Re: Bug report: B c nnfolder:foo doesn't work

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

Matt Armstrong <matt@lickey.com> wrote:
> prj@po.cwru.edu (Paul Jarc) writes:
>> Matt Armstrong <matt@lickey.com> wrote:
>>> I have no nnfolder server.  I have an nnfolder+archive server though.
>>> Perhaps this is part of the problem?
>> 
>> I meant your server belonging to the nnfolder backend, not one named
>> "nnfolder".
> 
> I am confused by the distinction.  How can I tell?  I am mostly
> confused by servers in Gnus.

Your nnfolder+archive server belongs to the nnfolder backend.

There is a "select method"; this looks like (nnfolder "archive" ...).
This should appear in your .emacs, .gnus, or .newsrc.eld whenever you
are *defining* a server - i.e., just once per server, in
gnus-select-method, gnus-secondary-select-methods, or
gnus-server-alist.

If this were your primary select method, then its "server name" would
be "native".  Otherwise, if it's in gnus-server-alist (i.e., it's a
foreign server), then its key there is the "server name".  Otherwise
it's a secondary select method, and it doesn't have a "server name".
This (or the address designation below) should appear in your .emacs,
.gnus, or .newsrc.eld whenever you are *referring* to a server.

Every select method has an address designation, in this case
"nnfolder+archive", which is the backend, ":" (or "+" in the context
of fully qualified group names), and the address (i.e., the second
element of the select method).  Sometimes people call this the
server's "name", but the above "name" is what the manual thinks of as
a "name".  The difference matters just often enough to cause trouble,
but not often enough to make you notice until you're in trouble.

Yes, this is confusing.

> I just performed another test.  I can G c a new group and it appears
> correctly in gnus-newsrc-alist:
> 
>     ("nnfolder:test-2"
>      (3 . 1)
>      ((1 . 1))
>      nil
>      (nnfolder "")
>      ((timestamp 15312 50110)))

The "nnfolder" part of the full group name is the address designation
of the server containing this group.  (The address is an empty string,
so the "+" is elided.)  That (nnfolder "") is a select method, which
defines a new server.  It ought to be a server name or address
designation instead - the group info is supposed to refer to the
server the group belongs to, not create the server.  (Don't worry,
it's not your fault.)  You created this server along with the group,
it seems.  I don't think Gnus should let you do that, but it does.

> And for the duration of the session I can use the group fine.
> 
> Then I exit and re-start Gnus.  This bogus group is prepended to
> gnus-newsrc-alist:
> 
>     ("test-2" 3 nil nil)
> 
> The original group remains, but is not visible in the group buffer.

This problem doesn't seem to be related to the same-directory problem.

>     (((nnfolder "")
>       ok)
>      ((nndraft "")
>       ok)
>      ((nnfolder "archive"
> 		(nnfolder-directory "~/g/Mail/archive")
> 		(nnfolder-active-file "~/g/Mail/archive/active")
> 		(nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
> 		(nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
>       ok)
>      ((nntp "news.speakeasy.net")
>       ok)
>      ((nnml "")
>       ok))

Ok, so both nnfolder servers and the nnml server are using the global
values.  You can check the nnml-directory and nnfolder-directory
variables - the default for both is "~/Mail", which will cause
trouble.


paul