More gnewb questions

More gnewb questions

[notbob]

First and formost: why does it take gnus 1-2 mins to load up new stuff
into the group buffer?  I get this:

Reading nntp: 3500K   (<--counting)

Reading active file from eu.Usenet-News.net via nntp...  (waiting)

......then the groups come up and are listed.  WTF!?  slrn does it in
1/2 sec.  I've tried reading the ~/newsrc (.el, .eld?) and can find no
such file.  All I find is ~/.news-dribble, which isn't even mentioned
in the emacs or gnus manuals.

An emacs in-general question: When I list buffers (C-x C-b), why does
the cursor remain in the old window instead of going to the new buffer
list window?  This requires another set of keystrokes to get to the
buffer list.  I wouldn't have listed the buffers if I didn't want to
access them, ferchrynoutloud!  Is there a setting that will change
this?

Other than a few dozen other niggling complaints, I'm starting to get
the hang of this thing.  I think learning how to nav between buffers
is harder than actually using it.

One reason (other than the fact I despise vi!) I want to get better at
emacs instead of remaining with jed is, I can copy and paste into
emacs with better results.  With jed, specially with code, if I copy
and paste into jed, the indentations (and sometimes no indentations)
will always further indent to a stairstep, which has to be hand edited
out.  This is maddening and unacceptable.  I don't have this problem
with emacs.  That makes it all worth the effort.

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:52:57 -0600, notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:

> Reading nntp: 3500K   (<--counting)

> Reading active file from eu.Usenet-News.net via nntp...  (waiting)

Maybe you want to change the value of the variable
gnus-read-active-file:

,----[ C-h v gnus-read-active-file RET ]
| `gnus-read-active-file' is a variable declared in Lisp.
|   -- loaded from "gnus-start"
| 
| Value: nil
| 
| Documentation:
| *Non-nil means that Gnus will read the entire active file at startup.
| If this variable is nil, Gnus will only know about the groups in your
| `.newsrc' file.
| 
| If this variable is `some', Gnus will try to only read the relevant
| parts of the active file from the server.  Not all servers support
| this, and it might be quite slow with other servers, but this should
| generally be faster than both the t and nil value.
| 
| If you set this variable to nil or `some', you probably still want to
| be told about new newsgroups that arrive.  To do that, set
| `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `ask-server'.  This may not work
| properly with all servers.
`----

As you can see above, I have configured mine to nil (in .gnus, like
this:
  ; I find new groups myself:
  (setq gnus-read-active-file nil)
)

> ......then the groups come up and are listed.  WTF!?  slrn does it in
> 1/2 sec.

I guess Gnus works differently than slrn, then.

> I've tried reading the ~/newsrc (.el, .eld?) and can find no such
> file.

I've got:

  $ ls .newsrc*
  .newsrc  .newsrc.eld
  $ 

> All I find is ~/.news-dribble, which isn't even mentioned in the emacs
> or gnus manuals.

Perhaps that is because that file is an internal one?

> One reason (other than the fact I despise vi!) I want to get better at
> emacs instead of remaining with jed is, I can copy and paste into
> emacs with better results.  With jed, specially with code, if I copy
> and paste into jed, the indentations (and sometimes no indentations)
> will always further indent to a stairstep, which has to be hand edited
> out.  This is maddening and unacceptable.  I don't have this problem
> with emacs.  That makes it all worth the effort.

Do note though, that you can use Emacs with slrn just as easily as you
can jed.


  Best regards,

     Adam

-- 
 "Yeah, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go ahead and give        Adam Sjøgren
  this a 9.7 on the "whatever" scale."                   asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

On 2009-06-01, Adam Sjøgren <asjo@koldfront.dk> wrote:
>
> ,----[ C-h v gnus-read-active-file RET ]
>| `gnus-read-active-file' is a variable declared in Lisp.
>|   -- loaded from "gnus-start"

I tried it and gnus doesn't work at all, now.  Is it a toggle variable --
just run again?  The only gnus-start I can find is a binary file.  I'm
reading the gnus manual like crazy, but it's so vague.  Where is the
"active" file.  Manual talks about it, but doesn't identify it.  

Also, a ~/.gnus.el file has yet to be created.  I gotta do it manually?

nb





>| 
>| Value: nil
>| 
>| Documentation:
>| *Non-nil means that Gnus will read the entire active file at startup.
>| If this variable is nil, Gnus will only know about the groups in your
>| `.newsrc' file.
>| 
>| If this variable is `some', Gnus will try to only read the relevant
>| parts of the active file from the server.  Not all servers support
>| this, and it might be quite slow with other servers, but this should
>| generally be faster than both the t and nil value.
>| 
>| If you set this variable to nil or `some', you probably still want to
>| be told about new newsgroups that arrive.  To do that, set
>| `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `ask-server'.  This may not work
>| properly with all servers.
> `----
>
> As you can see above, I have configured mine to nil (in .gnus, like
> this:
>   ; I find new groups myself:
>   (setq gnus-read-active-file nil)
> )
>
>> ......then the groups come up and are listed.  WTF!?  slrn does it in
>> 1/2 sec.
>
> I guess Gnus works differently than slrn, then.
>
>> I've tried reading the ~/newsrc (.el, .eld?) and can find no such
>> file.
>
> I've got:
>
>   $ ls .newsrc*
>   .newsrc  .newsrc.eld
>   $ 
>
>> All I find is ~/.news-dribble, which isn't even mentioned in the emacs
>> or gnus manuals.
>
> Perhaps that is because that file is an internal one?
>
>> One reason (other than the fact I despise vi!) I want to get better at
>> emacs instead of remaining with jed is, I can copy and paste into
>> emacs with better results.  With jed, specially with code, if I copy
>> and paste into jed, the indentations (and sometimes no indentations)
>> will always further indent to a stairstep, which has to be hand edited
>> out.  This is maddening and unacceptable.  I don't have this problem
>> with emacs.  That makes it all worth the effort.
>
> Do note though, that you can use Emacs with slrn just as easily as you
> can jed.
>
>
>   Best regards,
>
>      Adam
>

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:11:39 GMT, notbob wrote:

> I tried it and gnus doesn't work at all, now.

Could you be a little more specific? What did you do, what did you
expect to happen and what happened?

> Is it a toggle variable -- just run again?

You simply set it to the value you prefer.

> I'm reading the gnus manual like crazy, but it's so vague.

I'm sure suggestions for improvements/patches will be welcomed :-)

> Where is the "active" file. Manual talks about it, but doesn't
> identify it.

It is something a news-server keeps, and maintains.

> Also, a ~/.gnus.el file has yet to be created.  I gotta do it manually?

Yes.


  Best regards,

    Adam


P.S. Please trim the quoted text, thanks :-)

-- 
 "Emacs is like a laser guided missile. It only has to        Adam Sjøgren
  be slight mis-configured to ruin your whole day."      asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

On 2009-06-01, Adam Sjøgren <asjo@koldfront.dk> wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:11:39 GMT, notbob wrote:
>
>> I tried it and gnus doesn't work at all, now.
>
> Could you be a little more specific? What did you do, what did you
> expect to happen and what happened?

Hmmm.... after trying it half a dozen times and getting everything from
freezups to stall out dead, it worked perfectly.  Go figure.  (I'm not above
operator error ;)

> I'm sure suggestions for improvements/patches will be welcomed :-)

If I learn how to fly this thing before I die of old age, I'll definitely
contribute.  ;)

> It is something a news-server keeps, and maintains.

"When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large file
that lists all the active groups and articles on the server."

See what I mean about vague?  Didn't say active file was ON the server.

"The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you can
set gnus-read-active-file to nil to prevent Gnus from reading the active
file."

Talk about between the lines.  

>> Also, a ~/.gnus.el file has yet to be created.  I gotta do it manually?
>
> Yes.

OK.  I did.  Now what?

> P.S. Please trim the quoted text, thanks :-)

I usually do unless I think it's needed for context.

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:59:36 GMT, notbob wrote:

> If I learn how to fly this thing before I die of old age, I'll definitely
> contribute.  ;)

Better do it while you're not used to Gnus, when you are, you'll think
it's all obvious!

>> It is something a news-server keeps, and maintains.

> "When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
> articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large file
> that lists all the active groups and articles on the server."

> See what I mean about vague?  Didn't say active file was ON the server.

No, I guess that paragraph was written assuming that the reader knows
what the active file is and how nntp/news works.

Feel free to suggest a better wording!

> OK.  I did.  Now what?

Put this in the file:

  (setq gnus-read-active-file nil)

and start Gnus.


  Best regards,

    Adam

-- 
 "do you think the idea of "one tool doing one job            Adam Sjøgren
  well" has been abandoned?" [...] " Those days are      asjo@koldfront.dk
  dead and gone and the eulogy was delivered by Perl."

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

asjo@koldfront.dk (Adam Sjøgren) writes:

> On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:59:36 GMT, notbob wrote:

>> "When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
>> articles have arrived, it reads the active file. 

> written assuming

You know what they say about assume.

> Feel free to suggest a better wording!

Howzabout:
"When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether
new articles have arrived, it reads the SERVER'S active file.  

See.  Not that hard.


>   (setq gnus-read-active-file nil)
>
> and start Gnus.

No, I don't think I'll put it in.  For some bizarre reason, gnus is
opening up quickly and accurately, much to my delight, and there is
nothing in the .gnus* files.

I think what did it is, I manually created a .newsrc file and manually
entered the newsgroups I wanted.  Seems to work perfectly.  I think
gnus was taking stuff from jed's .jnewsrc file, but don't really know.
I jes know it opens up like I'd like it to.  Now, to figure out the
.authinfo file.  Any emacs mechanism to create it, or again, manually.
If manual, what format with info?

I jes discovered one of the other reasons I wanted to change to gnus.
When editing quoted text in a follow-up, re-formatting a paragraph
doesn't jumble the quote markers into the text, like jed.  Brilliant!

Dang, and I jes noticed my new text is grn on black like I want it,
not changed to white on black like jed.  Now, if I could just learn
how to set up news so the summary page looks like jeds summary page,
with the arrowed threads.  I know it can be done.  I've seen it.  What
do I need to do?

Thank you
nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:42:44 -0600, notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:

> You know what they say about assume.

Any given text must make _some_ assumptions about the reader. Otherwise
every text would have to start with describing what a keyboard and a
monitor is...

I guess the things you can assume have changed as the september rolled
on :-)

> "When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether
> new articles have arrived, it reads the SERVER'S active file.  

> See.  Not that hard.

Indeed, thank you taking the time to come up with the suggestion.

> I think what did it is, I manually created a .newsrc file and manually
> entered the newsgroups I wanted.  Seems to work perfectly.

Sounds reasonable.

> I think gnus was taking stuff from jed's .jnewsrc file, but don't
> really know.

(I don't think that is very likely.)

> Now, to figure out the .authinfo file. Any emacs mechanism to create
> it, or again, manually. If manual, what format with info?

If examples people have posted here aren't sufficient, you can try
looking here:

 * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html

(found by searching for "site:gnus authinfo" on Google.)

(Emacs is one big mechanism to create text-files! :-))


  Best regards,

    Adam

-- 
 "Noone stops you                                             Adam Sjøgren
  Like you stop yourself"                                asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

asjo@koldfront.dk (Adam Sjøgren) writes:

> On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:42:44 -0600, notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:

>> I think what did it is, I manually created a .newsrc file and manually
>> entered the newsgroups I wanted.  Seems to work perfectly.
>
> Sounds reasonable.

No, that's not it.  When gnus is loading, the mini-buffer lists all
the newsgroups I put in the .newsrc file.  Unfortunately, each group
listed is proceded by the text, "Mangled line".  Obviously, I've done
something right AND wrong.  ;)






>
>> I think gnus was taking stuff from jed's .jnewsrc file, but don't
>> really know.
>
> (I don't think that is very likely.)

I think you're probably right.

>  * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html

Is there a keystroke/function to bring up the above above weblink in
browser of choice?


> (Emacs is one big mechanism to create text-files! :-))

Boy, howdy!  That's what I'm finally getting the hang of.  Before, I'd
open 2-3 sessions of emacs in xterms (frames?) and do a single thing
in each xterm.  Dired, file edit, etc.  Now, it's finally coming
together and I'm not intimidated by multiple windows in a single emacs
session and moving around from one window to the other.  w00t!

nb

Open urls in a browser (was: More gnewb questions)

[Memnon Anon]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

>>  * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html
>
> Is there a keystroke/function to bring up the above above weblink in
> browser of choice?

,----[ (info "(emacs)Browse-URL") ]
| 54.1 Following URLs
| ===================
| 
| `M-x browse-url <RET> URL <RET>'
|      Load a URL into a Web browser.
| 
|    The Browse-URL package provides facilities for following URLs
| specifying links on the World Wide Web.  Usually this works by invoking
| a web browser, but you can, for instance, arrange to invoke
| `compose-mail' from `mailto:' URLs.
| 
|    The general way to use this feature is to type `M-x browse-url',
| which displays a specified URL.  If point is located near a plausible
| URL, that URL is used as the default.  Other commands are available
| which you might like to bind to keys, such as `browse-url-at-point' and
| `browse-url-at-mouse'.
| 
|    You can customize Browse-URL's behavior via various options in the
| `browse-url' Customize group, particularly
| `browse-url-browser-function'.  You can invoke actions dependent on the
| type of URL by defining `browse-url-browser-function' as an association
| list.  The package's commentary available via `C-h p' under the
| `hypermedia' keyword provides more information.  Packages with
| facilities for following URLs should always go through Browse-URL, so
| that the customization options for Browse-URL will affect all browsing
| in Emacs.
`----

I have this in my .emacs.
Using C-x m on an url lets I am asked whether I want to use w3m inside
emacs or conkeror called as an external programm.

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(require 'w3m-load)
(require 'w3m)
 (setq browse-url-browser-function 'browse-url-generic
       browse-url-generic-program "/usr/bin/conkeror")

;; Found here: http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/JorgenSchaefersEmacsConfig
(defun choose-browser (url &rest args)
  (interactive "sURL: ")
  (if (y-or-n-p "Use external browser? ")
      (browse-url-generic url)
    (w3m-browse-url url)))

(setq browse-url-browser-function 'choose-browser)

(global-set-key "\C-xm" 'browse-url-at-point)
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

hth

Memnon
P.S.: You should really consider splitting your questions in seperate
      messages and giving each a clear subject. You will certainly get
      more replys ;)

Re: Open urls in a browser (was: More gnewb questions)

[notbob]

Memnon Anon <gegendosenfleisch@gmail.com> writes:


> | `M-x browse-url <RET> URL <RET>'
> |      Load a URL into a Web browser.

Works great! ...even brings up my preferred browser instead of any of
the other 3 I have.  How it did that, I have no clue, but works
perfectly.  I did discover having the cursor "close" to a URL gives
only a close approximation of the link.  Gotta have cursor right on
link to get accurate location.

Thank you
nb

Re: Open urls in a browser

[Richard Riley]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:


> Memnon Anon <gegendosenfleisch@gmail.com> writes:
>
>
>> | `M-x browse-url <RET> URL <RET>'
>> |      Load a URL into a Web browser.
>
> Works great! ...even brings up my preferred browser instead of any of
> the other 3 I have.  How it did that, I have no clue, but works
> perfectly.  I did discover having the cursor "close" to a URL gives
> only a close approximation of the link.  Gotta have cursor right on
> link to get accurate location.
>
> Thank you
> nb

Possibly better - I use :


(defun rgr/browse (url)
  "If prefix is specified use the system default browser else use the configured emacs one"
  (if current-prefix-arg
      (when url (browse-url-default-browser url))
    (if  url (browse-url url) (call-interactively 'browse-url))
    ))

(defun rgr/browse-url (&optional url)
  "browse the url passed in"
  (interactive)
  (setq url (or url (w3m-url-valid (w3m-anchor)) (browse-url-url-at-point) (region-or-word-at-point)))
  (setq url (read-string (format "Url \"%s\" :" url) url nil url))
  (rgr/browse url))

(global-set-key (kbd "<f4>") 'rgr/browse-url)



Cursor on url. Hit f4 to open using your emacs browser (whatever that is
configured to) or C-u f4 to open in your desktop browser (firefox here).

Re: Open urls in a browser

[notbob]

Richard Riley <rileyrgdev@googlemail.com> writes:


> Cursor on url. Hit f4 to open using your emacs browser (whatever that is
> configured to) or C-u f4 to open in your desktop browser (firefox here).

Other than defining the F4 key, what does all that do?  I put cursor
on link, enter M-x browser-url (completion works at bro) and Seamonkey
opens to the link.  All this by emacs default.  (how it chooses SM
over FF or Konqueror is beyond me)

nb

Re: Open urls in a browser

[Richard Riley]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

> Richard Riley <rileyrgdev@googlemail.com> writes:
>
>
>> Cursor on url. Hit f4 to open using your emacs browser (whatever that is
>> configured to) or C-u f4 to open in your desktop browser (firefox here).
>
> Other than defining the F4 key, what does all that do?  I put cursor
> on link, enter M-x browser-url (completion works at bro) and Seamonkey
> opens to the link.  All this by emacs default.  (how it chooses SM
> over FF or Konqueror is beyond me)
>
> nb

I said what it does in the text above.

,----
| >> Cursor on url. Hit f4 to open using your emacs browser (whatever that is
| >> configured to) or C-u f4 to open in your desktop browser (firefox here).
`----

It also works in w3m buffers e.g in html rendered emails.

Try it and see.

You might need to include thingatpt+.el

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:
> asjo@koldfront.dk (Adam Sjøgren) writes:
>> (Emacs is one big mechanism to create text-files! :-))
> 
> Boy, howdy!  That's what I'm finally getting the hang of.  Before, I'd
> open 2-3 sessions of emacs in xterms (frames?) and do a single thing
> in each xterm.  Dired, file edit, etc.  Now, it's finally coming
> together and I'm not intimidated by multiple windows in a single emacs
> session and moving around from one window to the other.  w00t!

   I think I found Pedit ("Program Editor") from garbo, or somewhere 
like that.  I think there's a more popular "Pedit", but the one I use is 
small, simple, and fast, and you can easily teach it to repeat 
keystrokes.  It's for Windows.

   In the help window, it says the e-mail address is pedit@usa.net, but 
that doesn't work, and the URL is supposed to be 
http://www.spark.net.hk/~pedit, but that doesn't work, either.  :(

   I hear emacs is more powerful than edlin, but it doesn't come free 
with laptops, and edlin does; it's just hard to find.

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

Adam Sjøgren wrote:
> I guess the things you can assume have changed as the september rolled
> on :-)

   You can assume most people don't get that.

   (I sorta do, but not quite.  It refers to a famous September when 
lots of newbies arrived on a college campus and didn't know something, 
right? Something like AOL allowing lots of newbies onto the Internet 
without knowing anything about Usenet and etiquette and HTML, etc.?)

   The thing is, "ontology recapitulates phylogeny" (an organism's 
development goes through the same stages evolution took in creating the 
species, a principle all medical students learn in school) in the real 
world, but people are just tossed into technology without any 
preparation at all.

   Computers should start out by teaching people what they need to know 
before offering up huge lists of jargon, such as the names of programs.

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

Adam Sjøgren wrote:
>  * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html
> 
> (found by searching for "site:gnus authinfo" on Google.)

   I didn't know you could leave the ".org" off of gnus.org when using a 
Google "site:" prefix.  Neat!

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:42:56 -0400, Marshall wrote:

> Adam Sjøgren wrote:
>> * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html

>> (found by searching for "site:gnus authinfo" on Google.)

>   I didn't know you could leave the ".org" off of gnus.org when using
> a Google "site:" prefix.  Neat!

Sorry, that was a typo, I meant to say:

 * http://www.google.dk/search?q=site%3Agnus.org+authinfo


  Best regards,

-- 
 "Apparently, there's a leak."                                Adam Sjøgren
                                                         asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

Adam Sjøgren wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:42:56 -0400, Marshall wrote:
> 
>> Adam Sjøgren wrote:
>>> * http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_167.html
> 
>>> (found by searching for "site:gnus authinfo" on Google.)
> 
>>   I didn't know you could leave the ".org" off of gnus.org when using
>> a Google "site:" prefix.  Neat!
> 
> Sorry, that was a typo, I meant to say:
> 
>  * http://www.google.dk/search?q=site%3Agnus.org+authinfo

   How did you construct that URL?  Did you type it in by hand?  Did you 
insert a colon or %3A?

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:04:59 -0400, Marshall wrote:

>> * http://www.google.dk/search?q=site%3Agnus.org+authinfo

>   How did you construct that URL?  Did you type it in by hand?  Did
> you insert a colon or %3A?

I did the search in my browser and copied the resulting address from
there to here.


  Best regards,

    Adam


P.S. Are you kidding?

-- 
 "No more than that, but very powerful all the same;          Adam Sjøgren
  simple things are good."                               asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

Adam Sjøgren wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:04:59 -0400, Marshall wrote:
> 
>>> * http://www.google.dk/search?q=site%3Agnus.org+authinfo
> 
>>   How did you construct that URL?  Did you type it in by hand?  Did
>> you insert a colon or %3A?
> 
> I did the search in my browser and copied the resulting address from
> there to here.
> 
> 
>   Best regards,
> 
>     Adam
> 
> 
> P.S. Are you kidding?
> 

   No, I thought you might be familiar with the construction of such 
URLs from reading "Google Hacks" or something like that.

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Adam Sjøgren]

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:44:43 -0400, Marshall wrote:

>   No, I thought you might be familiar with the construction of such
> URLs from reading "Google Hacks" or something like that.

Ok - much more lo-fi than that :-)


  Best regards,

    Adam

-- 
 "You'll see my chainsaw coming                               Adam Sjøgren
  I'm drawing the line"                                  asjo@koldfront.dk

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:
> asjo@koldfront.dk (Adam Sjøgren) writes:
> 
>> On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:59:36 GMT, notbob wrote:
> 
>>> "When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
>>> articles have arrived, it reads the active file. 
> 
>> written assuming
> 
> You know what they say about assume.
> 
>> Feel free to suggest a better wording!
> 
> Howzabout:
> "When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether
> new articles have arrived, it reads the SERVER'S active file.  

   How about "...reads a file on the server named 'active'"?

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[Marshall Price]

Adam Sjøgren wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:59:36 GMT, notbob wrote:
> 
>> If I learn how to fly this thing before I die of old age, I'll definitely
>> contribute.  ;)
> 
> Better do it while you're not used to Gnus, when you are, you'll think
> it's all obvious!

   I've got a full-screen text-based text-user-interface program working 
nicely on my Windows XP laptop, but I'd be hard pressed to explain how I 
did it, or do it again.

   Same thing with my NNTP, IMAP, POP3, and SMTP servers.  I'd never get 
them right again if they failed.  What I really need is a piece of paper 
with the details on it!

   I wonder how many technically-minded people give up on the paperless 
idea and use pencils and paper instead.  A lot, I bet.

-- 
Marshall Price of Miami
marshallprice@att.net
http://marshallprice.wordpress.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Another Q:

If I have summary buffer on top and an article buffer open (bottom),
how do I close the article buffer and go back to a full screen summary
buffer.  q kills it clear back to groups buffer and killing the
article buffer still leaves me with 2 buffers, the article buffer on
top and the just killed article buffer (bot) changing to group
buffer.  I jes wanna close the article buffer.

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Vivien Moreau]

notbob@bb.nothome.com a écrit :

> Another Q:
>
> If I have summary buffer on top and an article buffer open (bottom),
> how do I close the article buffer and go back to a full screen summary
> buffer.  q kills it clear back to groups buffer and killing the
> article buffer still leaves me with 2 buffers, the article buffer on
> top and the just killed article buffer (bot) changing to group
> buffer.  I jes wanna close the article buffer.

  Just do a C-x 1 :-)

-- 
Vivien Moreau / vpm / Tuxicomane

Re: More gnewb questions

[Tim Landscheidt]

(anonymous) wrote:

> Another Q:

> If I have summary buffer on top and an article buffer open (bottom),
> how do I close the article buffer and go back to a full screen summary
> buffer.  q kills it clear back to groups buffer and killing the
> article buffer still leaves me with 2 buffers, the article buffer on
> top and the just killed article buffer (bot) changing to group
> buffer.  I jes wanna close the article buffer.

C-x 1.

Tim

Re: More gnewb questions

[Tassilo Horn]

Tim Landscheidt <tim@tim-landscheidt.de> writes:

Hi!

>> If I have summary buffer on top and an article buffer open (bottom),
>> how do I close the article buffer and go back to a full screen
>> summary buffer.  q kills it clear back to groups buffer and killing
>> the article buffer still leaves me with 2 buffers, the article buffer
>> on top and the just killed article buffer (bot) changing to group
>> buffer.  I jes wanna close the article buffer.
>
> C-x 1.

Or, most of the time, this also DTRT and is faster to type:

,----[ C-h k ESC ESC ESC ]
| ESC ESC ESC runs the command keyboard-escape-quit, which is an interactive
| compiled Lisp function in `simple.el'.
| 
| It is bound to M-ESC ESC.
| 
| (keyboard-escape-quit)
| 
| Exit the current "mode" (in a generalized sense of the word).
| This command can exit an interactive command such as `query-replace',
| can clear out a prefix argument or a region,
| can get out of the minibuffer or other recursive edit,
| cancel the use of the current buffer (for special-purpose buffers),
| or go back to just one window (by deleting all but the selected window).
`----

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Tim Landscheidt <tim@tim-landscheidt.de> writes:

> (anonymous) wrote:
>
>> Another Q:
>
>> If I have summary buffer on top and an article buffer open (bottom),
>> how do I close the article buffer and go back to a full screen summary
>> buffer.  q kills it clear back to groups buffer and killing the
>> article buffer still leaves me with 2 buffers, the article buffer on
>> top and the just killed article buffer (bot) changing to group
>> buffer.  I jes wanna close the article buffer.
>
> C-x 1.

......or C-x 0 if I've changed my cursor to the article buffer.  I get
it.  ;)

I just thought there might be a one letter function for it, like in
slrn.  Apperently not.  

ANOTHER QUESTION DEPT:

(Yes, there will be many, but I'm finally really getting into emacs.)

Q: Where do I put my newserver login info so I don't hafta enter it
every time?  The server name is good, cuz I have it as a system
variable, but where to put username and password?

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Teemu Likonen]

On 2009-06-01 10:02 (-0600), notbob@bb.nothome.com wrote:

> ......or C-x 0 if I've changed my cursor to the article buffer.  I get
> it.  ;)
>
> I just thought there might be a one letter function for it, like in
> slrn.  Apperently not.  

There is "=". Even if there wasn't you can always bind commands to
whichever keys you want.

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

On 2009-06-01, Teemu Likonen <tlikonen@iki.fi> wrote:

> There is "=". Even if there wasn't you can always bind commands to
> whichever keys you want.

I saw it, but the way it was described, didn't think of it as disappearing
the article buffer.  Thanks

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Vivien Moreau]

notbob@bb.nothome.com a écrit :

> ANOTHER QUESTION DEPT:
>
> (Yes, there will be many, but I'm finally really getting into emacs.)
>
> Q: Where do I put my newserver login info so I don't hafta enter it
> every time?  The server name is good, cuz I have it as a system
> variable, but where to put username and password?

  For example in your ~/.authinfo

-- 
Vivien Moreau / vpm / Tuxicomane

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

On 2009-06-01, Vivien Moreau <tuxicomane@laposte.net> wrote:
>
>   For example in your ~/.authinfo

Thanks

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Tassilo Horn]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

Hi!

> (Yes, there will be many, but I'm finally really getting into emacs.)

No problem, that's what newsgroups are for.  But it would be better if
you ask each question with a new message with specific subject.  In
general I don't have time to read through a "noob needs help" thread to
pick out the questions I can answer, but I'm happy to help otherwise.

> Q: Where do I put my newserver login info so I don't hafta enter it
> every time?

That's what ~/.authinfo is for.  Here's mine:

,----
| machine mail.messagingengine.com login USER password XXX force yes
| machine news.uni-koblenz.de login USER password XXX force yes
| [...]
`----

Bye,
Tassilo
-- 
The  desire  to  be  rewarded  for one's  creativity  does  not  justify
depriving  the world  in  general of  all  or part  of that  creativity.
(Richard M. Stallman)

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org> writes:


> No problem, that's what newsgroups are for.  But it would be better if
> you ask each question with a new message with specific subject.  In
> general I don't have time to read through a "noob needs help" thread to
> pick out the questions I can answer, but I'm happy to help otherwise.

OK, Tassilo.  I'll try and be a little more specific on my questions
and threads and not mix 'em up.

> That's what ~/.authinfo is for.  Here's mine:
>
> ,----
> | machine mail.messagingengine.com login USER password XXX force yes
> | machine news.uni-koblenz.de login USER password XXX force yes
> | [...]

Oh great.  Thanks a bunch.

Re: More gnewb questions

[Tassilo Horn]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

> First and formost: why does it take gnus 1-2 mins to load up new stuff
> into the group buffer?  I get this:
>
> Reading nntp: 3500K   (<--counting)
>
> Reading active file from eu.Usenet-News.net via nntp...  (waiting)

I know that symptom as well.  RET on a group and gnus tries to fetch the
whole internet, but using `gnus-agent-fetch-session' before entering a
group works very quick.  So now I use this:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(defun th-gnus-get-news-and-agent-fetch (arg)
  "First look for new news via `gnus-group-get-new-news' and then
let the agent fetch it via `gnus-agent-fetch-session'.
Equivalent to `g' followed by `J s' in *Group*."
  (interactive "P")
  (gnus-group-get-new-news arg)
  (gnus-agent-fetch-session))

(define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "C-c g")
  'th-gnus-get-news-and-agent-fetch)
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Before starting to read my subscribed newsgroups, I hit `C-c g' (instead
of the usual `g') which checks for new articles and downloads them.
This works quite fast, and afterwards RET or SPACE on a group enters
them instantly.

Bye,
Tassilo
-- 
Richard Stallman  doesn't write programs,  they write themselves  out of
reverence.

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org> writes:

>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> (defun th-gnus-get-news-and-agent-fetch (arg)
   [...]

> Before starting to read my subscribed newsgroups, I hit `C-c g' (instead
> of the usual `g') which checks for new articles and downloads them.
> This works quite fast......

Wow!  All great info and saved.  Thank you.

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[William Xu]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

> First and formost: why does it take gnus 1-2 mins to load up new stuff
> into the group buffer?  I get this:
>
> Reading nntp: 3500K   (<--counting)
>
> Reading active file from eu.Usenet-News.net via nntp...  (waiting)
>
> ......then the groups come up and are listed.  WTF!?  slrn does it in
> 1/2 sec. 

That also drives me crazy.  My solution is saving a cache of full list of
newsgroups from the server, and subscribe/unsubscribe groups from there.
Of course, I may miss some newly added groups, but that is not much a
problem as long as I update the cache when necessarily.  

The config looks like this: 

     ;; Make subscribing easier
     (require 'gmane-list)
     (defun xwl-gnus-group-unsubscribe-group (group)
       (interactive
        (list
         (ido-completing-read "Group: "
                              (mapcar 'symbol-name xwl-gmane-list))))
       (gnus-group-unsubscribe-group group))

     (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "U") 'xwl-gnus-group-unsubscribe-group)

This kind of cache may be also worthwhile adopting in Gnus?

-- 
William

http://xwl.appspot.com

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

William Xu <william.xwl@gmail.com> writes:


> That also drives me crazy.  My solution is saving a cache of full list of
> newsgroups from the server, and subscribe/unsubscribe groups from there.

Everything seemed to work out when I made a buncha .news* files,
including .newsrc.eld.  With that and the .authinfo file, everything
loads up pretty quick.  I'll save your cache code for when I can
understand it.  ;)

Thank you
nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Frédéric Perrin]

Hello,

Le Lundi 1 à 15:52, notbob@bb.nothome.com a écrit :
> An emacs in-general question: When I list buffers (C-x C-b), why does
> the cursor remain in the old window instead of going to the new buffer
> list window?  This requires another set of keystrokes to get to the
> buffer list.  I wouldn't have listed the buffers if I didn't want to
> access them, ferchrynoutloud!  Is there a setting that will change
> this?

I have this in my .emacs :

(global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'buffer-menu)

For an easier way to nabigate buffers, you may be interested in
iswitchb. There is a WWW document about it at
<http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/IswitchBuffers>.

-- 
Fred

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Frédéric Perrin <frederic.perrin@resel.fr> writes:


> I have this in my .emacs :
>
> (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'buffer-menu)

Excellent!

> For an easier way to nabigate buffers, you may be interested in
> iswitchb. There is a WWW document about it at
> <http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/IswitchBuffers>.

I'll try it out.  Thank you.

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Richard Riley]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

> Frédéric Perrin <frederic.perrin@resel.fr> writes:
>
>
>> I have this in my .emacs :
>>
>> (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'buffer-menu)
>
> Excellent!
>
>> For an easier way to nabigate buffers, you may be interested in
>> iswitchb. There is a WWW document about it at
>> <http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/IswitchBuffers>.
>
> I'll try it out.  Thank you.
>
> nb

iswitchb is nice. ido seems to have gathered ground however ...

http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/InteractivelyDoThings

I combine it with these settings

      ido-confirm-unique-completion t
      ido-default-buffer-method 'samewindow
      ido-use-filename-at-point 1
      ido-use-url-at-point nil
      ido-ignore-buffers  '("^ " "\\.org\\'" "\\.bbdb\\'" "^\\*Egg")
      ido-enable-flex-matching t      
      ido-max-prospects 6          
      ido-confirm-unique-completion t

regards

r.

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Richard Riley <rileyrgdev@googlemail.com> writes:


> iswitchb is nice. ido seems to have gathered ground however ...

Again, thank you.

While I greatly appreciate all the extra info and have saved it for
future reference, at this point I'm pretty much overwhelmed with just
learning basic emacs.  This is not a editor, it's a career field.  ;)  
 

nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Frédéric Perrin <frederic.perrin@resel.fr> writes:


> I have this in my .emacs :
>
> (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'buffer-menu)

Wow!  This rocks.  Opens a full window buffer list that closes with q.

Thank you.
nb

Re: More gnewb questions

[Tassilo Horn]

notbob@bb.nothome.com writes:

Hi!

>> I have this in my .emacs :
>>
>> (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'buffer-menu)
>
> Wow!  This rocks.  Opens a full window buffer list that closes with q.

Another nice buffer menu with advanced features like grouping and
sorting is ibuffer:

  (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'ibuffer)

Bye,
Tassilo
-- 
Chuck Norris' roundhouse kick is so  powerful, it can be seen from outer
space by the naked eye.

Re: More gnewb questions

[notbob]

Tassilo Horn <tassilo@member.fsf.org> writes:

> Another nice buffer menu with advanced features like grouping and
> sorting is ibuffer:
>
>   (global-set-key "\C-x\C-b" 'ibuffer)
>

I plan to take a closer look at that when I have the time.  Right now,
I'm currently overhanging a shear drop off on Novice Peak.  ;)

nb  
vi ...the heart of evil!