IMAP groups created but folders unsub'ed on server

IMAP groups created but folders unsub'ed on server

[D. Michael McFarland]

Lately I've been trying to convert from using spool files and nnmail
to communicating with an IMAP server via nnimap.  Aside from the
aesthetics of INBOX and .foo.bar subfolders, I'm pretty happy with how
this works, but there's one behavior I don't understand well enough
for my modest purposes.

I'm running Gentoo Linux, using postfix to deliver outgoing mail, and
have installed Courier IMAP.  I retrieve incoming mail with fetchmail
and deliver it through procmail to ~/Maildir, which the IMAP server is
happy to call INBOX.  Both Gnus (v. 5.10.3) and the SquirrelMail
client manipulate the messages in INBOX just fine, so I suppose I
can't have things too fouled up.  But if I could leave well enough
alone, I wouldn't be running Gnus in the first place.

Suppose I add a rule to nnimap-split-rule that directs a message to an
IMAP folder that doesn't already exist.  New or respooled mail will be
sent to that folder, but I can't find it (the folder) in Gnus (which
probably means I'm looking in the wrong place).  If I quit Gnus and
start SquirrelMail, the latter's Folders screen offers a list of
folders that are subscribed or unsubscribed (from the IMAP server's
point of view), and I can easily subscribe to the new folder that was
created through Gnus.  If I now quit SquirrelMail and start Gnus, Gnus
notices the new folder and offers to subscribe it as a group.  I would
like to avoid the SquirrelMail step if possible.  Should Gnus take
care of subscribing the folder on the IMAP server automatically?

I don't know a lot about IMAP, and I've probably mangled the
vocabulary horribly here, but perhaps someone can tell me how to ask
Gnus to ask the IMAP server to subscribe to a new folder.  Thanks for
any help.

Best regards,
Michael

Re: IMAP groups created but folders unsub'ed on server

[D. Michael McFarland]

Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> writes:

> dmmcf@uiuc.edu (D. Michael McFarland) writes:
>
>> Suppose I add a rule to nnimap-split-rule that directs a message to an
>> IMAP folder that doesn't already exist.  New or respooled mail will be
>> sent to that folder, but I can't find it (the folder) in Gnus
>> ...
>> Should Gnus take
>> care of subscribing the folder on the IMAP server automatically?
>
> You can subscribe to IMAP mailboxes within Gnus via the Server buffer.
> Type ^ in the group buffer, and enter your nnimap server and subscribe
> to the new group.

After entering the IMAP server, I see only INBOX.  Should I see its
subfolders?

> Or you can, in the group buffer, simply type U and the name of the
> nnimap group.

Tab completion offers

1. groups subscribed in Gnus and

2. folders subscribed on the IMAP server but not (yet) subscribed as
   Gnus groups.

It's point 2 that has me wondering.   It would be nice if, when Gnus
creates a folder as a result of splitting, that folder was brought to
the attention of the IMAP server.  So nice, that I suspect it would
happen if I had things properly configured.

I just tried creating a new folder in SquirrelMail.  The next time I
started Gnus, it offered to subscribe to a corresponding group.
Evidently "creating a folder on the IMAP server" means different
things to the two clients.

Thanks for your quick response, Simon, but I think I'm still missing
something.

Michael

Re: IMAP groups created but folders unsub'ed on server

[D. Michael McFarland]

Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> writes:

> You can subscribe to IMAP mailboxes within Gnus via the Server buffer.
> Type ^ in the group buffer, and enter your nnimap server and subscribe
> to the new group.

Sure enough, I can, now that I've changed nnimap-list-pattern from
"INBOX" to "INBOX*".  This behavior is just what I wanted.  Thanks for
the encouragement.

Michael