gnus as an offline reader?

gnus as an offline reader?

[Maus]

Hello,

i want to configure Gnus as an offline reader (i have a slow dial-up
connection) but i had a few problems with the set up.

I would do the following things (the ordinary things one could do
using an ordinary offline reader):

- go online and download the headers of the messages from the chosen
groups;

-  go offline and mark the messages (or entire threads) i want to
download when i go back online and write a reply to some of them;

- go online again, download the marked messages and upload the
replies.

Does Gnus save the messages with news format when I quit and run it
again? Where can i find the news i downloaded when i was online?

As I am a new user, i would appreciate a point-by-point long answer
(if i'm not asking too much :o), because i see that Gnus must be a
fantastic newsreader, but i just can't get started (I think the info
pages are written like a reference manual, too difficult for me to
read).

If you think that there exists a tutorial or a short manual explaining
these things well, please let me know (i downloaded my-gnus' tutorial,
but it didn't help me much...).

Thanks in advance!

maus

Re: gnus as an offline reader?

[Kai Großjohann]

Maus <mauslix@hotmail.com> writes:

> I had tried the things you suggest, but the problem is that it seems
> to be no way to go offline, mark the messages and then go back online
> and download them. And, when i'm offline i cant find the messages
> anymore if i close and then restart Emacs.

You can go offline, enter a group.  Then you see a summary buffer.
Can you reproduce this?

Now hit `@' on an article.  It should now be marked `%' (I think)
which means marked for downloading.

Now exit the group with `q'.  Then go online and hit `J u' on the
group to fetch it.  Does that work?
-- 
A preposition is not a good thing to end a sentence with.

Re: gnus as an offline reader?

[Kevin Greiner]

Maus <mauslix@hotmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, 13 Mar 2003 13:05:39 +0100, kai.grossjohann@uni-duisburg.de
> (Kai Großjohann) wrote:
>
>>Maus <mauslix@hotmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> I had tried the things you suggest, but the problem is that it seems
>>> to be no way to go offline, mark the messages and then go back online
>>> and download them. And, when i'm offline i cant find the messages
>>> anymore if i close and then restart Emacs.
>>
>>You can go offline, enter a group.  Then you see a summary buffer.
>>Can you reproduce this?
>
> I don't know exactly why, but now gnus seems to store the news i
> downloded (maybe because i agentized the archive with J-a).
>
>
>>Now hit `@' on an article.  It should now be marked `%' (I think)
>>which means marked for downloading.
>>
>>Now exit the group with `q'.  Then go online and hit `J u' on the
>>group to fetch it.  Does that work?
>
> Ok, i can mark articles (i do it when i'm offline), then hit J-j  but
> J-u doesn't work well, the fact is i can't get the messages i marked.

There may be a problem.  I thought that I saw something today.  I'll
work up a fix if I can reproduce it.  That's not to say that you
shouldn't try using it (many people, including myself, are using it
successfully), just that there are other options that you can pursue.

If you're looking to mark-then-fetch in a single summary buffer, you
can also use process marks.  Use # to mark, M-# to unmark (plus many
other commands) then J-s to fetch.  The only significant difference is
that downloadable marks(%) are persistent so you can set them on many
groups then use J-s in the group buffer to fetch in all of those
groups.

> Should i hit J-u in the Summary buffer or in the Group buffer? The
> manual is difficult to understand on that point.

J-u is used in the summary buffer to fetch articles marked downloadable (%).

Kevin

Re: gnus as an offline reader?

[Kai Großjohann]

Maus <mauslix@hotmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, 13 Mar 2003 13:05:39 +0100, kai.grossjohann@uni-duisburg.de
> (Kai Großjohann) wrote:
>
>>Maus <mauslix@hotmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> I had tried the things you suggest, but the problem is that it seems
>>> to be no way to go offline, mark the messages and then go back online
>>> and download them. And, when i'm offline i cant find the messages
>>> anymore if i close and then restart Emacs.
>>
>>You can go offline, enter a group.  Then you see a summary buffer.
>>Can you reproduce this?
>
> I don't know exactly why, but now gnus seems to store the news i
> downloded (maybe because i agentized the archive with J-a).

Yes, you need to agentize the servers.

>>Now hit `@' on an article.  It should now be marked `%' (I think)
>>which means marked for downloading.
>>
>>Now exit the group with `q'.  Then go online and hit `J u' on the
>>group to fetch it.  Does that work?
>
> Ok, i can mark articles (i do it when i'm offline), then hit J-j  but
> J-u doesn't work well, the fact is i can't get the messages i marked.
>
> Should i hit J-u in the Summary buffer or in the Group buffer? The
> manual is difficult to understand on that point.

I said to exit the group with q, and then to use J u -- I hope that's
clear enough.  Of course, after exiting the group with q, you will be
in the Group buffer.

-- 
A preposition is not a good thing to end a sentence with.