Re: nnimap issues

[Simon Josefsson <simon@josefsson.org>]

Bryan Ischo <bischo@plumbdesign.com> writes:

> Hi all.  I have been using nnimap for a week or two now, and aside
> from some major uidvalidity issues caused by a courier IMAP server
> which was not built with "broken client" extensions (I guess nnimap
> has some IMAP bugs?), things have been going well.

Hm, would you mind describing those issues?

> 1. How do I get the *Group* buffer to always come up with all of my
>    subscribed groups (which are all of my nnimap folders, since I only
>    use gnus for reading mail) showing, whether or not they have new
>    mail?

One solution might be `gnus-permanently-visible-groups'.

> 2. I have two mail servers that I read using nnimap.  The folders of my
>    primary select method always show up as "INBOX.XXX".  The folders
>    from the secondary method sometimes show up as
>    "nnimap+mailserver:INBOX.XXX", and sometimes show up as
>    "mailserver INBOX.XXX".  What I want is for both my primary and
>    secondary select method folders to show up as "mailserver XXX",
>    as in:
> 
>        work INBOX
>        work Infrastructure
>        work Condensity
>        (etc)
>        personal INBOX
>        personal Friends
>        personal Family
>        (etc)
> 
>    given that I called the two select methods "work" and "personal"
>    in my .emacs.  How do I do this?  Currently this is what I have
>    in my .emacs, and it does not do that, even though it's the closest
>    I can come to specifying what I want:
> 
>    (setq gnus-group-line-format "%S%-3N %4t: %s %G\n")

I don't think there is functionality for doing this right now, but I
suggested a group parameter `display-name' that would be displayed
instead of the real group name for situations like this.

> 4. How do I get my Summary buffer to always show ALL messages, read or
>    unread, new or old, of the folder.  Right now it shows me only the
>    new messages if there are new messages, otherwise it shows me all
>    of the old messages.  I want it to always show me everything.  And
>    I don't want it to ask me how many I want to see.  I want to see
>    them all, always, end of story.  Any hints?

`G c' and select display all.  Also, there is `gnus-large-newsgroup'.

> 5. Can I change the name of the News directory that gnus/nnimap uses
>    to save cache and stuff?  I want it to be called .news so that I
>    don't have to look at it all the time.

`gnus-directory'.

> 6. Similarly for the #.newsrc.dribble# file.  The file name annoys me.

Dunno about it.  But you should never see it if you save the file
properly. :-)

> 7. Can I make the summary buffer always come up with the cursor on the
>    first new message, and with the buffer centered on the cursor?
>    (This question assumes an answer to question 4)

Doesn't it do this by default?  I think it does for me.

> 8. What would be really great is if, when I sent mail, my return address
>    (From, Return Address, Sender, etc) headers were dependent upon whom
>    I was sending mail to.  I envision it working like this:  whenever
>    I send an email, if I have never sent a mail to that address before,
>    then a From: header line will come up in my composed message, say
>    under the To: line.  I can fill it in, and optionally, say, change
>    the header to be called "Save-From:" instead.  This will indicate that
>    the mail sending code should change the Save-From: to a From: when
>    sending the mail, but should also perform the additional function of
>    recording that, when sending to that email address, I would like
>    the From: header that I typed in to contain the address I just
>    supplied.  Now next time I sent an email to that address, the
>    From: field comes up again, but this time with the From: address
>    that I associated with the To: address last time already filled in.
> 
>    In this way I could associate a From: address with every address I
>    mail to, so that even when I am at work, and my From: address is
>    set as bischo@plumbdesign.com, I can still mail my friends as
>    bryan@ischo.com.
> 
>    Has someone done this already?

I think you could use posting-styles to achieve this, altough you
would need to add the Save-From functionality yourself.

> 9. I would like to save a copy of all outgoing messages in a Sent folder.
>    How can I do this?

Search for "gcc" in the manual.

> 10. I get reverse-video text for some received mail, probably dependent
>     upon the mail client sending the mail.  Where should I look for
>     instructions on turning this off?

It's probably html mail, I use this:

(setq w3-user-fonts-take-precedence t  ; Use _my_ font.
      w3-user-colors-take-precedence t ; Use _my_ colors.
      w3-honor-stylesheets nil         ; No, just do it..
      w3-use-terminal-characters nil   ; No weird characters.
      w3-horizontal-rule-char 45)      ; I said: no weird characters.

> 12. When new mail arrives, the number of new messages is often listed
>     wrong - I have seen 12 new messages listed when I only have two or
>     three actual new mails in my box.  What gives?

It's a estimate, calculated by taking highest article number - lowest
article number + 1 - already read articles.  Also, you might have read
articles with other IMAP clients.

> Well I feel a little guilty for dumping all this to the list, but
> the traffic on this list doesn't seem that high anyway so ...

No problem. :-)