Re: newsgroup variables

[Shenghuo ZHU <zsh@cs.rochester.edu>]

>>>>> "KG" == Kai Großjohann <Kai.Grossjohann@CS.Uni-Dortmund.DE> writes:

KG> Shenghuo ZHU <zsh@cs.rochester.edu> writes:
>> I am going to add a feature that enable users to customize variables
>> as newsgroup variables, i.e. variables that have separate values in
>> newsgroups.

KG> Hm.  In what way is this different than the variables you can
KG> already configure in the group parameters?

Newsgroup variables are like local variables. They are associated to
the current "active" group. For example, you want to use
gnus-use-cache with different values for different groups. But when
you have two summary buffers at the same time, the second group
setting may override the first one. It may simply solved by making
those variables as local variables of the summary buffer, but the
article buffer may use the variables also. The implementation is just
like gnus-newsgroup-name does, i.e. replacing the global values with
the local values after switching to a summary buffer.

Group parameters are not variables. To access variables, you have to
call get-parameter functions. And you can not use gnus-use-cache as a
group parameter.

KG> One thing which would be nice is this: some variables are used in
KG> the summary buffer, others are used in the article buffer, and
KG> still others are used in the message buffers that are created from
KG> the summary buffer.  Could you do stuff that copies the variables
KG> over to all these buffers so that the right thing happens?

The variables are not copied to all these buffers, just copied
globally. Actually, the article buffer has few local variables besides
gnus-summary-buffer. I can not find that the message buffer has such a
local variable. Maybe we should make one.

-- 
Shenghuo