Agent and large counts and general offline usage

Agent and large counts and general offline usage

[Richard Riley]

(sorry if this is a re-mail - a combo of agent and blocked smtp server
port combined with exim4 inscrutability causing havoc here..)

Just using the agent for the first time abroad in an attempt to cut
online charges that result from the usb mobile network "roaming" cash
cow.

Plugged, adding a few nntp groups to the agent "default" category and
then fetching data using Js, I then go unplugged. So far so good. I can
read the fetched articles.

If I quit Gnus then restart unplugged the article counts are massive e.g
2390233 for one group that I had already caught up with.

If I go "plugged" then the count stays at that high number.

Is there a remedy?

release n0-15

Also the manual mentioned it not making much sense to add email methods
to the agent. Why? It makes good sense in the travelling abroad use case
where you want to plug your roaming data device in, fetch data and then
pull it out before the OS starts downloading updates etc and incurring
humongous roaming data bills. Couple with the send queue it seems highly
desirable to add email groups to the agent.

Re: Agent and large counts and general offline usage

[Steinar Bang]

>>>>> Richard Riley <rileyrg@googlemail.com>:

> Also the manual mentioned it not making much sense to add email
> methods to the agent.

I think by "email methods", the manual means nnmbox, nnmh, nnml, and the
like...?  It should have some kind of distinction between those methods
and nnimap, where it makes perfect sense to use the agent.

I guess patches to the manual are welcome...? :-)

On a side note: are patches to the manual under the same assignment
regime as patches to the .el code?

On another note: I've seen issues with nnimap&agent (wrong article
cached, NOV lines instead of article in the cached articles), but not
the one you're describing.

Re: Agent and large counts and general offline usage

[Antoine Levitt]

24/03/11 01:25, Richard Riley
> (sorry if this is a re-mail - a combo of agent and blocked smtp server
> port combined with exim4 inscrutability causing havoc here..)
>
> Just using the agent for the first time abroad in an attempt to cut
> online charges that result from the usb mobile network "roaming" cash
> cow.
>
> Plugged, adding a few nntp groups to the agent "default" category and
> then fetching data using Js, I then go unplugged. So far so good. I can
> read the fetched articles.
>
> If I quit Gnus then restart unplugged the article counts are massive e.g
> 2390233 for one group that I had already caught up with.
>
> If I go "plugged" then the count stays at that high number.
>
> Is there a remedy?

I had the same issue a few weeks ago, it stopped with one of the
updates. I believe it was

    gnus-sum.el (gnus-propagate-marks): Change default back to nil
    again, since most backends do not usefully have server-side marks.

Re: Agent and large counts and general offline usage

[Richard Riley]

Antoine Levitt <antoine.levitt@gmail.com> writes:

> 24/03/11 01:25, Richard Riley
>> (sorry if this is a re-mail - a combo of agent and blocked smtp server
>> port combined with exim4 inscrutability causing havoc here..)
>>
>> Just using the agent for the first time abroad in an attempt to cut
>> online charges that result from the usb mobile network "roaming" cash
>> cow.
>>
>> Plugged, adding a few nntp groups to the agent "default" category and
>> then fetching data using Js, I then go unplugged. So far so good. I can
>> read the fetched articles.
>>
>> If I quit Gnus then restart unplugged the article counts are massive e.g
>> 2390233 for one group that I had already caught up with.
>>
>> If I go "plugged" then the count stays at that high number.
>>
>> Is there a remedy?
>
> I had the same issue a few weeks ago, it stopped with one of the
> updates. I believe it was
>
>     gnus-sum.el (gnus-propagate-marks): Change default back to nil
>     again, since most backends do not usefully have server-side marks.
>

Setting this to "nil" solved the problem. thanks.  That said I am sure I
set it for a reason. Now what I wonder ;))

Interestingly I parse the somewhat programmer orientated docstring the
exact other way.

,----
| Documentation:
| If non-nil, Gnus will store and retrieve marks from the backends.
| This means that marks will be stored both in .newsrc.eld and in
| the backend, and will slow operation down somewhat.
`----

This sounds to me like the marks are saved properly to .newsrc.eld, if
set to t, so offline counts should work. Yet its the other way
around. That said I have no idea what "propagating marks to a backend"
means in the context of Gnus..

Re: Agent and large counts and general offline usage

[Richard Riley]

Richard Riley <rileyrg@googlemail.com> writes:

> Antoine Levitt <antoine.levitt@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> 24/03/11 01:25, Richard Riley
>>> (sorry if this is a re-mail - a combo of agent and blocked smtp server
>>> port combined with exim4 inscrutability causing havoc here..)
>>>
>>> Just using the agent for the first time abroad in an attempt to cut
>>> online charges that result from the usb mobile network "roaming" cash
>>> cow.
>>>
>>> Plugged, adding a few nntp groups to the agent "default" category and
>>> then fetching data using Js, I then go unplugged. So far so good. I can
>>> read the fetched articles.
>>>
>>> If I quit Gnus then restart unplugged the article counts are massive e.g
>>> 2390233 for one group that I had already caught up with.
>>>
>>> If I go "plugged" then the count stays at that high number.
>>>
>>> Is there a remedy?
>>
>> I had the same issue a few weeks ago, it stopped with one of the
>> updates. I believe it was
>>
>>     gnus-sum.el (gnus-propagate-marks): Change default back to nil
>>     again, since most backends do not usefully have server-side marks.
>>
>
> Setting this to "nil" solved the problem. thanks.  That said I am sure I
> set it for a reason. Now what I wonder ;))
>

I spoke too soon. Plugged two of my 3 imap secondaries now show the same
wrong number at all times.
,----
| 
|   (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nnimap "riley"
|                 (nnir-search-engine imap) (nnimap-address
|                 "imap.gmail.com") ))
|    
|    (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nnimap "shamrockpub"
|                 (nnir-search-engine imap) (nnimap-address
|                 "imap.gmail.com") ))
|    
|    (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nnimap "friends"
|                 (nnir-search-engine imap) (nnimap-address
|                 "imap.gmail.com") ))
`----

The second two seem horribly bound :-

*                  Email    - ✉                                                
       ✉   (101)   Pub      - ✉                                                
       ✉   (101)   Friends  - ✉                                                

(I have my own group format settings)