loncom/interface/lonmsg.pm - diff

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Diff for /loncom/interface/lonmsg.pm between versions 1.57 and 1.58

-version 1.57, 2003/07/05 10:07:11
+version 1.58, 2003/07/25 01:18:04
  Line 44
  #
  package Apache::lonmsg;
+ =pod
+ =head1 NAME
+ Apache::lonmsg: supports internal messaging
+ =head1 SYNOPSIS
+ lonmsg provides routines for sending messages, receiving messages, and
+ a handler to allow users to read, send, and delete messages.
+ =head1 OVERVIEW
+ =head2 Messaging Overview
+ X<messages>LON-CAPA provides an internal messaging system similar to
+ email, but customized for LON-CAPA's usage. LON-CAPA implements its
+ own messaging system, rather then building on top of email, because of
+ the features LON-CAPA messages can offer that conventional e-mail can
+ not:
+ =over 4
+ =item * B<Critical messages>: A message the recipient B<must>
+ acknowlegde receipt of before they are allowed to continue using the
+ system, preventing a user from claiming they never got a message
+ =item * B<Receipts>: LON-CAPA can reliably send reciepts informing the
+ sender that it has been read; again, useful for preventing students
+ from claiming they did not see a message. (While conventional e-mail
+ has some reciept support, it's sporadic, e-mail client-specific, and
+ generally the receiver can opt to not send one, making it useless in
+ this case.)
+ =item * B<Context>: LON-CAPA knows about the sender, such as where
+ they are in a course. When a student mails an instructor asking for
+ help on the problem, the instructor receives not just the student's
+ question, but all submissions the student has made up to that point,
+ the user's rendering of the problem, and the complete view the student
+ saw of the resource, including discussion up to that point. Finally,
+ the instructor is reading all of this inside of LON-CAPA, not their
+ email program, so they have full access to LON-CAPA's grading
+ interface, or other features they may wish to use in response to the
+ student's query.
+ =back
+ Users can ask LON-CAPA to forward messages to conventional e-mail
+ addresses on their B<PREF> screen, but generally, LON-CAPA messages
+ are much more useful then traditional email can be made to be, even
+ with HTML support.
+ Right now, this document will cover just how to send a message, since
+ it is likely you will not need to programmatically read messages,
+ since lonmsg already implements that functionality.
+ =head1 FUNCTIONS
+ =over 4
+ =cut
  use strict;
  use Apache::lonnet();
  use vars qw($msgcount);
- Line 192  sub newmail {
+ Line 254  sub newmail {
  # =============================== Automated message to the author of a resource
+ =pod
+ =item * B<author_res_msg($filename, $message)>: Sends message $message to the owner
+     of the resource with the URI $filename.
+ =cut
  sub author_res_msg {
      my ($filename,$message)=@_;
      unless ($message) { return 'empty'; }
- Line 255  sub user_crit_msg_raw {
+ Line 324  sub user_crit_msg_raw {
  # New routine that respects "forward" and calls old routine
+ =pod
+ =item * B<user_crit_msg($user, $domain, $subject, $message, $sendback)>: Sends
+     a critical message $message to the $user at $domain. If $sendback is true,
+     a reciept will be sent to the current user when $user recieves the message.
+ =cut
  sub user_crit_msg {
      my ($user,$domain,$subject,$message,$sendback)=@_;
      my $status='';
- Line 335  sub user_normal_msg_raw {
+ Line 412  sub user_normal_msg_raw {
  # New routine that respects "forward" and calls old routine
+ =pod
+ =item * B<user_normal_msg($user, $domain, $subject, $message,
+     $citation, $baseurl, $attachmenturl)>: Sends a message to the
+     $user at $domain, with subject $subject and message $message.
+ =cut
  sub user_normal_msg {
      my ($user,$domain,$subject,$message,$citation,$baseurl,$attachmenturl)=@_;
      my $status='';
- Line 970  BEGIN {
+ Line 1055  BEGIN {
      $msgcount=0;
  }
+ =pod
+ =back
+ =end
 ;
  __END__

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