converting archive group to different format without losing marks

converting archive group to different format without losing marks

[Joe Wells]

Dear Gnus Experts,

My current usage of Gnus is as follows:

  (gnus-version) => "Gnus v5.8.8"
  gnus-message-archive-group => "misc-mail"

Can you please tell me how to convert my old "nnfolder+archive:misc-mail"
group to use a better format, e.g., perhaps "nnml"?  The more precise the
details, the better.

I would like to have all of my outgoing messages in a single group for
easy access, but the "nnfolder" backend puts them all in one file which
requires this file to be loaded into Emacs.  As my outgoing mail archive
is huge, this uses a lot of memory unnecessarily.

I want to convert my old group into the new format without losing any
marks on articles in that group.  So this rules out respooling the
articles into a new back end because that loses marks.

Do I have to write custom Emacs Lisp code to accomplish this?

--
Joe Wells

Re: converting archive group to different format without losing marks

[Kai Großjohann]

Joe Wells <jbw@izanami.cee.hw.ac.uk> writes:

> My current usage of Gnus is as follows:
>
>   (gnus-version) => "Gnus v5.8.8"
>   gnus-message-archive-group => "misc-mail"
>
> Can you please tell me how to convert my old "nnfolder+archive:misc-mail"
> group to use a better format, e.g., perhaps "nnml"?  The more precise the
> details, the better.

During the following, do not send a message.

I presume that nnml is your primary mail backend, and that you are
satisfied with a single nnml:outgoing group, which is on the same
server as your other nnml mail.

>From the *Group* buffer, use `G m outgoing RET nnml: RET' (note the
colon) to create your new outgoing group.

Enter the nnfolder+archive:misc-mail group with C-u RET and make sure
to display all articles.

Type `M P a' to mark them all.

Type `B m nnml:outgoing RET' to move them all to the new archive
group, preserving marks.

Change your setting for gnus-message-archive-group from "misc-mail" to
"nnml:outgoing" (with "nnml:").  The value for
gnus-message-archive-method does not really matter -- just leave it as
it is.

Does this help?

kai
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Re: converting archive group to different format without losing marks

[Joe Wells]

Hi, Kai,

Your instructions look beautiful.  I did not realize that "B m" would
preserve marks.

I have a couple of questions.

Kai.Grossjohann@CS.Uni-Dortmund.DE (Kai Großjohann) writes:

> Joe Wells <jbw@izanami.cee.hw.ac.uk> writes:
> 
> > My current usage of Gnus is as follows:
> >
> >   (gnus-version) => "Gnus v5.8.8"
> >   gnus-message-archive-group => "misc-mail"
> >
> > Can you please tell me how to convert my old
> > "nnfolder+archive:misc-mail" group to use a better format, e.g.,
> > perhaps "nnml"?  The more precise the details, the better.
>
> During the following, do not send a message.
> 
> I presume that nnml is your primary mail backend, and that you are
> satisfied with a single nnml:outgoing group, which is on the same
> server as your other nnml mail.

Does it cause a problem if I am not already using nnml?  I would also
like to move my incoming e-mail from nnbabyl to nnml.

> From the *Group* buffer, use `G m outgoing RET nnml: RET' (note the
> colon) to create your new outgoing group.
> 
> Enter the nnfolder+archive:misc-mail group with C-u RET and make
> sure to display all articles.
> 
> Type `M P a' to mark them all.
> 
> Type `B m nnml:outgoing RET' to move them all to the new archive
> group, preserving marks.
> 
> Change your setting for gnus-message-archive-group from "misc-mail"
> to "nnml:outgoing" (with "nnml:").  The value for
> gnus-message-archive-method does not really matter -- just leave it
> as it is.

Am I correct in understanding that the prefix "nnml:" effectively
overrides the value of gnus-message-archive-method?

> Does this help?

Yes, I think so!  I hope it goes as easily as you described!

-- 
Joe

Re: converting archive group to different format without losing marks

[Kai Großjohann]

Joe Wells <jbw@izanami.cee.hw.ac.uk> writes:

> Kai.Grossjohann@CS.Uni-Dortmund.DE (Kai Großjohann) writes:
>
>> I presume that nnml is your primary mail backend, and that you are
>> satisfied with a single nnml:outgoing group, which is on the same
>> server as your other nnml mail.
>
> Does it cause a problem if I am not already using nnml?  I would also
> like to move my incoming e-mail from nnbabyl to nnml.

No problem, I just wanted to simply my instructions.  If you want to
put your outgoing group into a new backend, you'll have to create that
server.  For example:

(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
             '(nnml "archive"
               (nnml-directory "~/Mail-archive")))

Then, you can use the group nnml+archive:outgoing.  Maybe you need to
add more parameters, in addition to nnml-directory.  nnml-active-file
comes to mind.

But if you want to move from nnbabyl to nnml anyway...

>> Change your setting for gnus-message-archive-group from "misc-mail"
>> to "nnml:outgoing" (with "nnml:").  The value for
>> gnus-message-archive-method does not really matter -- just leave it
>> as it is.
>
> Am I correct in understanding that the prefix "nnml:" effectively
> overrides the value of gnus-message-archive-method?

That's right.

kai
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