bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Allen Li]

The Gnus Info manual about nndiary says this:

(info "(gnus)Sending or Not Sending")

   • However, since ‘nndiary’ also has a ‘request-post’ method, you can
     also use ‘C-u a’ instead of ‘C-u m’ on a diary group and the
     message won’t actually be sent; just stored locally in the group.
     This comes in very handy for private appointments.

This is misleading because the "a" key for nndiary defaults to composing
mail (I guess because nndiary is a mail backend).  This results in a
message that is sent, which would be undesirable for a new user who may
accidently mail something private.

Instead, one must use the "S i" key to force composing a news post in
order to 'request-post' to the nndiary group.

In GNU Emacs 26.2 (build 1, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.8)
 of 2019-04-12 built on juergen
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12005000

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Štěpán Němec]

On Mon, 29 Jul 2019 22:04:57 -0700
Allen Li wrote:

> The Gnus Info manual about nndiary says this:
>
> (info "(gnus)Sending or Not Sending")
>
>    • However, since ‘nndiary’ also has a ‘request-post’ method, you can
>      also use ‘C-u a’ instead of ‘C-u m’ on a diary group and the
>      message won’t actually be sent; just stored locally in the group.
>      This comes in very handy for private appointments.
>
> This is misleading because the "a" key for nndiary defaults to composing
> mail (I guess because nndiary is a mail backend).  This results in a
> message that is sent, which would be undesirable for a new user who may
> accidently mail something private.
>
> Instead, one must use the "S i" key to force composing a news post in
> order to 'request-post' to the nndiary group.

I don't use nndiary, but the way you describe this makes me wonder if it
is a misunderstanding.

Are you sure you tried 'C-u a' in the *Group* buffer? Note the
instructions say _on_ (i.e., in the *Group* buffer with point on the
group), not _in_ the diary group. IMO it should work as described. Also,
there is not even a "S i" binding in the *Group* buffer, whereas there
is one in the *Summary* buffer (i.e., when you enter the group), which
reinforces my suspicion.

-- 
Štěpán

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Allen Li]

On Fri, Aug 2, 2019 at 5:38 PM Štěpán Němec <stepnem@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 29 Jul 2019 22:04:57 -0700
> Allen Li wrote:
>
> > The Gnus Info manual about nndiary says this:
> >
> > (info "(gnus)Sending or Not Sending")
> >
> >    • However, since ‘nndiary’ also has a ‘request-post’ method, you can
> >      also use ‘C-u a’ instead of ‘C-u m’ on a diary group and the
> >      message won’t actually be sent; just stored locally in the group.
> >      This comes in very handy for private appointments.
> >
> > This is misleading because the "a" key for nndiary defaults to composing
> > mail (I guess because nndiary is a mail backend).  This results in a
> > message that is sent, which would be undesirable for a new user who may
> > accidently mail something private.
> >
> > Instead, one must use the "S i" key to force composing a news post in
> > order to 'request-post' to the nndiary group.
>
> I don't use nndiary, but the way you describe this makes me wonder if it
> is a misunderstanding.
>
> Are you sure you tried 'C-u a' in the *Group* buffer? Note the
> instructions say _on_ (i.e., in the *Group* buffer with point on the
> group), not _in_ the diary group. IMO it should work as described. Also,
> there is not even a "S i" binding in the *Group* buffer, whereas there
> is one in the *Summary* buffer (i.e., when you enter the group), which
> reinforces my suspicion.

Yes, "C-u a" in the *Group* buffer is functionally equivalent to "a"
in the summary buffer.  It begins a mail message for all mail groups.

>
> --
> Štěpán

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Allen Li <darkfeline@felesatra.moe> writes:

> The Gnus Info manual about nndiary says this:
>
> (info "(gnus)Sending or Not Sending")
>
>    • However, since ‘nndiary’ also has a ‘request-post’ method, you can
>      also use ‘C-u a’ instead of ‘C-u m’ on a diary group and the
>      message won’t actually be sent; just stored locally in the group.
>      This comes in very handy for private appointments.
>
> This is misleading because the "a" key for nndiary defaults to composing
> mail (I guess because nndiary is a mail backend).  This results in a
> message that is sent, which would be undesirable for a new user who may
> accidently mail something private.

I've never used nndiary before, so I'm not sure I'm doing it right.

If I

`G m diary RET nndiary RET'

then I get an nndiary group, and as you say, `C-u a' opens a message
mode buffer, and if I put something in the To header, the message is
sent to that recipient.  So the documentation here is wrong -- or
there's a bug, and `C-u a' is supposed to not send anything.

> Instead, one must use the "S i" key to force composing a news post in
> order to 'request-post' to the nndiary group.

Hm.  The "S i" key?  That's not bound in my Group buffer.

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

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Allen Li]

On Sat, Sep 14, 2019 at 3:51 PM Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> wrote:
>
> Allen Li <darkfeline@felesatra.moe> writes:
>
> > The Gnus Info manual about nndiary says this:
> >
> > (info "(gnus)Sending or Not Sending")
> >
> >    • However, since ‘nndiary’ also has a ‘request-post’ method, you can
> >      also use ‘C-u a’ instead of ‘C-u m’ on a diary group and the
> >      message won’t actually be sent; just stored locally in the group.
> >      This comes in very handy for private appointments.
> >
> > This is misleading because the "a" key for nndiary defaults to composing
> > mail (I guess because nndiary is a mail backend).  This results in a
> > message that is sent, which would be undesirable for a new user who may
> > accidently mail something private.
>
> I've never used nndiary before, so I'm not sure I'm doing it right.
>
> If I
>
> `G m diary RET nndiary RET'
>
> then I get an nndiary group, and as you say, `C-u a' opens a message
> mode buffer, and if I put something in the To header, the message is
> sent to that recipient.  So the documentation here is wrong -- or
> there's a bug, and `C-u a' is supposed to not send anything.

Yeah.  Fixing the documentation is the most expedient.  I can't say
whether the current `C-u a' behavior is a bug per se.

>
> > Instead, one must use the "S i" key to force composing a news post in
> > order to 'request-post' to the nndiary group.
>
> Hm.  The "S i" key?  That's not bound in my Group buffer.

Right, that's only bound in the Summary buffer.  I don't think there's
a way to force posting instead of mailing from the Group buffer.

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

bug#36849: 26.2; Misleading info in Gnus info about nndiary

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Allen Li <darkfeline@felesatra.moe> writes:

> Yeah.  Fixing the documentation is the most expedient.  I can't say
> whether the current `C-u a' behavior is a bug per se.

I've now pushed a change to the trunk that removes the bit in the manual
that makes the `C-u a' claim.

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