Re: Is this an off-the wall suggestion or what?

[Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com>]

Harry writes:

> > 
> > With Quassias new abilities as off line reader it now makes sense to be
> > able to search a group (even across groups) for regexp in bodies and be
> > presented with a limited view in summary buffer of the findings.
> > With many articles stored on disk (at least temp.) then a search of this
> > kind is fast  and very usefull.

Lloyd Zusman <ljz@asfast.com> writes:
> 
> I also would find this to be very useful.  I download news via a
> cron-based background process, so all the news I access is within a
> local spool at the time it's being read.  The functionality you
> suggest would run fast under this configuration.
> 
> I already make use of `gnus-summary-search-article-forward' to find
> individual articles whose bodies contain strings that match regexps
> of my choosing.  This function already gets us part of the way there
> towards the capabilities you are suggesting.
> 
> Perhaps instead of a limited view in the summary buffer, this could be
> done via some sort of virtual newsgroup: the user enters a regexp in
> the summary buffer, and all articles which have bodies (or headers and
> bodies) that match this regexp will appear as entries in a newly
> created, ad hoc newsgroup.  I think that such an ad hoc newsgroup
> might be easier to implement in Gnus as it stands today than 
> a limited view in the summary buffer.

One possible problem with using the above suggestion instead of a
"limited" view would be the easy and speed with which a reader could
change the regexp and thereby the summary buffer.  Currently it would
seem possible to use any number of searches and then pop them off the
stack as can be done now with limited views based on regexp.

Since Lars seems willing to consider putting this "OTL" I will elaborate
a little more (hopefully some will be interested):

1. Why not have it arranged so that a regexp based limited view could be
aimed against any of the full range of headers, not just subject and
author, but done with a mechanism similar to the one currently used to
create the regexp for score files in a group?  Or by hand

2.  Regexp search of bodies conducted in current group with ability to
create a limited view based on the regexp.

3.  Regexp search of bodies conducted in several or all groups with
summary lines and originating group info appearing in a new frame with
this format (or similar):

Originating newsgroup        author         summary-line

Comp.Qgnus.suggest           Harry          new search capability
Comp.Qgnus.suggest           Harry          Congrats to Lars for so much work

Comp.os.linux.newbie         Ralph F.       How to click on button
comp.os.linux.newbie         Carol J.       Which side of RH disk is up?


Where the summary lines would be buttons that when selected would call
up the full article in a split window with the cursor on the regexp
string.  Just as a normal summary buffer does, but with the added cursor
positioning.

-- 

Harry Putnam  reader@newsguy.com