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Insert a message into a thread [message #169259]

Sat, 14 September 2013 18:37

Parrot
Messages: 32
Registered: July 2013
Location: US

Karma: 1

Member

Can we insert a message to the middle of an existing thread (topic)?

Or can we change the sequence of individual messages?

Or can we change the date on a message so FF will sort it into the wanted order? (My guess is that this is the most likely solution.)

(This is needed where a thread has messages with dated reports, and we find one that should be inserted before some of the existing messages.)

I looked at the message date field in phpMyAdmin, but the date encoding is not obvious. I'd also be concerned about such a change breaking unknown FF functions.

So, can this be done? And if so, how.

Thanks.

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Re: Insert a message into a thread [message #169261 is a reply to message #169259]

Sun, 15 September 2013 07:26

naudefj

Messages: 3771
Registered: December 2004

Karma: 28

Senior Member
Administrator
Core Developer

This is an unusual request, but it should be quite easy to do if you update the DB directly.

Possible solution:
* Edit src/msg.php.t
* Change 'ORDER BY id' to 'ORDER BY post_stamp';
* Change 'ORDER BY m.id' to 'ORDER BY m.post_stamp';
* Go the the Theme Manager ACP and recompile your themes.

To change the date of a message:
* UPDATE fud30_msg set post_stamp = ... where id = ....

Date conversion:
SQL> SELECT post_stamp, FROM_UNIXTIME(post_stamp), UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2013-09-15 03:26:41') from fud30_msg where id = 169261;

1379230001	2013-09-15 03:26:41	1379230001

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Re: Insert a message into a thread [message #169263 is a reply to message #169261]

Sun, 15 September 2013 12:27

Parrot
Messages: 32
Registered: July 2013
Location: US

Karma: 1

Member

Thanks. I'll try it as soon as I get back tomorrow. Can't wait.

Curious: Why not just change the message ID and leave everything else alone?

Example:

Can we:

Would that put them in the correct order?

If it's not easy or safe to mess with message IDs, can we:

new

Would that low-tech method work?
.

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Re: Insert a message into a thread [message #169270 is a reply to message #169263]

Mon, 16 September 2013 17:08

naudefj

Messages: 3771
Registered: December 2004

Karma: 28

Senior Member
Administrator
Core Developer

Not all databases will allow you to update the primary key. If yours do, create a test message, record its ID and delete it. You can now use this ID to perform the swap operation between messages X and Y:

UPDATE fud30_msg set id = [TEST_MSG_ID] where id = [X];
UPDATE fud30_msg set id = [X] where id = [Y];
UPDATE fud30_msg set id = [Y] where id = [TEST_MSG_ID];

Let us know if it works.

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Re: Insert a message into a thread [message #169273 is a reply to message #169270]

Mon, 16 September 2013 18:15

Parrot
Messages: 32
Registered: July 2013
Location: US

Karma: 1

Member

Thanks. I get the idea and can try that, but first...

There may be a way that (a) is suitable for frequent use, and (b) can be used by a moderator/administrator who will not have server access to edit the database.

Possible solution:

. . Example: A topic has two messages. Let's insert a new message between them.

Comment: Step three does not Move the last message of the old topic into the new topic. Instead, it copies-and-pastes the text into a new-topc Reply. That's because Moving a message into an existing topic does not add it to the end but replaces all existing messages in the target topic. Er, don't ask how I found out :)

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