Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Michael Schierl]

Hi,

sorry if this is a FAQ, I could not find anything about it.

my config (relevant part):

(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.individual.de"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gmane.org"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gnus.org"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.arcor.de"))

My server buffer looks like this:

     {nntp:news.arcor.de} (offline) (agent)
     {nnfolder:archive} (opened)
     {nntp:news.gnus.org} (offline) (agent)
     {nndoc:gnus-help} (opened)
     {nntp:news.gmane.org} (offline) (agent)
     {nntp:news.individual.de} (offline) (agent)

When i press U in the group buffer, i can complete groups from
my primary select method and from nntp+news.gmane.org

When I type U nttp+news.arcor.de:[tab] i can only complete the groups
i have subscribed. Same for news.gnus.org. `A a' (group-apropos) does
not know these groups either.

I already tried to fetch current active file from all servers with A A
(both when plugged and when unplugged). And I already entered the
servers via RET in the server buffer. Now U could complete all groups,
but when I exited and restart Gnus, the feature was gone again.

What do i have to do to save group lists from these servers offline as
well?

Another thing: is there a way to show my group list filtered (like
e.g. in A a) where i can mark multiple groups with # and subscribe
them (or subscribe a larger subset of them (~10 groups) in another way
without copying&pasting each one)? And why does Gnus try to fetch
group lists when typing A A even when Gnus is unplugged?

TIA,

Michael

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Kevin Greiner]

Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:

> Hi,
>
> sorry if this is a FAQ, I could not find anything about it.
>
> my config (relevant part):
>
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.individual.de"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gmane.org"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gnus.org"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.arcor.de"))
>
> My server buffer looks like this:
>
>      {nntp:news.arcor.de} (offline) (agent)
>      {nnfolder:archive} (opened)
>      {nntp:news.gnus.org} (offline) (agent)
>      {nndoc:gnus-help} (opened)
>      {nntp:news.gmane.org} (offline) (agent)
>      {nntp:news.individual.de} (offline) (agent)
>
> When i press U in the group buffer, i can complete groups from
> my primary select method and from nntp+news.gmane.org
>
> When I type U nttp+news.arcor.de:[tab] i can only complete the groups
> i have subscribed. Same for news.gnus.org. `A a' (group-apropos) does
> not know these groups either.
>
> I already tried to fetch current active file from all servers with A A
> (both when plugged and when unplugged). And I already entered the
> servers via RET in the server buffer. Now U could complete all groups,
> but when I exited and restart Gnus, the feature was gone again.
>
> What do i have to do to save group lists from these servers offline as
> well?

I'll have to look into it.  The active file is stored for offline use.

> Another thing: is there a way to show my group list filtered (like
> e.g. in A a) where i can mark multiple groups with # and subscribe
> them (or subscribe a larger subset of them (~10 groups) in another way
> without copying&pasting each one)?

Someone else will have to help with this one.

> And why does Gnus try to fetch
> group lists when typing A A even when Gnus is unplugged?

Probably for the same reason as you don't get proper completion.  The
code handling group lists is probably unaware that gnus is unplugged.

Kevin

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Michael Schierl]

Kevin Greiner <kgreiner@xpediantsolutions.com> writes:

> Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:
>> What do i have to do to save group lists from these servers offline as
>> well?
>
> I'll have to look into it.  The active file is stored for offline use.

These ones?

Standard@laptop /cygdrive/c/Eigenes/gnus/News/agent$ find . -name active -ls
  809090 ./nntp/news.individual.de/agent.lib/active
  185410 ./nntp/news.gmane.org/agent.lib/active
      41 ./nntp/news.arcor.de/agent.lib/active
      23 ./nntp/news.gnus.org/agent.lib/active

[truncated some columns]

Hmm, the last two files look a bit small for me. 

$ cat ./nntp/news.arcor.de/agent.lib/active
arcor.digest 136 56 y
arcor.de 687 493 y

$ cat ./nntp/news.gnus.org/agent.lib/active
gnus.ietf-drafts 0 0 y

[these are exactly my subscribed groups atm]


So the problem is most likely not that the stored data is not used,
but that the data is not stored properly.

Michael

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Kevin Greiner]

Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:

> Kevin Greiner <kgreiner@xpediantsolutions.com> writes:
>
>> Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:
>>> What do i have to do to save group lists from these servers offline as
>>> well?
>>
>> I'll have to look into it.  The active file is stored for offline use.
>
> These ones?
>
> Standard@laptop /cygdrive/c/Eigenes/gnus/News/agent$ find . -name active -ls
>   809090 ./nntp/news.individual.de/agent.lib/active
>   185410 ./nntp/news.gmane.org/agent.lib/active
>       41 ./nntp/news.arcor.de/agent.lib/active
>       23 ./nntp/news.gnus.org/agent.lib/active
>
> [truncated some columns]
>
> Hmm, the last two files look a bit small for me. 
>
> $ cat ./nntp/news.arcor.de/agent.lib/active
> arcor.digest 136 56 y
> arcor.de 687 493 y
>
> $ cat ./nntp/news.gnus.org/agent.lib/active
> gnus.ietf-drafts 0 0 y
>
> [these are exactly my subscribed groups atm]
>
>
> So the problem is most likely not that the stored data is not used,
> but that the data is not stored properly.

Saving the active file seems like such a basic function that I didn't
see how it could have an undetected bug.  What I found was that the
entire active file is saved for your native and secondary servers.
The active file is not saved for foreign servers.  What the agent
instead does is write individual lines to a pseudo-active file as you
subscribe to groups.  I suspect that this is one of the intentional
differences between the two classes of servers.

Try adding some of your nttp servers to the list of secondary servers
to see if I am right.

Kevin

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Michael Schierl]

Kevin Greiner <kgreiner@xpediantsolutions.com> writes:

> Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:
>
>> So the problem is most likely not that the stored data is not used,
>> but that the data is not stored properly.
>
> Try adding some of your nttp servers to the list of secondary servers
> to see if I am right.

Hmm. In my .gnus.el is

(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.individual.de"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gmane.org"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gnus.org"))
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.arcor.de"))

and 

gnus-secondary-select-methods's value is 
((nntp "news.arcor.de")
 (nntp "news.gnus.org")
 (nntp "news.gmane.org"))

is there another list of secondary servers? 

Could it be some problem that, a few days ago, i commented out all the
secondary servers because of connection problems (which, surprising
me, did not prevent Gnus from contacting them) and then later
commented them in again? Can I force Gnus to reread the active files
of these 2 servers without losing any of the group contents?

Michael

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Kevin Greiner]

Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:

> Kevin Greiner <kgreiner@xpediantsolutions.com> writes:
>
>> Michael Schierl <schierlm-usenet@gmx.de> writes:
>>
>>> So the problem is most likely not that the stored data is not used,
>>> but that the data is not stored properly.
>>
>> Try adding some of your nttp servers to the list of secondary servers
>> to see if I am right.
>
> Hmm. In my .gnus.el is
>
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.individual.de"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gmane.org"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.gnus.org"))
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nntp "news.arcor.de"))
>
> and 
>
> gnus-secondary-select-methods's value is 
> ((nntp "news.arcor.de")
>  (nntp "news.gnus.org")
>  (nntp "news.gmane.org"))
>
> is there another list of secondary servers? 

Unfortunitely no.  So much for my nice simple theory.

> Could it be some problem that, a few days ago, i commented out all the
> secondary servers because of connection problems (which, surprising
> me, did not prevent Gnus from contacting them) and then later
> commented them in again? Can I force Gnus to reread the active files
> of these 2 servers without losing any of the group contents?

There's probably better but this is what I've found.  If you type 'b'
in the group buffer, gnus will check for bogus newsgroups.  In the
process, it will read the active files for your native and secondary
servers.  If gnus-have-read-active-file is non-nil, the check bogus
groups command will do nothing so make sure that it is nil (set it if
necessary).

BTW, when you do 'A A' to list the active groups, gnus has logic in
place to prevent the agent from saving the new active file.  Strange.

Kevin

Re: Gnus Agent saves only some group lists

[Michael Schierl]

Kevin Greiner <kgreiner@xpediantsolutions.com> writes:

> There's probably better but this is what I've found.  If you type 'b'
> in the group buffer, gnus will check for bogus newsgroups.  In the
> process, it will read the active files for your native and secondary
> servers.  If gnus-have-read-active-file is non-nil, the check bogus
> groups command will do nothing so make sure that it is nil (set it if
> necessary).

Thanks, that worked as expected.

> BTW, when you do 'A A' to list the active groups, gnus has logic in
> place to prevent the agent from saving the new active file.  Strange.

Hmm. Why that? What could a new active file destroy? I understand that
it does not want to fetch the active file from the Agent when plugged,
but why not save the new one?

Michael