Re: various nnml questions, many about cross-posted mail messages

[Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@ifi.uio.no>]

jbw@cs.bu.edu (Joe Wells) writes:

> 1. An article is cross-posted to two mail groups:
>    
>      Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:1 mail.to-jbw:3
> 
>    I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
>    article.  I type "B DEL".  The file ~/Mail/mail/emacs/bbdb/1 is
>    unlinked.  The file ~/Mail/mail/to-jbw/3 is untouched.  In particular,
>    it still has the old "Xref:" header, which is incorrect because the
>    article is no longer in mail.emacs.bbdb.
> 
>    Questions:
> 
>      A: Is this fixed?

No, but it isn't a bug.  :-)

>      B: Is there a command that will remove the article from all of the
>         mail groups to which it is cross-posted?

Hm.  Nope, but it's trivial to add.  I've now added it to the Red Gnus
todo list.

> 2. In the Summary buffer, the "B m" command asks for a target group.  I
>    type in a name.  It complains that the group doesn't exist.  (The group
>    does indeed not exist yet.  I don't care.  I want the message in that
>    group.)
> 
>    Question:
> 
>      * Is there a command that will just create the group instead of
>        failing?

No, the group has to exist before moving.  I could remove the
restriction; I just thought that requiring a match would lead to fewer
problems with typos and such.  Whadda y'all say?  Should Gnus just
create the group when the user moves/copies an article to the group?

> 3. An article is cross-posted to two mail groups:
> 
>      Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:2 mail.list.info-bbdb:1
> 
>    I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
>    article.  I type "B m" and specify the group "mail.misc".  The file
>    ~/Mail/mail/emacs/bbdb/2 is unlinked.  The file ~/Mail/list/info-bbdb/1
>    is untouched.  In particular, it still has the old "Xref:" header,
>    which is incorrect because the other copy for the article is no longer
>    in mail.emacs.bbdb, but is instead in mail.misc.

Well, it's not incorrect -- it just points to a message that no longer
exists.

>    The new file in
>    mail.misc has the following wrong "Xref:" header:
> 
>      Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.misc:48
> 
>    This is wrong because the message is cross-posted to
>    "mail.list.info-bbdb".
> 
>    Questions:
> 
>      A: Is this fixed?
>      B: Is there a command that will take an article which is cross-posted
>         to groups A and B and make it cross-posted to A, B, and C?  The "B
>         c" command does not seem to preserve cross-posting links.

Should it?  I don't know, really.  Again, changing the behavior is
easy enough, but I'm not sure it's the right thing to do...

> 4. Question: How do people keep track of whether they have edited a
>    message or forwarded it?

They have rilly good memories?

> 5. An article is cross-posted to multiple mail groups:
> 
>      Xref: csb.bu.edu mail.emacs.bbdb:4 mail.emacs.mail-extr:1 mail.to-jbw:22
> 
>    I am in the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.bbdb on the line for this
>    article.  I type "!" to tick the article.  I exit this summary and
>    enter the Summary buffer for mail.emacs.mail-extr.  There is no tick
>    mark for this article in the group mail.emacs.mail-extr.
> 
>    Question:
> 
>      * Is there a variable setting so that any mark change (adding or
>        removing a mark) I apply to a message in one group is immediately
>        applied to the same message in any other groups to which it is
>        cross-posted?  Right now only the "R" marks seem to be propagated.

This is a feature.  Propagating marks between groups seems rather
absurd to me.  I can't see what good that would do.  

The only thing the Xref utility is there for is to avoid having to
read any article more than once, and that's all.

> 6. I am importing some mailboxes from VM.  Question: How do I arrange that
>    articles to which I have replied in VM get the "A" mark?

This isn't supported, but may be supported in Red Gnus.

> 7. Question: What is the difference between the "%g" and "%G" format
>    specifications for the Group buffer?

%g is the name the group has in Gnus, %G is the name as the backend
knows it.  (Ie. "nnml:mail.ding" v. "mail.ding".)

> 8. Question: How do I assign group descriptions to mail groups?

Edit the "newsgroups" file for the backend.

> 9. Question: Is there a command to burst a digest or encapsulated message,
>    handling the contained messages as though they had arrived via the mail
>    spool?

`C-d' `M P b' `B r' `q'.  :-)  Assign that to a macro and you're all
set. 

> 10. Question: Is there a command to resend a message using the
>     "Resent-To:", "Resent-From:", "Resent-Date:", and "Resent-Message-ID:"
>     headers? 

`S D r'.

-- 
  "Yes.  The journey through the human heart 
     would have to wait until some other time."