Re: Backend writing

[prj@po.cwru.edu (Paul Jarc)]

Sean Rima <sean@**Delete**.tcob1.net> writes:
> What I seek is a detailed FAQ on writing backends. Anyone know where I
> could get one, part from the info files.

If there's anything you need to know that isn't in the manual, it
probably ought to be added.  Ask questions here so the maintainers
know what to add.

One thing that I would have liked to find there, but didn't, is what
conditions article numbers must satisfy.  Numbers of new articles must
be greater than all existing numbers.  They should probably start from
1; they must not be zero or negative.  As long as you start from 1 and
increment by 1, don't worry about what happens when you reach 2^28
(the largest integer Elisp can handle); no one else does, and it
hasn't been a problem yet.  Unless you do something unusual like
nnmaildir does, an article must keep the same number for its entire
lifetime - once assigned to an article, a number cannot be reassigned
to another article.

nnfoo-request-scan is described as optional - Gnus can get by without
it - but it'll make your life easier if you implement it.  That was my
experience, anyway.

A good way too see what precise format things must be in in
nntp-server-buffer is to look at the contents of that buffer
(" *nntpd*") while using an existing backend.


paul