nnmairix - new version

nnmairix - new version

[David]

This was first posted in the wrong group (gnus.user instead of ding). My
first try at posting the diff to ding via Gmane seems to have failed, so
I try again. If it the first post shows up eventually, sorry for the
double post and all the noise...

There's a new version of nnmairix; the diff against the current CVS can
be found here:

http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix_v0.6.diff.gz

I've also converted the docs at the EmacsWiki into texinfo for inclusion
in the Gnus manual.

http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix.info

I've no real idea where this section would fit best. Maybe there should
be a new section for searching/indexing mail and put it there, together
with the documentation for nnir?

The diff for the new version got pretty big, sorry for that. Almost
everything deals with a new feature, allowing to propagate marks from
articles in nnmairix groups to the original article, which was way more
delicate than I previously thought and couldn't really be split in
smaller parts.

This "marks propagation" option can be activated on a per-group basis
(it's deactivated by default). It allows to use nnmairix more
efficiently as an alternative to mail splitting, which was actually my
prime motivation when I started with this, since my fancy-split-rules
started to get out of hand...

Unfortunately, the new marks propagation feature requires a patched
mairix binary. People who are not interested in marks propagation won't
have to patch, but it also fixes some annoyances regarding changing
maildir flags, so it might be useful anyway.

More details can be found in the updated docs at the EmacsWiki:

http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/GnusMairix

For those who don't use CVS, the new source is also at

http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/emacs/nnmairix.el

Other new features: 

* Keep messages in nnmairix always read or unread.

* New option to enable/disable fast entering of nnmairix groups.

* Recreate back end folder in case of wrong article counts.

* More and better use of the registry for searching original articles.

-David

Re: nnmairix - new version

[David]

David <de_bb@arcor.de> writes:
> I've also converted the docs at the EmacsWiki into texinfo for inclusion
> in the Gnus manual.
>
> http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix.info

That should be

http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix.texi

-David

Re: nnmairix - new version

[Reiner Steib]

On Thu, Jun 05 2008, David wrote:

> I've also converted the docs at the EmacsWiki into texinfo for inclusion
> in the Gnus manual.
[ http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix.texi ]

> I've no real idea where this section would fit best. Maybe there should
> be a new section for searching/indexing mail and put it there, together
> with the documentation for nnir?

Yes.  I already had prepared a stub for this which I forgot to
commit.  So I did this now and added your nodes.  I've done some minor
markup fixes, but I think it needs more markup improvement.  I also
added some FIXMEs.

> The diff for the new version got pretty big, sorry for that. Almost
> everything deals with a new feature, allowing to propagate marks from
> articles in nnmairix groups to the original article, which was way more
> delicate than I previously thought and couldn't really be split in
> smaller parts.
[...]

I will commit this within the next few days (unless someone beats me
to it).  Now I need some sleep.

> Unfortunately, the new marks propagation feature requires a patched
> mairix binary. People who are not interested in marks propagation won't
> have to patch, but it also fixes some annoyances regarding changing
> maildir flags, so it might be useful anyway.
>
> More details can be found in the updated docs at the EmacsWiki:
>
> http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/GnusMairix

As nnmairix is now part of Gnus, everything the user needs to know
should be documented in Gnus.

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/

Re: nnmairix - new version

[David]

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Reiner Steib <reinersteib+gmane@imap.cc> writes:
> Yes.  I already had prepared a stub for this which I forgot to
> commit.  So I did this now and added your nodes.  I've done some minor
> markup fixes, but I think it needs more markup improvement.  I also
> added some FIXMEs.

Thanks. I tried to take care of some of the FIXMEs, I don't really know
what you mean by "add @sample{...}", though. I attached a diff with my
current changes.

>> More details can be found in the updated docs at the EmacsWiki:
>>
>> http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/GnusMairix
>
> As nnmairix is now part of Gnus, everything the user needs to know
> should be documented in Gnus.

Yes. It was only meant for users who don't use Gnus from CVS, since
nnmairix can also be used with NoGnus-releases. Anyway, I'll remove
those pages soon.

-David


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--- gnus-cvs.texi	2008-06-06 12:30:16.000000000 +0200
+++ gnus.texi	2008-06-06 12:39:13.000000000 +0200
@@ -4404,9 +4404,7 @@
 * nnmairix caveats::            Some more stuff you might want to know
 @end menu
 
-@c FIXME: The markup in this section needs improvement.  E.g. add
-@c @sample{...}, maybe remove some @strong{...}, convert ` - ' to `---`,
-@c ...
+@c FIXME: The markup in this section needs improvement, add @sample{...}
 
 @node About mairix
 @subsubsection About mairix
@@ -4442,16 +4440,15 @@
 @node nnmairix requirements
 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
 
-Mairix searches local mail - that means, mairix absolutely must have
+Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
 direct access to your mail folders.  If your mail resides on another
 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
 
 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
-ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}.  You
-@strong{must} use one of these back ends for using
-@code{nnmairix}.  Other back ends, like @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or
-@code{nnmh}, won't work.
+ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}.  You must use
+one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}.  Other back ends, like
+@code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
 
 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
@@ -4479,7 +4476,7 @@
 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
-does not - at least not without problems.  Most probably you will get
+does not---at least not without problems.  Most probably you will get
 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible.  This is due to
 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
@@ -4488,7 +4485,7 @@
 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
 group).  Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
 
-@code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end - it's actually more like a
+@code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like a
 wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores the
 searches and the Gnus front end.  You can choose between three different
 mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir} or
@@ -4501,7 +4498,7 @@
 alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
 @code{nnmaildir} server exclusively for mairix.  However, a special case
 exists if you want to use mairix remotely on an IMAP server with
-@code{nnimap} - here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
+@code{nnimap}---here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
 the same @code{nnimap} back end.
 
 @node Setting up mairix
@@ -4522,7 +4519,6 @@
 @code{nnimap}, this base path has to point to the mail path where the
 @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
 
-@c FIXME: Add typical examples?
 @example
 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
@@ -4542,7 +4538,6 @@
 search results.  You can change the prefix of these folders with the
 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
 
-@c FIXME: Add typical examples?
 @example
 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
 database= ... location of database file ...
@@ -4552,8 +4547,38 @@
 search folder.  Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
 with @code{nnml}.  Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
 
-See the man pages for mairix and mairixrc for further options.  Now
-simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
+To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
+
+@example
+base=~/Maildir
+maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
+mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
+mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
+mformat=maildir
+omit=zz_mairix-*
+database=~/.mairixdatabase
+@end example
+
+In this case, the base path is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
+folders are stored.  As you can see, the folders are separated by
+colons.  If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
+because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
+@code{Maildir++} folders.  For testing nnmairix, I also have some
+@code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}.  Since this has
+to be specified relative to the @code{base} path, the @code{../Mail}
+notation is needed.  Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
+to recursively scan all files under this directory.  Without the three
+dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively.  I also have some
+old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
+The other lines should be obvious.
+
+See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
+especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
+than you are used to.
+
+Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
+Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
+the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
 
 @node Configuring nnmairix
 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
@@ -4566,7 +4591,7 @@
 @itemize @bullet
 
 @item
-The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server - choose whatever you
+The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
 want.
 
 @item
@@ -4787,11 +4812,11 @@
 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
 
 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
-@samp{david@@foobar.com} - it will now show up in two groups, the
+@samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
-marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group - in the ``real''
+marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
 
 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
@@ -4840,7 +4865,7 @@
 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix search
 for determining the file path of the article. This, of course, is way
-slower than the registry - if you set hundreds or even thousands of
+slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation
 by setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
 
@@ -4904,7 +4929,7 @@
 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
 
-So far so good - but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
+So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
 group?  There are two options: You may simply use
 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
@@ -4926,7 +4951,7 @@
 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
-usually get @strong{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
+usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
 simply kill these groups with C-k.  For avoiding this, turn off
@@ -4953,13 +4978,13 @@
 @item
 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
-@code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}).  Be @strong{extra careful} if
-you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} - mails which are
+@code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}).  Be @emph{extra careful} if
+you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
 
 @item
-Therefore: @strong{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
+Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
 
 @item
@@ -4968,7 +4993,7 @@
 @item
 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
-called - it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
+called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
@@ -4992,7 +5017,7 @@
 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
 
 @item
-The following only applies if you @strong{don't} use the mentioned patch
+The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
 
 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and

Re: nnmairix - new version

[Reiner Steib]

On Fri, Jun 06 2008, David wrote:

> Reiner Steib <reinersteib+gmane@imap.cc> writes:
[...]
> I tried to take care of some of the FIXMEs, I don't really know what
> you mean by "add @sample{...}", though. I attached a diff with my
> current changes.

I meant @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.  See (info
"(texinfo)Indicating").

>>> More details can be found in the updated docs at the EmacsWiki:
>>> http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/GnusMairix
>>
>> As nnmairix is now part of Gnus, everything the user needs to know
>> should be documented in Gnus.
>
> Yes. It was only meant for users who don't use Gnus from CVS, since
> nnmairix can also be used with NoGnus-releases. 
> Anyway, I'll remove those pages soon.

Okay.  If you want to keep the web page, please add a hint that users
of current No Gnus or Emacs 23 (CVS) should not use this file and the
documentation there, but look at (info "(gnus)nnmairix") instead.

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/

Re: nnmairix - new version

[Reiner Steib]

On Thu, Jun 05 2008, David wrote:

> There's a new version of nnmairix; the diff against the current CVS can
> be found here:
>
> http://m61s02.vlinux.de/nnmairix_v0.6.diff.gz

Could you provide a ChangeLog entry (on function/variable level),
please?

Some formal comments:

- Please start messages and comments with a capital letter.  End
  comments with a period (or colon).

- Use `...' instead of '...' (e.g. `G b r' ->  'G b r').

I'll post a comment about the key bindings in a separate thread as it
also related to nnir.el.

Bye, Reiner.
-- 
       ,,,
      (o o)
---ooO-(_)-Ooo---  |  PGP key available  |  http://rsteib.home.pages.de/