PATCH: pop3.el (pop3-movemail): handle network errors

PATCH: pop3.el (pop3-movemail): handle network errors

[Peter von der Ahé]

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Hi!

I have an unreliable pop server which sometimes refuses connections.
Thus I would like if pop3-movemail could handle a file-error from
open-network-stream.

I have made a patch, against p0.80, which makes pop3-movemail more
robust in case of errors and offer the user the ability to probagate
the error or try to recover the error.

I'm not sure that this right place for error handling.  Some error
handling is reguired (the crashbox file should to be written to disk),
but the error needs to be propagated back to Gnus - any suggestions on
how to handle the error in Gnus?


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(Note that many lines in the patch comes from re-indentation).

My nnmail-spool-file is, in case you wonder:

  `((pop :program "/root/popgetmail %u %t"
         :server "daimi.au.dk"
         :user "pahe")
    (pop :password ,my-secret-pop-password
         :server "ahe.dk"
         :user "DELETED TO AVOID SPAMMING")
    (directory :path "/users/pahe/Gnus/Mail/" :suffix ".spool"))

Kind Regards
Peter

-- 
		  · Peter von der Ahé · Systems programmer ·
	      · Office phone: +45 89 42 31 41 · Office: 540.030 ·
		    · <URL:http://www.daimi.au.dk/~pahe/> ·

Re: PATCH: pop3.el (pop3-movemail): handle network errors

[Stainless Steel Rat]

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* pahe@daimi.au.dk (Peter von der Ahé)  on Wed, 07 Apr 1999
| I have made a patch, against p0.80, which makes pop3-movemail more
| robust in case of errors and offer the user the ability to probagate
| the error or try to recover the error.

*sigh*

No, really, pop3-movemail is a *reference*.  It should not be anything more
than a bare-bones substitute for movemail -- mostly because I don't want to
even try to maintain code that I do not fully understand.  If you need
something more than pop3-movemail, take a look at Franklin Lee's epop3mail
which is a more featureful POP client built on pop3.
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Re: PATCH: pop3.el (pop3-movemail): handle network errors

[Peter von der Ahé]

>>>>> "Rat" == Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> writes:

 Rat> No, really, pop3-movemail is a *reference*.

If pop3.el is a reference, then why is it included in pgnus?  Are
users supposed to write their own pop-movemail function (using pop3.el
as reference)?  Is pgnus just a reference?  Should I write my own
newsreader/mailer using pgnus as a reference?

>From "Mail Source Specifiers" node in the Info pages:

     You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by creating a "mail source
  specifier".
  
     Here's an example:
  
       (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")

This will use pop3-movemail from pop3.el by default, but there is no
mention that this is using a reference program which can make your
mail disappear (until you use M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases).

 Rat> It should not be anything more than a bare-bones substitute for
 Rat> movemail -- mostly because I don't want to even try to maintain
 Rat> code that I do not fully understand.

I can not see why pop3 needs to be so bare-bone that it can not handle
simple network errors.  Where I come from we handle exceptions (and
check return value from system calls) and if we forget we do not sigh
at people who bring that to our attention.

 Rat> If you need something more than pop3-movemail, take a look at
 Rat> Franklin Lee's epop3mail which is a more featureful POP client
 Rat> built on pop3.

As far as I can see epop3mail is not included with pgnus, written for
RMAIL (but will not load rmail.el if some variable is set to 'gnus),
and included in NT Emacs.  This suggests to me that pop3.el is the
right thing to use - so how are users supposed to figure out that they
should find the NT Emacs FAQ, search for ep3m-097.zip, guess how
epop3mail interfaces to the new mail source specifiers to be able to
use POP in pgnus?

/Peter

-- 
		  · Peter von der Ahé · Systems programmer ·
	      · Office phone: +45 89 42 31 41 · Office: 540.030 ·
		    · <URL:http://www.daimi.au.dk/~pahe/> ·

Re: PATCH: pop3.el (pop3-movemail): handle network errors

[Stainless Steel Rat]

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* pahe@daimi.au.dk (Peter von der Ahé)  on Wed, 07 Apr 1999
| I can not see why pop3 needs to be so bare-bone that it can not handle
| simple network errors.

For the simple reason that pop3 is a library, not a client.  Libraries
provide functions, clients provide features like error handling.
pop3-movemail is a reference function, something to give real programmers
an example of how to use the library.  I never intended it to be used by
anyone but myself (and it constantly amazes me that so many use it anyway).

I have nothing against anyone writing the World's Greatest POP Client.
Please! if you can write the beast then do so.  But please, do not expect
me to maintain it.  I am not a programmer.  Things like condition-case and
throw/catch give me a headache.  If I understood them better, I probably
would have included something like that at the outset.  I don't.  I didn't.
Deal.
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