Mac Forum / Applications / Eudora / July 2008

A multi-person email exchange on some topic often builds up a lengthy
"tail" of of messages, replies, replies to replies, and new messages.

Question Is:  How can one build up a cumulative (and hopefully
update-able) historical archive of the entire discussion -- something
that can be exported to a text file, or printed out in full -- **without
having massive duplications of content from the string of messages and
replies (and sig files, and headers) cluttering up the archive**???  

[Assuming Eudora as the email client, and considering only the text of
the emails, not attached files, which are captured separately.]

Obvious initial step: capture all messages into a single Eudora mailbox.

Comment: Easily done, but does nothing to remove duplications (including
duplicate sig files and headers).

Simple approach:  Some people always reply to any email *leaving all
previous content in the message retained below the reply text*, so that
latest message has all previous content retained it it.  

Comment:  Works great for a purely two-person, ping-pong style exchange.  
Rapidly degenerates for multiple correspondents, or even for two
correspondents if new messages and replies cross in the mail.

Doing it the hard way: **Every time you receive or reply to a message on
the topic of interest, trim everything but the _new_ stuff, then save
the trimmed version to the relevant mailbox**.  

Comment:  A lot of work trimming the message at the time, each time --
though a big help later on.

Question #1:  Any better way to meet the goal(s) here?

Question #2:  I can save a copy of an _outgoing_ message to the archive
mailbox just with a few keystrokes: I create an auto-completing nickname  
that puts a file copy address of the archive file in the Bcc: field.

But suppose I've appropriately trimmed an incoming message and am still
viewing it opened on screen.  Any purely _keystroke_ (not menu) way to
transfer it to the appropriate mailbox?

Final thought:  Instead an of archive mailbox, maybe create an archive
HD file (text file)?  Eudora has Save and Save As menu commands and
keystroke?  Does it have? -- could the "new Eudora" have? -- an "Append
To Disk File" command or keystroke?  

Comment:  Append To would produce a chronological rather than
reverse-chron archive; some people might like that.