Re: ~/.bbdb with multiple emacs instnaces

[Ernesto Alfonso]

Hi, sorry for the vague wording. By "leaves the ~/.bbdb file open" I
meant that it leaves the emacs buffer whose underlying file is ~/.bbdb
with unsaved changes throughout the session.

> It seems dangerous to me to
> have multiple emacs sessions updating your ~/.bbdb (or any other file)

Yes. But this is what happens when running gnus in two emacs instances
simultaneously on the same system.

> You could use the variable bbdb-read-only to make sure that only one
> emacs session can modify your ~/.bbdb (this variable should be nil
> only in one session).  

This is a workaround that could work for me, although I'd still like my
2nd session to be able to save new contacts.

> Or make sure that any changes you make to
> your bbdb database are saved immediately into ~/.bbdb (but I'd call
> this dangerous...).

I don't manually make changes to ~/.bbdb, but the bbdb library 
keeps the buffer open and locked. It would be nice if bbdb had an option
to write out changes immediately instead of leaving the ~/.bbdb buffer
open.

Thanks,

Ernesto



"Roland Winkler" <address@hidden> writes:

>> Because of gnus limitations, I use one emacs intance per IMAP/SMTP
>> server, for example for work and personal email.
>> 
>> It seems that bbdb leaves the ~/.bbdb file open, causing problems
>> with locks. Sometimes if I send email from instance A when I've
>> previously sent from instance B, I must steal the ~/.bbdb file in
>> A.
>> 
>> Is there a bbdb option to help with this problem?
>
> What do you mean by "leaves the ~/.bbdb file open"?
>
> Emacs uses file locks when you edit a file but have not yet saved
> your changes on disk.  So this happens also with ~/.bbdb if you modify
> this file, but have not yet saved it.  It seems dangerous to me to
> have multiple emacs sessions updating your ~/.bbdb (or any other file).
>
> You could use the variable bbdb-read-only to make sure that only one
> emacs session can modify your ~/.bbdb (this variable should be nil
> only in one session).  Or make sure that any changes you make to
> your bbdb database are saved immediately into ~/.bbdb (but I'd call
> this dangerous...).
>
> Otherwise, I'd dig into gnus: I am not using it myself, but I
> thought it can do pretty much anything.  Are you sure it supports
> only one IMAP/SMTP session per emacs session?  I am using
> old-fashioned VM where multiple such sessions are no problem, I do
> this all the time.