Re: Confused about fresh postings appearing that aren't marked "recent"

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005, NM Public wrote:

> I don't know the solution to your problem Alan, but here are a
> couple things that might be useful:

Thanks for the suggestions! Here are some first reactions...

> * Try experimenting with the feature news-approximates-new-status.
> This might affect the way that the filter conditions 'Message is New
> (Unseen)?' and 'Message is Recent?' work.

Interesting. Until now, in the configuration in question, this option
was unset.

The help information for it says:

Background: your "newsrc" file (used to store message status
information for newsgroups) is only capable of storing a single flag,
and Pine uses this to record whether or not you are "done with" a
message, as indicated by marking the message as "Deleted".
Unfortunately, this means that Pine has no way to record exactly
which messages you have previously seen, so it normally does not
show the "N" status flag for any messages in a newsgroup.

That final sentence is incompatible with PINE's current behaviour, in
spite of me having this option turned off. I find, normally, that
fresh messages in the newsgroup *are* marked with "N". It's only in
this specific case (re-opening the same group as before) that I find
the behaviour different.

OK, I've tried changing the "news-approximates..." option from off to
on. It said it would take effect the next time the group was opened,
but - to be absolutely on the safe side - I quit PINE and opened it
again before doing my tests. And verified that the option is indeed
set, yup.

Sorry - I have to report that setting the "news-approximates..." flag
does not seem to have changed the behaviour in *this* specific case of
re-opening the same group. The fresh messages are /still/ being
displayed without the "N" flag, and my filters not getting run, and,
once that has happened, even visiting a different group and then
coming back does not achieve any change in the situation, as far as
those particular messages are concerned: the unfiltered messages are
still being shown with no flag (no "N" flag, no "D" flag of course, no
nuffing :-} )

> * Try using the condition 'Message is New (Unseen)?' instead of
> 'Message is Recent?' and see if that helps.

I'm afraid it does not help. The reason seems to be because these
fresh messages are being treated (*in this specific scenario*) as
neither "New" nor "Recent", so it doesn't make any difference which
of the two flags is tested, they don't get filtered. Of course, if I
test neither of the flags, then PINE tries to filter the other 32,000
postings on the group, and isn't heard from again for weeks :-(

It's still the case that if I visit another group, and then come back
again, then any messages which are fresh *since the group was
previously opened* are properly filtered and flagged - but the
messages which had appeared fresh the last time around are still there
too, unfiltered and unflagged.

So, what it comes down to is, if I want this to work, then, as far as
I can make out, I /still/ have to visit some other group first, and
then come back: then, my filters work, and the new bona-fide postings
are available (and marked as new). Trying to re-open the same
newsgroup just leaves me knee-deep in these abusive postings from
trolls who are trying to make the group unusable.

> Please let us know what you figure out,

Thanks for the suggestions, all the same.

best
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Highlighting overdue tasks
    ... and insert the Status (or Status Indicator) ... Ahead of schedule tasks show on schedule, ... flag or number field. ... I have a filter that will show me tasks due on a particular ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: Mail Rules on Email Header
    ... You cannot filter on a flag. ... > additional header that is supposed to allow you more filtering options. ... message body rules only work with text messages. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Highlighting overdue tasks
    ... Like I set a view to use a filter I created for Overdue tasks. ... You may also be interested in Highlight filters to answer your point ... Ahead of schedule tasks show on schedule, ... flag or number field. ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: Highlighting overdue tasks
    ... You may also be interested in Highlight filters to answer your point ... Ahead of schedule tasks show on schedule, ... flag or number field. ... I have a filter that will show me tasks due on a particular ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: bulk folder and webmail
    ... :) my ISP provides squirellmail for web access to my mail account. ... :) folder which I can read OK with pine, ... Yes you can use Pine to do this: create a filter. ...
    (comp.mail.pine)