Subject: bug#9302: nmail-extra-headers too mysterious

From: Dave Abrahams <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:11:57 -0400

on Sun Sep 11 2011, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi-AT-gnus.org> wrote:

> Dave Abrahams <[email-masked]> writes:
>
>> * We have a command `gnus-summary-limit-to-address' that won't function
>>   correctly in Gnus' default configuration
>
> Yes.  There's bits and pieces in Gnus for people with special
> configurations and setups.

Nothing marks this command out as being "for people with special
configurations and setups" other than that you just said so.  It's very
surprising to see it not work.

>> * It generates a warning about a variable whose connection to the
>>   problem is non-obvious from its documentation
>>
>>   (BTW, what's the difference between gnus-extra-headers and
>>   nnmail-extra-headers?)
>
> The latter says what extra headers the backends should try to give to
> Gnus, if possible.  

OK, again I am left wondering when this transfer happens for what
purpose gnus will use these headers.  Clearly(?) limiting is not using
gnus-extra-headers and only using the nnmail-extra-headers... so there's
some other purpose?

>> I feel like I just got lucky and noticed that my configuration was
>> wrong, but wasn't given the tools to understand how the configuration
>> should have been set up to begin with.  Shouldn't `/ A' check to see
>> whether `Cc:' has been parsed and ask whether I want to add it to
>> `nnmail-extra-headers'?
>
> `/ A' can't know whether the missing presence of Cc is due to one or the
> other.

You must have misunderstood me; let me try again.  

Why not modify `gnus-summary-limit-to-address' so that it checks
immediately whether "to" and "cc" are in the appropriate -extra-headers
variables and if not, asks the user whether s/he wants to include them
(and if necessary, re-fetch headers or whatever else Gnus needs to do to
make this command work properly)?  That sort of prompt wouldn't slip by
unnoticed the same way a warning would.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
BoostPro Computing
http://www.boostpro.com