[Nmh-workers] Implementation question: function or component for local mailbox?

[Ken Hornstein]

As previously discussed, I've been looking at putting the "From" address
in message draft via extensions to the format language (the existing
syntax doesn't have that ability).

I see two possibilities as to how to implement this:

- A new function, e.g. %(localmbox).

- A new pseudo-component, e.g. %{localmbox}.

In terms of implementation ... they are probably a wash.  The first
requires a new format instruction; the second does not, but it does
require some stuff in the interpreter side, and that actually is a
little bit magical as components you are interested in are "seeded"
before you call fmt_scan() (this is why some programs use a special
"text" component); obviously this one would be handled internally.

The advantage to doing it as a component would be you could use address
functions like %(proper) on it (but I don't know how common that is).
The disadvantage is that you could never have a "real" message component
called "localmbox"; I don't know how common that would be either.

Thoughts?  I've gone back and forth on this and I don't really know
which would be better.

--Ken