I want to parse RFC822 header "Date:" field for an application

[Andrew Lynch]

Hello,

Would someone please advise me on if and how I should 
use mailutils?

I am working with the author of a cross platform free
(GPL) mail filter program debugging and adding some
features.  It is written in C and uses Cygwin for the
Win32 port.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/savemymodem

I am trying to parse the "Date:" field string of
RFC822 messages so that I can sort the messages by
date.  I would like to convert the date string into
some means that can be sorted such as an integer or a
formatted string like "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS".  The
present RFC822 date field does not sort properly by
date due to its present format.

Ideally, I could just install "libmailbox" on my
Cygwin installation and just #include a header and
access parse822_date_time().  That would be great but
I really don't think its that simple.

I have reviewed the CVS and found parse822.c and
parse822_date_time() that *appears* to be exactly what
I am looking for.  If this is not the case, *PLEASE*
let me know!

The "libmailbox" is not currently part of the Cygwin
distribution and I will need to install to get this to
work.  Obviously, I expect is going to be a major
effort so I'd like to know before I start if my
approach is feasible or not.  

My other option is just to write in C a simple string
parsing function based on the RFC822 format.  That
seems such a waste though since you have apparently
already done that!  I really doubt a hand coded
function would be as general or robust as the ones in
parse822.c.

Is there any way to just "make libmailbox" without all
the other features?  I have downloaded the tarball but
have not started with automake so I haven't read the
INSTALL file it generates.

Would someone be so kind as to constructively comment
on my approach?  I appreciate your time.  If possible,
send cc:'s to this account.  I will also be monitoring
the bug-mailutils mailing list archive for responses.

Thanks in advance.

Andrew Lynch

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