various nnml questions, many about cross-posted mail messages

[jbw@cs.bu.edu (Joe Wells)]

GNU Emacs 19.31.1 (sparc-sun-solaris2.4, X toolkit) of Wed Jun  5 1996 on csb
Gnus v5.1; nntp 4.0; nnml 1.0; nnmh 1.0; nndir 1.0; nndoc 1.0

I want to switch to using the "nnml" back end to read my e-mail.
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))

I have a number of questions about Gnus in this configuration.  These may
reflect problems which have been fixed in the most recent version of Gnus,
which I do not have now since I am using the version in the latest
standard Emacs distribution.  I am interested in knowing whether my
difficulties have been fixed.

1. An article is cross-posted to two mail groups:
   
     Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:1 mail.to-jbw:3

   I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
   article.  I type "B DEL".  The file ~/Mail/mail/emacs/bbdb/1 is
   unlinked.  The file ~/Mail/mail/to-jbw/3 is untouched.  In particular,
   it still has the old "Xref:" header, which is incorrect because the
   article is no longer in mail.emacs.bbdb.

   Questions:

     A: Is this fixed?
     B: Is there a command that will remove the article from all of the
        mail groups to which it is cross-posted?

2. In the Summary buffer, the "B m" command asks for a target group.  I
   type in a name.  It complains that the group doesn't exist.  (The group
   does indeed not exist yet.  I don't care.  I want the message in that
   group.)

   Question:

     * Is there a command that will just create the group instead of
       failing?

3. An article is cross-posted to two mail groups:

     Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:2 mail.list.info-bbdb:1

   I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
   article.  I type "B m" and specify the group "mail.misc".  The file
   ~/Mail/mail/emacs/bbdb/2 is unlinked.  The file ~/Mail/list/info-bbdb/1
   is untouched.  In particular, it still has the old "Xref:" header,
   which is incorrect because the other copy for the article is no longer
   in mail.emacs.bbdb, but is instead in mail.misc.  The new file in
   mail.misc has the following wrong "Xref:" header:

     Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.misc:48

   This is wrong because the message is cross-posted to
   "mail.list.info-bbdb".

   Questions:

     A: Is this fixed?
     B: Is there a command that will take an article which is cross-posted
        to groups A and B and make it cross-posted to A, B, and C?  The "B
        c" command does not seem to preserve cross-posting links.

4. Question: How do people keep track of whether they have edited a
   message or forwarded it?

5. An article is cross-posted to multiple mail groups:

     Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:4 mail.emacs.mail-extr:1 mail.to-jbw:22

   I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
   article.  I type "!" to tick the article.  I exit this summary and
   enter the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.mail-extr.  There is no tick
   mark for this article in the group mail.emacs.mail-extr.

   Question:

     * Is there a variable setting so that any mark change (adding or
       removing a mark) I apply to a message in one group is immediately
       applied to the same message in any other groups to which it is
       cross-posted?  Right now only the "R" marks seem to be propagated.

6. I am importing some mailboxes from VM.  Question: How do I arrange that
   articles to which I have replied in VM get the "A" mark?

7. Question: What is the difference between the "%g" and "%G" format
   specifications for the Group buffer?

8. Question: How do I assign group descriptions to mail groups?

9. Question: Is there a command to burst a digest or encapsulated message,
   handling the contained messages as though they had arrived via the mail
   spool?

10. Question: Is there a command to resend a message using the
    "Resent-To:", "Resent-From:", "Resent-Date:", and "Resent-Message-ID:"
    headers? 

-- 
Thanks,

Joe Wells <jbw@cs.bu.edu>