Re: beginner splitting mail

[Steven Arntson]

Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se> writes:

Okay, things are looking up .. ! (see below)

> Steven Arntson <steven@stevenarntson.com> writes:
>
>>> Some comments: 1. ("emacs" "^From:.*emacs") Is it
>>> smarter to base that on *subject*? As in mine:
>>> ("emacs-w3m" "^Subject:.*emacs-w3m.*") Also note the
>>> .* after the string.  (But this may be your
>>> situation that is different, just sayin'.)
>>
>> I thought "from" would work best--if a news item is
>> from gmane.emacs.gnus.user, then it would go to the
>> "emacs" group. But something like this post, with the
>> subject "beginner splitting mail" would not be caught
>> by an "emacs" "^Subject" designation, unless I'm
>> misunderstanding how that works? (very likely!)
>
> No, you are right - in my case, there is a listbot for
> Emacs-w3m, and they always put "emacs-w3m" in the
> subject!
>
> So for groups, your solution might makes sense, but
> then again:
>
> 1) Don't you still need the closing .* after "emacs" to
> match gmane.emacs.gnus.user? (Not a rhetorical
> question.)
>
> 2) Do you really get the group in the From: header?
> (Ditto.) Compare how I got your post:
>
> From: Steven Arntson <x@y.z>
> Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.gnus

Yes, you're right about this. But perhaps it doesn't matter, now that
I'm learning about "topics" ... (below)
>
> 3) Perhaps it is easier to just *keep* the groups -
> they are already groups! I don't think it makes sense
> to mix gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.gnus,
> gnu.emacs.sources, etc., just because they deal with
> Emacs. Those distinctions help you keep a clear head.
>
> 4) If you would like some order that the original
> Usenet group hierarchies can't provide, you can group
> groups with labels (or topics, I don't do this, so I
> don't know the correct terminology). That what, you'd
> keep some order if you have tons of groups, but on a
> closer look, the groups would still be distinct.

This is exactly right. I just spent a quality fifteen minutes
rearranging everything according to topics---very nice! This will be #1
of the 365 things I learn about gnus in the coming year. :)

>
>> 2. How to save you own mails - this works for me:
>>> (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("nnml:mail.sent") )
>>
>> I added this to my .gnus.el--thank you. But no results
>> yet. (see below?)
>
> You are able to read Usenet, but not mail? Or are you
> able to read both, just splitting ain't working?
>
So it looks like this /is/ working; I spake too soon. I thought it would
retroactively refile all of the old month-by-month emails I had, which
it didn't, but it is successfully routing new sent mails. Excellent!

Is there a way to refile or reprocess those old emails so they fall under the 
new heading?

>>> 3. Why it doesn't work at all - did you specify that
>>> you use nnml? I have: (setq
>>> gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml ""))
>>> mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent read-mail-command
>>> 'gnus)
>>
>> I wonder if my troubles lie here. My .gnus.el file is
>> cobbled from various sources, and I am illiterate
>> regarding its meaning. The relevant (I think) portion
>> I have is:
>>
>> ;;init stuff (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp
>> "news.gwene.org")) (add-to-list
>> gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nnml ""))
>> (add-to-list gnus-secondary-select-methods '(nnmbox
>> "" (nnmbox-mbox-file "~/MAIL") (nnmbox-active-file
>> "~/Mail.active"))) (setq mail-sources '((pop :server
>> "my.server.com" :user "me@mywebsite.com")))
>
> Someone else will have to fill you in on the exact
> workings of this. Aren't nnml and nnmbox different
> backends for mail on Unix systems?
>
> This is a good text, but might be too technical and not
> enough practical at this stage - anyway, keep it as a
> bookmark:        
>
> http://gnus.org/manual/gnus_202.html
>
> Hunch: focus on either nnml or nnmbox.
>
It seems like my .gnus file is presently telling the system to use two
similarly-purposed backends ... how do I manage get myself into these
situations?! :) Do you have any opinion about nnml vs. nnmbox for
someone accessing gnus locally as the sole user of a reasonably modern
PC?

>>> 4. Check out how I did it here -
>>> http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/gnus.el
>>> - it might help you. And if you or anyone else sees
>>> something inadvisable, do tell...  Good luck!
>>
>> I have a lot to learn...
>
> Yeah, but don't get overwhelmed. It is just like in
> boxing, it doesn't matter how far behind you are on the
> scorecards, you can only land one punch at a time
> anyway. In time, it'll be enough if you acquire a
> single new piece of knowledge every day (= 365 items in
> a year!).

Yes, I do feel like I'm slowly moving forward. The journey of a thousand
miles begnus with a single step ...