Still having mail problems with version 0.88

Still having mail problems with version 0.88

[Lloyd Zusman]

In pgnus-0.88 as well as 0.87 and 0.86, I've been having email
problems with pgnus.  Everything works fine in version 0.85, which I'm
using now.

In versions 0.8{6,7,8}, whenever new mail arrives I get this prompt
(followed by "Continue? "):

  Mail source error ((wrong-type-argument number-char-or-marker-p nil)). 

Here are all my `nnmail-*' and `mail-source-*' settings from my
`.gnus.el' file:

  (setq nnmail-tmp-directory "~/.incoming" 
        nnmail-use-long-file-names t 
        nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t 
        nnmail-crosspost nil 
        nnmail-spool-file                              
           '((directory :path "/home/gnus/.mailspool/" 
                        :suffix ".in")) 
        mail-source-spool-file 
           '((directory :path "/home/gnus/.mailspool/" 
                        :suffix ".in"))  
        mail-source-tmp-directory "~/.incoming" 
        mail-source-delete-incoming t 
        mail-source-movemail-program "/usr/bin/movemail"
  )

No doubt some of these are superfluous, but I haven't been closely
keeping track of which.  None of these have changed in ages, and all
work fine with version 0.85.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com

Re: Still having mail problems with version 0.88

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:

> In versions 0.8{6,7,8}, whenever new mail arrives I get this prompt
> (followed by "Continue? "):
> 
>   Mail source error ((wrong-type-argument number-char-or-marker-p nil)). 
> 
> Here are all my `nnmail-*' and `mail-source-*' settings from my
> `.gnus.el' file:

[...]

I didn't see anything in particular that looked wrong there, but could 
you try removing some of the stuff to find out what setting triggers
the bug?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

[PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lloyd Zusman]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > In versions 0.8{6,7,8}, whenever new mail arrives I get this prompt
> > (followed by "Continue? "):
> > 
> >   Mail source error ((wrong-type-argument number-char-or-marker-p nil)). 
> > 
> > Here are all my `nnmail-*' and `mail-source-*' settings from my
> > `.gnus.el' file:
> 
> [...]
> 
> I didn't see anything in particular that looked wrong there, but could 
> you try removing some of the stuff to find out what setting triggers
> the bug?

Well, I actually had some time this weekend, so I ended up doing more
than that: I traced through the code in version 0.91 and finally
found what was causing the problem.  The following patch to pgnus-0.91
shows what I did to fix this.

As to why this problem occurred in the first place, I have no idea.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I'm running XEmacs
version 21.1 under RedHat Linux 5.0.  The problem was absent in
pgnus-0.85 and it is present in all versions of pgnus I've tried from
version 0.86 through 0.91.

My patch could very well be a "band-aid" which covers up a more
fundamental problem ... ???

Any thoughts or ideas?



*** mail-source.el.orig	Sun Jul  4 15:49:34 1999
--- mail-source.el	Sun Jul  4 16:08:18 1999
***************
*** 344,356 ****
    "Fetcher for directory sources."
    (mail-source-bind (directory source)
      (let ((found 0)
! 	  (mail-source-string (format "directory:%s" path)))
        (dolist (file (directory-files
  		     path t (concat (regexp-quote suffix) "$")))
  	(when (and (file-regular-p file)
  		   (funcall predicate file)
  		   (mail-source-movemail file mail-source-crash-box))
! 	  (incf found (mail-source-callback callback file))))
        found)))
  
  (defun mail-source-fetch-pop (source callback)
--- 344,361 ----
    "Fetcher for directory sources."
    (mail-source-bind (directory source)
      (let ((found 0)
! 	  (mail-source-string (format "directory:%s" path))
! 	  result)
        (dolist (file (directory-files
  		     path t (concat (regexp-quote suffix) "$")))
  	(when (and (file-regular-p file)
  		   (funcall predicate file)
  		   (mail-source-movemail file mail-source-crash-box))
! 	  (setq result (mail-source-callback callback file))
! 	  ;;; Maybe this is some sort of XEmacs-ism???
! 	  (if result
! 	      (incf found result)
! 	    (incf found))))
        found)))
  
  (defun mail-source-fetch-pop (source callback)
***************
*** 412,422 ****
    "Fetcher for maildir sources."
    (mail-source-bind (maildir source)
      (let ((found 0)
! 	  (mail-source-string (format "maildir:%s" path)))
        (dolist (file (directory-files path t))
  	(when (and (file-regular-p file)
  		   (not (rename-file file mail-source-crash-box)))
! 	  (incf found (mail-source-callback callback file))))
        found)))
  
  (provide 'mail-source)
--- 417,432 ----
    "Fetcher for maildir sources."
    (mail-source-bind (maildir source)
      (let ((found 0)
! 	  (mail-source-string (format "maildir:%s" path))
! 	  result)
        (dolist (file (directory-files path t))
  	(when (and (file-regular-p file)
  		   (not (rename-file file mail-source-crash-box)))
! 	  (setq result (mail-source-callback callback file))
! 	  ;;; Maybe this is some sort of XEmacs-ism???
! 	  (if result
! 	      (incf found result)
! 	    (incf found))))
        found)))
  
  (provide 'mail-source)


-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Hrvoje Niksic]

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:

> Well, I actually had some time this weekend, so I ended up doing
> more than that: I traced through the code in version 0.91 and
> finally found what was causing the problem.  The following patch to
> pgnus-0.91 shows what I did to fix this.

Judging your patch, it appears that `mail-source-callback' can return
nil, right?

Then I guess you could modify the code like this:

- 	  (incf found (mail-source-callback callback file))))
+ 	  (incf found (or (mail-source-callback callback file) 0))))

No need for the additional variable or for the added `if'.  I don't
see an XEmacsism in there, either.

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lloyd Zusman]

Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@srce.hr> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > Well, I actually had some time this weekend, so I ended up doing
> > more than that: I traced through the code in version 0.91 and
> > finally found what was causing the problem.  The following patch to
> > pgnus-0.91 shows what I did to fix this.
> 
> Judging your patch, it appears that `mail-source-callback' can return
> nil, right?

The fact that it returned nil is indeed what broke my code, but I'm
wondering if this is proper.  I'm wondering if perhaps the fact that
it returned nil is actually a symptom of a deeper problem.

What do any of you folks think?


> Then I guess you could modify the code like this:
> 
> - 	  (incf found (mail-source-callback callback file))))
> + 	  (incf found (or (mail-source-callback callback file) 0))))

Well, the final line would probably have to be this, instead ...

> + 	  (incf found (or (mail-source-callback callback file) 1))))

... since `incf' defaults to treating its final argument as a `1' if
it's missing.

But otherwise, I agree with your suggestion.

> [ ... ]


-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:

> The fact that it returned nil is indeed what broke my code, but I'm
> wondering if this is proper.  I'm wondering if perhaps the fact that
> it returned nil is actually a symptom of a deeper problem.

The function should never return nil, and if it does, the bug is in
the function that returns nil.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lloyd Zusman]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > The fact that it returned nil is indeed what broke my code, but I'm
> > wondering if this is proper.  I'm wondering if perhaps the fact that
> > it returned nil is actually a symptom of a deeper problem.
> 
> The function should never return nil, and if it does, the bug is in
> the function that returns nil.

Well ... nothing changed within my gnus configuration between versions
0.85 and 0.86, and yet, the function started returning nil at that
point.  What could be some of the causes for that?

I'll dig deeper when I have some time, but perhaps someone has some
insight into this?


-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:

> Well ... nothing changed within my gnus configuration between versions
> 0.85 and 0.86, and yet, the function started returning nil at that
> point.  What could be some of the causes for that?

0.86 was the first version that required the function to return a
number, I think.  It's not unlikely that I missed some of the
functions that required changing.

Or do you have an old version of pop3.el in your load path?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lloyd Zusman]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > Well ... nothing changed within my gnus configuration between versions
> > 0.85 and 0.86, and yet, the function started returning nil at that
> > point.  What could be some of the causes for that?
> 
> 0.86 was the first version that required the function to return a
> number, I think.  It's not unlikely that I missed some of the
> functions that required changing.
> 
> Or do you have an old version of pop3.el in your load path?

I'm willing to check for an old `pop3.el', but before I do, I'm
wondering if someone could tell me if I really need to check for this,
because I don't use any POP3 functionality at all inside of Gnus.  If
that doesn't matter and if an old `pop3.el' might still cause this
problem for me, then I will check further ... unfortunately, I don't
have as much spare time as I would like lately.  :(

Thanks in advance.

-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen]

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:

> I'm willing to check for an old `pop3.el', but before I do, I'm
> wondering if someone could tell me if I really need to check for this,
> because I don't use any POP3 functionality at all inside of Gnus.

Oh, I though you were the one with apop problems.  Well, if not, then
something else is wrong.  :-)

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  larsi@gnus.org * Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[David Hedbor]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > I'm willing to check for an old `pop3.el', but before I do, I'm
> > wondering if someone could tell me if I really need to check for this,
> > because I don't use any POP3 functionality at all inside of Gnus.
> 
> Oh, I though you were the one with apop problems.  Well, if not, then
> something else is wrong.  :-)

Nope, that was me. :-) Check for an old pop3.el? Hmm. I guess that's a 
possibility. I will also try upgrading Gnus tomorrow I can't get to
the box from home (firewall, masquerading) so I'll have to wait.

-- 
[ Below is a random fortune, which is unrelated to the above message. ]
I've finally learned what "upward compatible" means.  It means we get to
keep all our old mistakes.
		-- Dennie van Tassel

Re: [PATCH for 0.91] (Was: Still having mail problems with version 0.88)

[Lloyd Zusman]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> > I'm willing to check for an old `pop3.el', but before I do, I'm
> > wondering if someone could tell me if I really need to check for this,
> > because I don't use any POP3 functionality at all inside of Gnus.
> 
> Oh, I though you were the one with apop problems.  Well, if not, then
> something else is wrong.  :-)

... and I finally found the problem.  It turns out that had a bit more
free time today that I expected, and so I did some more tracing.  I
discovered that the `nnmail-process-unix-mail-format' function was the
one that was returning `nil' for me, but that this was occurring only
because I had an outdated, local version of that function sitting in
my `.gnus.el' for reasons that I don't remember (probably part of some
previous debugging session from antiquity).  This local version was
returning `nil'.

Once I got rid of this local version of the function, everything
started working fine for me again, using the unpatched version of
pgnus (right now, it's 0.92).

So ... I apologize to all of you for any time you might have wasted
trying to diagnose this problem.


-- 
 Lloyd Zusman
 ljz@asfast.com