Re: Can I specify a spool file to read from?

["Edward J. Sabol" <sabol@thuban.gsfc.nasa.gov>]

Excerpts from mail: (06-Apr-96) Re: Can I specify a spool file to read from? by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
> "Edward J. Sabol" <sabol@thuban.gsfc.nasa.gov> writes:
>> Red Gnus feature request: Lars, would you consider adding support for a
>> spool file *group parameter*, so we can specify whatever input spool files
>> we want, in whatever directories we want, and however many spool files we
>> want for a specific group? This group parameter should override any Gnus
>> variable related to this issue.
>
> Well -- I'm not sure I like this idea. The backends should be as
> independent as possible from Gnus proper. Anyways, if you have the mail
> backend as a secondary select method, Gnus just does a `nn*-request-scan'
> without any parameters, and having to trudge through the newsrc alist for
> spool files would be a waste of precious time.

Well, I still think a group parameter is the natural user interface for
setting something like this. But if you think that would be inefficient, then
I'm willing to accept some alternative scheme (add a new variable named
`nnmail-spool-alist'? or better yet overload `nnmail-spool-file' to accept an
alist?). However, I feel strongly that there needs to be some intelligent way
of saying which spool file(s) to get new mail from for a specific group. This
method should allow one to specify multiple spool files for any group. It
should allow the spool files to be named whatever you want and be located
whereever you want to put them. The current set of Gnus variables just
doesn't give the user enough freedom in this regard.