Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

[Ben Bacarisse]

My system is currently set up so that gnus happens to use mplayer to
open video mime parts but I'd like it, and other mailcap aware programs,
to use something else.  So I put the line

video/*; totem %s

into ~/.mailscap.  Checking with run-mailcap shows it to be working as
expected, but gnus continues to use mplayer.  However, if I put

video/quicktime; totem %s

in there instead, all is well for that one type -- gnus uses totem for
quicktime files (but, of course, mplayer for every other video type).

The same happens if the line is in the /etc/mailcap "user section":
video/* does not work but video/quicktime does.

Is this as per design, or is it a bug?

-- 
Ben.

Re: Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

[Ben]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Ben <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:
>
>> Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:
>>
>>> Ben Bacarisse <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:
>>>
>>>> My system is currently set up so that gnus happens to use mplayer to
>>>> open video mime parts but I'd like it, and other mailcap aware programs,
>>>> to use something else.  So I put the line
>>>>
>>>> video/*; totem %s
>>>>
>>>> into ~/.mailscap.  Checking with run-mailcap shows it to be working as
>>>> expected, but gnus continues to use mplayer.
>>>
>>> I can't find the string "mplayer" anywhere in the Gnus sources, so do
>>> you know where that setting is coming from?
>>
>> It's in /etc/mailcap -- where system-wide settings are placed.  Gnus
>> reads /etc/mailcap and ~/.mailcap to determine what to do with mime
>> parts.
>
> ~/.mailcap should certainly win over /etc/mailcap, but more specific
> settings should also win over less general settings.  My guess is that
> /etc/mailcap has something like
>
> video/mpeg; mplayer %s; description="MPEG Video"
>
> which makes it more specific than the video/* in your ~/.mailcap.
>
> But I still think that your ~/.mailcap should have won.

That is certainly how other programs that use mailcap files interpret it
-- a personal wild-card setting wins over even a very specific system
setting.

> Please report
> this as a bug with `M-x report-emacs-bug'.

OK.

-- 
Ben.

Re: Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Ben <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:

> Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:
>
>> Ben Bacarisse <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:
>>
>>> My system is currently set up so that gnus happens to use mplayer to
>>> open video mime parts but I'd like it, and other mailcap aware programs,
>>> to use something else.  So I put the line
>>>
>>> video/*; totem %s
>>>
>>> into ~/.mailscap.  Checking with run-mailcap shows it to be working as
>>> expected, but gnus continues to use mplayer.
>>
>> I can't find the string "mplayer" anywhere in the Gnus sources, so do
>> you know where that setting is coming from?
>
> It's in /etc/mailcap -- where system-wide settings are placed.  Gnus
> reads /etc/mailcap and ~/.mailcap to determine what to do with mime
> parts.

~/.mailcap should certainly win over /etc/mailcap, but more specific
settings should also win over less general settings.  My guess is that
/etc/mailcap has something like

video/mpeg; mplayer %s; description="MPEG Video"

which makes it more specific than the video/* in your ~/.mailcap.

But I still think that your ~/.mailcap should have won.  Please report
this as a bug with `M-x report-emacs-bug'.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

Re: Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

[Ben]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Ben Bacarisse <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:
>
>> My system is currently set up so that gnus happens to use mplayer to
>> open video mime parts but I'd like it, and other mailcap aware programs,
>> to use something else.  So I put the line
>>
>> video/*; totem %s
>>
>> into ~/.mailscap.  Checking with run-mailcap shows it to be working as
>> expected, but gnus continues to use mplayer.
>
> I can't find the string "mplayer" anywhere in the Gnus sources, so do
> you know where that setting is coming from?

It's in /etc/mailcap -- where system-wide settings are placed.  Gnus
reads /etc/mailcap and ~/.mailcap to determine what to do with mime
parts.

-- 
Ben.

Re: Gnus seems to not understand video/* syntax in mailcap files.

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Ben Bacarisse <ben.lists@bsb.me.uk> writes:

> My system is currently set up so that gnus happens to use mplayer to
> open video mime parts but I'd like it, and other mailcap aware programs,
> to use something else.  So I put the line
>
> video/*; totem %s
>
> into ~/.mailscap.  Checking with run-mailcap shows it to be working as
> expected, but gnus continues to use mplayer.

I can't find the string "mplayer" anywhere in the Gnus sources, so do
you know where that setting is coming from?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no