nnimap-list-pattern doesn't work?

nnimap-list-pattern doesn't work?

[Carson Chittom]

I'm using Emacs 24, with the built-in Gnus.  Amongst other things, in
~/.gnus I have, following the manual,

(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
      '((nnimap "Mailserver"
                (nnimap-address "mail.example.com")
                (nnimap-stream ssl)
                (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*")))))

The nnimap-list-pattern appears to do pretty much nothing at all.  Which
means I probably am mistaken as to what it's doing.  My assumption,
based on the manual's sentence in section 6.5

      [nnimap-list-pattern] is used when the server has very many
      mailboxes and you're only interested in a few--some servers export
      your home directory via IMAP, you'll probably want to limit the
      mailboxes to those in '~/Mail/*' then.

was that this meant that Gnus simply didn't worry about anything that
wasn't specifically listed.  But going to the server buffer and selecting
this mailserver, the first things listed are all my dotfiles, followed
by the contents of ~/News and everything else.

So what does nnimap-list-pattern actually do?  Control what's listed in
the summary buffer?

(This came up while I was trying to decrease my startup time--what I
really wanted to do was set gnus-check-new-newsgroups to nil.)

Re: nnimap-list-pattern doesn't work?

[Tassilo Horn]

Carson Chittom <carson@wistly.net> writes:

Hi Carson,

> I'm using Emacs 24, with the built-in Gnus.  Amongst other things, in
> ~/.gnus I have, following the manual,
>
> (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
>       '((nnimap "Mailserver"
>                 (nnimap-address "mail.example.com")
>                 (nnimap-stream ssl)
>                 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*")))))
>
> The nnimap-list-pattern appears to do pretty much nothing at all.

I just checked out the emacs-24 branch, and the version of Gnus included
there doesn't define `nnimap-list-pattern' at all.  So I'm rather sure
it does pretty much nothing. ;-)

Possibly, `nnimap-inbox' is what you want.

,----
| nnimap-inbox is a variable defined in `nnimap.el'.
| Its value is nil
| 
| Documentation:
| The mail box where incoming mail arrives and should be split out of.
| For example, "INBOX".
| 
| This is a Gnus server variable.  See Info node `(gnus)Select Methods'.
`----

In the current Ma Gnus from git, it's documented to allow also for a
list of mail box names...

> My assumption, based on the manual's sentence in section 6.5
>
>       [nnimap-list-pattern] is used when the server has very many
>       mailboxes and you're only interested in a few--some servers export
>       your home directory via IMAP, you'll probably want to limit the
>       mailboxes to those in '~/Mail/*' then.
>
> was that this meant that Gnus simply didn't worry about anything that
> wasn't specifically listed.

The Gnus manual for the built-in version of Gnus that ships with emacs
doesn't have this description and doesn't refer to `nnimap-list-pattern'
at all.  Well, except that there's an example using it in the Gnus FAQ,
which is a bug in the documentation.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: nnimap-list-pattern doesn't work?

[Carson Chittom]

Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org> writes:

> Carson Chittom <carson@wistly.net> writes:
>>
>> The nnimap-list-pattern appears to do pretty much nothing at all.
>
> I just checked out the emacs-24 branch, and the version of Gnus included
> there doesn't define `nnimap-list-pattern' at all.  So I'm rather sure
> it does pretty much nothing. ;-)

Good to know I'm not crazy.  :)

>> My assumption, based on the manual's sentence in section 6.5
>>
>>       [nnimap-list-pattern] is used when the server has very many
>>       mailboxes and you're only interested in a few--some servers export
>>       your home directory via IMAP, you'll probably want to limit the
>>       mailboxes to those in '~/Mail/*' then.
>>
>> was that this meant that Gnus simply didn't worry about anything that
>> wasn't specifically listed.
>
> The Gnus manual for the built-in version of Gnus that ships with emacs
> doesn't have this description and doesn't refer to `nnimap-list-pattern'
> at all.  Well, except that there's an example using it in the Gnus FAQ,
> which is a bug in the documentation.

Ah, you're right.  I was relying on my printed-out copy of the manual,
which was, I think, from the Gnus in Emacs 23.  I just didn't expect
something so fairly basic to be changed/removed.  That's not a
complaint, only a statement of my expectations; clearly, the error was
mine.