Slight correction there - it is not "what I think" is the correct order
- it is the order imposed by the program itself as a result of
population of the "FILE UNDER" field. And why the popup would extract
based on the email address rather than the Contact name is another
question. Clearly, BTW, it is not *sorting* on the address, either -
- it is sorting on the first thing it sees in the "FULL NAME" field.
In other words, by "first name", for the most part.

I apologize if maybe I wasn't clear enough on that aspect.

Pete:

> but it may need some comprehensive re-writing of that bit
> of code to extract two fields and then sort them and then display a
> different field to what is sorted on.  But I'm just surmising, I haven't
> looked at the code.

Brewster:

Nor have I, but I guess I neglected to point out in my
original query that they *were* sorted correctly there
in my previous version of Evo - 1.4. So from my perspective,
this constitutes a regressive and undesirable version change.

This is the real bottom line, Pete - it *did* do as one would
anticipate it would in the old version of Evo. And I used it
that way for over five years. Now it doesn't.

I would class that as an unacceptable "evolution" of the code,
so to speak....

Brewster:[earlier]

> > The reason I am finding the lack of responses to this query so puzzling
> > is very simple: it seems that either nobody else has experienced
> > this, or that they have, and have ignored it.

Pete:

> Perhaps it just hasn't bothered anyone before - personally I haven't
> ever used the address selection popup - I either reply to emails or type
> the address in directly, using autocomplete when necessary.

Brewster:

I have difficulty believing that I am the only one who has come up with
the manipulation that takes the half-dozen addresses (listserv groups)
most used on a regular basis for forwards, (and for new emails - BTW
"REPLY" has nothing to do with this issue as far as I can see) ) and
loads the ""FILE UNDER" field artificially so that they always appear in
the top spots on the list - I suggest that this is a noticeably faster
way of accomplishing that specific task than autocomplete, and has the
added virtue of eliminating the necessity of pulling out the keyboard
drawer and starting to type the email address' first few characters. 

And though it should be obvious, one does not wish to have the
manifestations of that manipulation appear on the "FULL NAME" that
populates the addressing field, but on the "FILE UNDER" version,
which never shows up on anything external.

Take it a step further - I have a list of maybe 25 or 30 individuals,
over and above the half-dozen groups alluded to above, whom I may
wish to add, *selectively* (key concept - very key) under BCC:
to the forward. So if I used Autocomplete, and typed in, say, "John",
I might get three "John"s and need to pick. By using the popup,
it is much simpler - I just scroll down the list and pick those
who might appreciate the forward, leaving out those who might not.
Principal point - unlike "Autocomplete", using the list does not
rely on memory, as to whom I might pick. Think about it!  

And as I said, this worked fine under 1.4, because the "TO:" popup
list always sorted according the the sort instruction from the
"FILE UNDER" field in that version.

Brewster:[earlier]

> > Then as a related part of this, there are Contacts which appear in the
> > latter list but never show up in the main Contacts editing list.
> > That is also unacceptable; if for no other reason than those Contacts
> > which do not show on the main Contacts editing screen are therefore
> > no available for editing.

Pete:

> They aren't "contacts" as such they are email addresses extracted from
> your contacts.  Perhaps you have extra email addresses in some of your
> contacts that are being listed there as well.

Brewster:

I don't understand those two sentences very well. If they appear as
Contacts in that popup list, displaying name and email address, how
does that make then "email addresses extracted from your contacts"?

And to the best of my knowledge, not a single one of the Contacts
in my Address Book contains more than one email address. For one thing,
if the condition as you describe it obtained, then I would be seeing
duplicate listings in the popup, which of course I am not.

Are you suggesting that every time I type an email address into
a composing screen, eventually it finds its way into that popup?
I know for incontrovertible fact that *that* is not the case. 
Are you saying that the "TO:" popup is including addresses *other*
than those that have been specifically entered in the Contacts
database ("Address Book")? News to me if so. And I know for a fact that
in one specific instance, the original Contact *was* entered into
the database, but with an illegal character in the email address - 
- is the presence of the illegal character what allows it to show up in
the popup, but not in the Address Book edit page? Under these conditions
the error one will live forever, because if it doesn't appear in the 
Address Book edit window, I can never delete it!

Brewster:[earlier]

> > I really have to believe these conditions are both bugs, but I have
> > invested a lot of time in searching forum posts and bug lists, and have
> > yet to find either one. On the other hand , if they *are* bugs, why
> > is it that nobody else has noticed them?

Pete:

> If all this bothers you, and no one as reported it before, then file a
> bug ... and congratulate yourself that you have found an issue that no
> one else has spotted before :-)  That is after all how FOSS works.  And
> remember that what to you is a show stopper crass obvious bug, may well
> be an edge case to other people.

Brewster:

I'm well aware of that. I just am finding it a little strainful to
believe that nobody who reads the lists or forums ever uses that
popup, or does and has never noticed that it ignores sort instructions.
But that may well be the case.

See, Pete, I think that, for the specific kind of transaction I
described, Autocomplete is both more work and more prone to
error, particularly for those of us who are really poor typists:-)

Brewster:[earlier]
 
> > I don't like mysteries. If I want mystery, I'll read Agatha Christie.
> > I don't need it in my email programs :-)

Pete:
 
> If you don't want it to be a mystery, then read the source and see what
> has actually been programmed - it's FOSS, so nothing is either a mystery
> or a secret.

Brewster:

A fine suggestion, but I'm afraid it would still remain a mystery for
me, Pete; despite having spent nigh 30 years in IT, I managed to escape
knowing how to generate (or read and understand) any kind of code beyond
very simple BASIC, Unix shell scripts, and a procedural/JCL from a
long-expired TI mini :-)

Thanks for your contribution,

Brewster


-- 
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W. Brewster Gillett             bg fdi us            Portland, OR  USA
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