Re: misc/41498: mailing list archive shows SRM chevron `>>>' prompt as vertical line

["S.P.Zeidler" <spz%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR misc/41498; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: "S.P.Zeidler" <spz%NetBSD.org@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%NetBSD.org@localhost
Cc: 
Subject: Re: misc/41498: mailing list archive shows SRM chevron `>>>'
        prompt as vertical line
Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 11:18:24 +0000

 Hi,
 
 Thus wrote r.phillips%uq.edu.au@localhost (r.phillips%uq.edu.au@localhost):
 
 > When output of an Alpha console session which contains SRM's chevron `>>>' 
 > prompt is included in an email to port-alpha%netbsd.org@localhost the prompt 
 > is shown as a vertical bar on the mail archive Web page, e.g.:
 > 
 > http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-alpha/2009/05/28/msg000285.html
 
 You guessed correctly that the software that converts the mail to html
 mistakes the '>>>' prompt with quote characters.
 Short of AI good enough to actually parse the semantics and infer that
 in this rare case it's a prompt and not a third-level quote, I see no fix
 that can be done in the converter (and not be quite fragile).
 
 Please note that this error does not happen as soon as there's some
 whitespace in front of the prompt. If you indent your machine output,
 the mis-conversion will no longer happen.
 
 regards,
        spz