Refactor Privmsg to handle long messages

This page documents the recent refactor of the Privmsg handling in Hanna, aimed at supporting longer messages efficiently.

Background

Hanna is an IRC bot framework that processes various IRC messages, including private messages (Privmsg). Originally, the Privmsg handler was limited in handling message length, which posed issues with longer messages or special use cases.

Objective of the Refactor

The main goal was to modify the Privmsg processing to support longer messages without breaking existing functionalities or compromising performance.

Changes Implemented

• Refactored the message parsing logic to buffer longer messages.
• Implemented a chunking mechanism to split long messages appropriately.
• Ensured that message reassembly maintains message integrity.
• Added unit tests to verify the handling of various message lengths.
• Improved error handling and logging for long messages.

Technical Details

The refactor involved modifying the core Privmsg handling function to check message length and apply chunking when threshold limits are exceeded. The message is split intelligently at newline characters or spaces to preserve readability.

Impact on Hanna

This change allows Hanna to process and relay longer messages seamlessly, enhancing usability especially in scenarios involving large data or verbose notifications.

Future Considerations

Additional improvements could include dynamic message size configurations, better support for Unicode characters, and integration with external message segmentation services.

Conclusion

The refactor significantly improves Hanna's message handling capabilities, making it more robust and flexible. Developers and users are encouraged to test the new implementation and provide feedback.

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This page will be updated with further details as more insights are gained post-deployment.