[R] [BioC] Outlook does threading [Broadcast]

Mark W Kimpel mkimpel at iupui.edu
Fri Feb 2 23:00:19 CET 2007


To close out this thread... I have solved my problem with Outlook not 
displaying threads by creating a Gmail account for all my R and BioC 
needs and am viewing that with Mozilla Thunderbird. Seems to be working 
nicely and I now have the benefit of viewing by threads like to many of 
you have been doing all along. I continue to use Outlook for my other 
needs. I thought I would share this in case other Outlook users search 
the archives and wonder how the problem was ever solved.

Thanks again,

Mark Kimpel
IU School of Medicine

Liaw, Andy wrote:
> This is really off-topic for both BioC and R-help, so I'll 
> keep it short. 
>
>
> From: Kimpel, Mark William
>   
>> See below for Bert Gunter's off list reply to me (which I do 
>> appreciate). I'm putting it back on the list because it seems 
>> there is still confusion regarding the difference between 
>> threading and sorting by subject. I thought the example I 
>> will give below will serve as instructional for other Outlook 
>> users who may be similarly confused as I was (am?). 
>>
>> Per Bert's instructions, I just set up my inbox to sort by 
>> subject. I sent one email to myself with the subject "test1" 
>> and then replied to it without changing the subject. The 
>> reply correctly went to "test1" in the inbox sorter. I then 
>> changed the subject heading in the test1 reply to "test2" and 
>> sent it to myself. This time Outlook re-categorized it and 
>> put it in a separate compartment in the view called "test2".
>>
>> If Outlook can do threading the way the R mail server does, I 
>> don't think this is the way to do it.
>>     
>
> AFAIK there's no proper way to get the correct threading in 
> Outlook.  What I do is group by conversation topic, but that
> doesn't solve the problem.  This is only problem on your
> (and all Outlook users'?) end, though.  The bigger problem
> that affects the lists is that some versions of MS Exchange 
> Server do not include the "In-reply-to" header field that
> many mailing lists rely on for proper threading.  As a result,
> when I reply to other people's post, it may show up in Outlook
> as having been threaded properly (because the subject is fine),
> but it throws everything else that does proper threading off.
>  
>   
>> Unless someone has an idea of how to correctly set up Outlook 
>> to do threading in the manner that the R mail server does,
>>     
>
> Maybe some VBA coding can be done to get it right, but short
> of that, I very much doubt it.
>
>   
>> I 
>> think the message for us Outlook users is to just create, 
>> from scratch, a new message when initiating a new subject.
>>     
>
> That message ought to be clear for everyone.  You should
> never reply to a message when you really mean to start
> a new topic, regardless what you are using.
>
> Andy
>  
>   
>> Thanks for all your help. 
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Bert Gunter [mailto:gunter.berton at gene.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:03 PM
>> To: Kimpel, Mark William
>> Subject: Outlook does threading
>>
>>  Mark:
>>
>> No need to bother the R list with this. Outlook does 
>> threading. Just sort on Subject in the viewer.
>>
>> Bert Gunter
>> Genentech Nonclinical Statistics
>> South San Francisco, CA 94404
>> 650-467-7374
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch
>> [mailto:r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of 
>> Kimpel, Mark William
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 3:36 PM
>> To: Peter Dalgaard
>> Cc: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch; bioconductor at stat.math.ethz.ch
>> Subject: Re: [R] possible spam alert
>>
>> Peter,
>>
>> Thanks you for your explanation, I had taken Mr. Connolly's 
>> message to me to imply that I was not changing the subject 
>> line. I use MS Outlook
>> 2007 and, unless I am just not seeing it, Outlook does not 
>> normally display the "in reply to" header, I was under the 
>> mistaken impression that that was what the Subject line was 
>> for. See, for example, the header to your message to me 
>> below. Outlook will, however, sort messages by Subject, and 
>> that is what I thought was meant by threading.
>>
>> Well, I learned something today and apologize for any 
>> inconvenience my posts may have caused.
>>
>> BTW, I use Outlook because it is supported by my university 
>> server and will synch my appointments and contacts with my 
>> PDA, which runs Windows CE. If anyone has a suggestion for me 
>> of a better email program that will provide proper threading 
>> AND work with a MS email server and synch with Windows CE, 
>> I'd love to hear it.
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> Mark W. Kimpel MD 
>>
>>  
>>
>> (317) 490-5129 Work, & Mobile
>>
>>  
>>
>> (317) 663-0513 Home (no voice mail please)
>>
>> 1-(317)-536-2730 FAX
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Peter Dalgaard [mailto:p.dalgaard at biostat.ku.dk]
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 6:25 PM
>> To: Kimpel, Mark William
>> Cc: bioconductor at stat.math.ethz.ch; r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
>> Subject: Re: [R] possible spam alert
>>
>> Kimpel, Mark William wrote:
>>     
>>> The last two times I have originated message threads on R or 
>>> Bioconductor I have received the message included below 
>>>       
>> from someone 
>>     
>>> named Patrick Connolly. Both times I was the originator of 
>>>       
>> the message 
>>     
>>> thread and used what I thought was a unique subject line that
>>>       
>> explained
>>     
>>> as best I could what my question was. Patrick seems to be implying
>>>       
>> that
>>     
>>> I am abusing the R and BioC help newsgroups in this fashion. 
>>>
>>> When I emailed him to give me a specific example, he did not reply.
>>>       
>> The
>>     
>>> most recent thread that he seems concerned about was to the 
>>>       
>> R list and 
>>     
>>> was entitled "regexpr and parsing question" . I believe the 
>>>       
>> previous 
>>     
>>> post of mine that he had problems with was to the BioC list but I
>>>       
>> can't
>>     
>>> remember its subject.
>>>
>>> Is this spam?
>>>   
>>>       
>> No. Breach of netiquette, yes.
>>
>> The message in question starts a new thread, yet contains an
>> In-Reply-To: header line, which presumably means that you 
>> started writing the message as a reply to something 
>> completely unrelated,
>> specifically: "Re: [R] change plotting symbol for groups in 
>> trellis graph". You should not do that, unless you know how 
>> to remove the In-Reply-To line (and this is not obvious in 
>> many mail clients); changing the subject is not sufficient.
>>     
>>> If I am doing this correctly, you should see the subject "possible
>>>       
>> spam
>>     
>>> alert" in the subject header of THIS message.
>>>
>>> Would the moderators of the lists please check and see if I 
>>>       
>> am doing 
>>     
>>> some wrong and, if not, inform Mr. Connolly that I am not. 
>>>       
>> If others 
>>     
>>> have received this message in error, it is possible it is spam and
>>>       
>> users
>>     
>>> should be alerted.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> Mark W. Kimpel MD
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> Official Business Address:
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> Department of Psychiatry
>>>
>>> Indiana University School of Medicine
>>>
>>> PR M116
>>>
>>> Institute of Psychiatric Research
>>>
>>> 791 Union Drive
>>>
>>> Indianapolis, IN 46202
>>>
>>>  
>>> This is a request to anyone who starts a new subject to begin with a
>>>       
>> new
>>     
>>> message and NOT reply to an existing one.  If your mail 
>>>       
>> client is any 
>>     
>>> good, it's very simple to set up an alias (mine is simply 
>>>       
>> 'r') so that 
>>     
>>> the tedious task of typing 'r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch' is unnecessary
>>>       
>> and
>>     
>>> it's quicker than scrolling through an address book.
>>> It's also quicker than deleting the previous subject.
>>>
>>> Most mornings, I have over a screenful of messages mostly 
>>>       
>> from R-help 
>>     
>>> and it's very useful to have them threaded.  However, the usefulness
>>>       
>> of
>>     
>>> threading is lost when posters reply to a message and then 
>>>       
>> change the 
>>     
>>> subject instead of creating a new message.
>>>
>>> People who don't have a mail client that can display email 
>>>       
>> in threads 
>>     
>>> are probably unaware that this sort of thing can happen in ones that
>>>       
>> do:
>>     
>>>     37 N   25 Jan Luis Silva              ( 34) [R] plot/screen
>>>     38 N   25 Jan Uwe Ligges              ( 55) `-> 
>>>     39 N   25 Jan Fernando Henrique Ferra ( 20) [R] 
>>>       
>> Plotting coloured
>>     
>>> histograms
>>> ->  40 N   26 Jan Mohamed A. Kerasha      ( 12) |->[R] 
>>>       
>> Distributions.
>>     
>>>     41 N   26 Jan ripley at stats.ox.ac.uk   ( 26) | |->
>>>     42     26 Jan Qin Xin                 (  9) | `->[R] how could I
>>>       
>> add
>>     
>>> legends
>>>     43     27 Jan Ko-Kang Kevin Wang      ( 31) |   `->
>>>     44 N   26 Jan Remigijus Lapinskas     ( 32) |->Re: [R] Plotting
>>> coloured his
>>>     45 N   26 Jan Damon Wischik           (125) `-> 
>>>     46 N   25 Jan Rex_Bryan at urscorp.com   ( 10) [R] plotting
>>>       
>> primatives,
>>     
>>> ellipse
>>>     47 N   25 Jan Uwe Ligges              ( 19) `->   
>>>
>>>
>>> As Martin Maechler explained some time ago, it also screws up the 
>>> archives for a similar reason.
>>>
>>> Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> best
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>> PLEASE do read the posting guide
>> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>     
>
>
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