Problems when switching from vm to gnus

Problems when switching from vm to gnus

[Guido Van Hoecke]

Hi, 

I am considering to use gnus for reading mail. I started by
declaring my current vm folders to gnus with following .gnus file:
	(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
	           '((nnfolder "")))
	(setq nnfolder-directory "~/nsmail/")
	(setq nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)

I started gnus, issued ^ to go to the server buffer, did find an
nnfolder server, issued a 'g' to regenerate the folder, and a 'q' to
return to the groups buffer, issued an 'F' to find my newly generated
folders, and bingo: there they were.

However, looking at one of the folders, gnus told me it has 26
messages, whereas vm tells me there are 36 messages in the folder.!??
Some of these messages have large bas64 encoded binary attachments,
but I imagine that gnus should be able to handle that?

A second problem is that it did not find all the existing
folders. Some folders that are perfectly readable by vm, just do not
appear in the list of generated folders.

The active file contains a number of entries for folders called
"nil". The nsmail directory contains .~n~ backup files for most
folders, but again, I would have hoped that this would not upset nor
desorient gnus.

I append a directory listing, the active file and a part of the
generated .newsrc.eld file.

I hope that this may help to come up with some pointers about this
funny behavior. 

Guido.


The directory content:
total 179340
drwx------   2 hoeckeg  we2          2560 Dec 29 00:35 .
drwxr-xr-x  46 hoeckeg  we2          6144 Dec 29 00:40 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2            69 Dec 26 20:41 .dired
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        422397 Dec 29 00:35 Inbox
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        417438 Dec 28 23:08 Inbox.~112~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        446280 Dec 29 00:25 Inbox.~113~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        284611 Nov 18 16:11 Inbox.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       5335869 Dec  8 16:06 Inbox.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2           627 Dec 23 11:27 Sent.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       3050812 Nov 17 10:14 actie.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2375439 Dec  1 13:29 actie.~2~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2           478 Dec 29 00:30 active
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          6142 Nov 17 10:13 anchordesk.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        438086 Dec 29 00:05 bbdb
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        411409 Dec 11 09:51 bbdb.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        425355 Dec 12 23:41 bbdb.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        437878 Dec 24 13:16 bbdb.~3~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          1774 Dec  8 15:15 drafts.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          1836 Dec 17 23:51 drafts.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1461075 Dec 29 00:05 emacs
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         27340 Nov 17 22:04 emacs.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        847007 Dec 11 15:20 emacs.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1456017 Dec 27 21:13 emacs.~8~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1459153 Dec 28 18:07 emacs.~9~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         84511 Dec 17 23:52 familie
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          9213 Nov 17 08:15 familie.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         84447 Dec 11 23:30 familie.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2084115 Dec 29 00:06 filemgtneos
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        959939 Nov 10 21:02 filemgtneos.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1666098 Nov 26 10:41 filemgtneos.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2019926 Dec 18 13:40 filemgtneos.~8~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2083488 Dec 22 20:49 filemgtneos.~9~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1238238 Dec 29 00:06 gnus
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          1206 Nov 17 19:47 gnus.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1141237 Dec 12 22:51 gnus.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1237906 Dec 19 21:17 gnus.~3~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        105368 Dec 29 00:06 laughs
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         34829 Nov 16 11:20 laughs.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         80738 Dec 17 14:33 laughs.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        105057 Dec 27 00:15 laughs.~3~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         12943 Dec 17 23:52 lijntest
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         11370 Nov  6 09:56 lijntest.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         12881 Dec  5 07:28 lijntest.~2~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2         37761 Dec 18 00:54 mail.misc.~1~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2         61666 Dec 18 01:15 mail.misc.~2~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2         63513 Dec 18 01:28 mail.misc.~3~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2         66902 Dec 18 01:45 mail.misc.~4~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         10661 Nov 19 09:23 meetings
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          7028 Nov 14 21:50 meetings.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        262732 Dec 17 23:52 memento
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        243908 Nov  6 22:19 memento.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        262545 Dec  1 13:38 memento.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1941527 Dec 29 00:06 newsmail
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1571589 Dec 17 14:38 newsmail.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1917569 Dec 23 08:14 newsmail.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1940516 Dec 23 10:39 newsmail.~3~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          5986 Nov 17 20:30 ntemacs-users.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         21727 Dec 17 22:17 personeelszaken
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          3194 Nov 13 11:43 personeelszaken.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         21541 Dec  5 09:47 personeelszaken.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         13665 Nov 19 09:25 persoverzicht
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         29775 Nov 18 22:34 redherring
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         29650 Nov 14 21:56 redherring.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2      13721554 Dec 29 00:06 sent
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        809943 Nov  6 20:28 sent.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2      13183857 Dec  9 14:30 sent.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2      13448037 Dec 22 11:37 sent.~7~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2      13719552 Dec 28 22:57 sent.~8~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         29958 Dec 17 23:53 software
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         29832 Nov 19 10:49 software.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        276239 Dec 17 22:17 spruiten
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        269954 Nov 17 08:14 spruiten.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        276054 Dec  1 13:29 spruiten.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2          8875 Nov 19 09:32 tourbus
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       9225149 Dec 29 00:29 trunktest
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       9225135 Dec 29 00:07 trunktest.~12~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       9225142 Dec 29 00:14 trunktest.~13~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       3976756 Nov  7 13:43 trunktest.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       9186610 Dec 10 15:54 trunktest.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2408934 Dec 29 00:07 varia
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2         24927 Nov 17 15:39 varia.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2008812 Dec 16 20:57 varia.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2400502 Dec 22 09:07 varia.~4~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       2408314 Dec 23 10:40 varia.~5~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       7961503 Dec 27 19:42 ve
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       4764808 Nov 17 18:16 ve.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       5723941 Dec 10 15:50 ve.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       5783186 Dec 12 12:12 ve.~7~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       5980759 Dec 16 20:03 ve.~8~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2       1076847 Dec 26 23:56 vim
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2        120141 Dec  8 13:33 vim.~1~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2        475522 Dec 10 20:30 vim.~2~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2       1025022 Dec 19 21:24 vim.~4~
-rw-r--r--   1 hoeckeg  we2       1025036 Dec 22 09:07 vim.~5~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        705698 Dec 18 09:28 woodys_office_watch
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        506961 Nov 16 11:28 woodys_office_watch.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        670626 Dec 10 14:04 woodys_office_watch.~2~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        111558 Dec 29 00:07 xemacs
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        110101 Dec  9 13:18 xemacs.~1~
-rw-------   1 hoeckeg  we2        110100 Dec 27 00:44 xemacs.~2~


The content of the active file:
nil 24 1 y
xemacs 0 1 y
woodys_office_watch 46 1 y
ve 49 1 y
varia 15 1 y
trunktest 26 1 y
tourbus 30 30 y
software 2 1 y
sent 361 1 y
personeelszaken 3 1 y
newsmail 92 1 y
lijntest 3 1 y
laughs 9 1 y
gnus 283 1 y
filemgtneos 38 1 y
nil 32 1 y
nil 4 1 y
nil 17 1 y
Inbox 0 1 y
bbdb 36 1 y
emacs 247 1 y
familie 6 1 y
nil 10 1 y
nil 6 1 y
nil 5 1 y
meetings 41 1 y
memento 42 1 y
nil 16 1 y
persoverzicht 33 33 y
redherring 2 1 y
nil 32 1 y
spruiten 996 1 y
nil 7 1 y
nil 10 1 y

The (flowed) content of the ~/.newsrc.eld file:
;; -*- emacs-lisp -*-
;; Gnus startup file.
;; Never delete this file - touch .newsrc instead to force Gnus
;; to read .newsrc.
(setq gnus-newsrc-file-version "Gnus v5.5") (setq
gnus-newsrc-last-checked-date '"Mon Dec 29 00:09:02 1997") (setq
gnus-newsrc-alist '(("nnfolder:Inbox" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:bbdb" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:gnus" 3 nil nil
(nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:laughs" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:lijntest" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:meetings" 3
nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:newsmail" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:personeelszaken" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:redherring" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:trunktest"
3 ((1 . 2)) nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:ve" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:woodys_office_watch" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:xemacs" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:filemgtneos" 3
nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:sent" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:spruiten" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:varia" 3 nil
nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:emacs" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:familie" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:memento" 3 nil
nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:nil" 3 nil nil (nnfolder ""))
("nnfolder:software" 3 nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:tourbus" 3
nil nil (nnfolder "")) ("nnfolder:persoverzicht" 3 nil nil (nnfolder
"")) ("news.announce.newusers" 6 nil) ("news.groups.questions" 6 nil)
("gnu.emacs.gnus" 3 ((1 . 11631) (11633 . 11634) (11638 . 11639) 11642
11649 (11663 . 11665) (11667 . 11669) 11671 11675 11682 (11688
. 11689) 11701 11705 11710 (11741 . 11742) 11744 (11746 . 11747) 11761
11814)) ("comp.emacs.xemacs" 3 ((1 . 26443))))) (setq gnus-killed-list
'("alcatel.alcanet" [.... removed all newsgroups that were in this
list ...] "vmsnet.vms-posix")) (setq gnus-format-specs '((article-mode
"Gnus: %%b %S" (concat (format "Gnus: %%b %s" gnus-tmp-subject)))
(summary-dummy "* %(: :%) %S\n" (progn (insert "* ")
(gnus-put-text-property (point) (progn (insert ": :") (point))
gnus-mouse-face-prop gnus-mouse-face) (insert " " gnus-tmp-subject
"\n"))) (summary-mode "Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z" (concat (format "Gnus: %%b
[%d] %s" gnus-tmp-article-number gnus-tmp-unread-and-unselected)))
(summary "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n" (progn (insert
gnus-tmp-unread gnus-tmp-replied gnus-tmp-score-char
gnus-tmp-indentation) (gnus-put-text-property (point) (progn (insert
(format "%c%4d: %-20s%c" gnus-tmp-opening-bracket gnus-tmp-lines (if
(> (length gnus-tmp-name) 20) (substring gnus-tmp-name 0 20)
gnus-tmp-name) gnus-tmp-closing-bracket)) (point))
gnus-mouse-face-prop gnus-mouse-face) (insert " "
gnus-tmp-subject-or-nil "\n"))) (group-mode "Gnus: %%b {%M%:%S}"
(concat (format "Gnus: %%b {%s%s%s}" gnus-tmp-news-method
gnus-tmp-colon gnus-tmp-news-server))) (group "%M%S%p%P%5y:
%(%g%)%l\n" (progn (insert (format "%c%c%c%s%5s: "
gnus-tmp-marked-mark gnus-tmp-subscribed gnus-tmp-process-marked
gnus-group-indentation gnus-tmp-number-of-unread))
(gnus-put-text-property (point) (progn (insert gnus-tmp-group)
(point)) gnus-mouse-face-prop gnus-mouse-face) (insert
gnus-tmp-grouplens "\n"))) (version . "20.3 \"Vatican City\" XEmacs
Lucid")))

Re: Problems when switching from vm to gnus

[Kai Grossjohann]

>>>>> On Wed, 31 Dec 1997, Guido Van Hoecke said:

  Guido> A second problem is that it did not find all the existing
  Guido> folders. Some folders that are perfectly readable by vm, just
  Guido> do not appear in the list of generated folders.

You can type "G m" for each group that's missing.  Does this help?

Please note that the VM file format is (slightly) different from the
nnfolder file format.  nnfolder uses an .overview file (I think)
whereas VM uses the header X-Vm-V5-Data (or suchlike) for caching data
about all articles.

kai
-- 
Kai Grossjohann, Informatik VI        grossjohann@ls6.cs.uni-dortmund.de
Uni Dortmund, D-44221 Dortmund        http://ls6-www.cs.uni-dortmund.de/
                                      Vox +49 231 755 5670, Fax -2405
I like both kinds of music.

Re: Problems when switching from vm to gnus

[Guido Van Hoecke]

Hi Kai,

On , January 1, 1998 at 19:15 
Kai Grossjohann <grossjohann@charly.cs.uni-dortmund.de> wrote :
> >>>>> On Wed, 31 Dec 1997, Guido Van Hoecke said:
> 
>   Guido> A second problem is that it did not find all the existing
>   Guido> folders. Some folders that are perfectly readable by vm, just
>   Guido> do not appear in the list of generated folders.
> 
> You can type "G m" for each group that's missing.  Does this help?

That solved the missing folders problem, thanks Kai.

> Please note that the VM file format is (slightly) different from the
> nnfolder file format.  nnfolder uses an .overview file (I think)

I've never seen such an .overview file.

> whereas VM uses the header X-Vm-V5-Data (or suchlike) for caching data
> about all articles.

Thanks for the info.

Unfortanutely, the other problems still remain:

[...]
However, looking at one of the folders, gnus told me it has 26
messages, whereas vm tells me there are 36 messages in the folder.!??
Some of these messages have large bas64 encoded binary attachments,
but I imagine that gnus should be able to handle that?

[...] 
The active file contains a number of entries for folders called
"nil". The nsmail directory contains .~n~ backup files for most
folders, but again, I would have hoped that this would not upset nor
desorient gnus.

Guido.