Subject: Re: procmail-3.10 + emacs/rmail

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 95 06:23:56 CDT

The problem is neither procmail nor movemail; it is the Emacs Lisp
file that implements RMAIL mode.

Note the comment in rmail.el:

    (defun rmail-insert-inbox-text (files renamep)
       ...
	  ;; If getting from mail spool directory,
	  ;; use movemail to move rather than just renaming,
	  ;; so as to interlock with the mailer.

Emacs rmail does not use movemail unless an inbox is in the directory
to which the variable "rmail-spool-directory" points (the default is
"/usr/spool/mail").  Hence an inbox that is not in that directory
(e.g., one your home directory) is not locked by Emacs rmail and is
not protected against simultaneous access by procmail.

I occasionally had a corrupted inbox until I discovered this
(questionable) implementation detail and arranged for all of my mail
to be delivered in a single directory.

Thus, for Emacs rmail and procmail to work together safely, you must

(1) specify a procmail local lock file with extension ".lock"  on each
    inbox 

and

(2) ensure that all mail delivery occurs within a single directory
    that is specified by the Emacs Lisp variable "rmail-spool-directory".

(This should really be in the FAQ.)

Ed

---

From: Joe Hildebrand <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 1995 11:38:56 -0400

> "Ed-Ferguson" == Ed-Ferguson  <[email-masked]> writes:

   Ed-Ferguson> Thus, for Emacs rmail and procmail to work together
   Ed-Ferguson> safely, you must

   Ed-Ferguson> (1) specify a procmail local lock file with extension
   Ed-Ferguson> ".lock" on each inbox

   Ed-Ferguson> and

   Ed-Ferguson> (2) ensure that all mail delivery occurs within a
   Ed-Ferguson> single directory that is specified by the Emacs Lisp
   Ed-Ferguson> variable "rmail-spool-directory".

Or, you can use the nnml delivery mechanism in (ding) gnus.  See
http://www.fuentez.com/ding.html for details on making (ding) and
procmail work together.

-- 
Joe Hildebrand                  Fuentez Systems Concepts
[email-masked]              11781 Lee-Jackson Hwy, Suite 700
Lead Software Engineer          Fairfax, VA 22033
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