I maintain a list archive as a full-text database (along the lines
of what Humanist does or did) for a list of which I am the chief
administrator.  One problem we come across regularly is the differing
formats for the "From:" line.  Of course the tag itself is standard,
but the format of what follows is not.  For example, I've seen the
following (I'll use my own name and address as an example):
 
From:   William Schipper <[log in to unmask]>
From:   "William Schipper" <[log in to unmask]>
From:   (William Schipper) <[log in to unmask]>
From:   Schipper, William <[log in to unmask]>
From:   William [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
 
(The last one actually occurs with an AOL.COM address attached to the
family name). There are other permutations possible.
 
Is there a way for LISTSERV to standardize this so that it always comes
through as in the first line?  My alternative is a perl filter, or
something similar which will strip out the unwanted characters (I'm
working on that). But since LISTSERV is such a powerful program, do I
need to resort to that workaround?
 
bill
 
 
 
--
Dr. W. Schipper                     Email: [log in to unmask]
Department of English,              Tel: 709-737-4406
Memorial University                 Fax: 709-737-4528
St John's, Nfld. A1C 5S7