Re: Sort groups in topic descending by name

[Emanuel Berg]

Nikolaus Rath <Nikolaus@rath.org> writes:

> I would like to sort the groups in one topic by
> descending name, and in another topic by ascending
> name.
>
> It sounds simply

No - it sounds complicated and unnecessary :)

> G S a in the group buffer always sorts all groups,
> even if I first set the process mark on one topic.

The docs doesn't say anything about mark in Emacs 24.4
(and `gnus-version' 5.13):

    (gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet &optional REVERSE)

    Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name.
    If REVERSE, sort in reverse order.

> C-u G S a sorts by descending name, but the
> documentation says this should happen when I give it
> a symbolic, rather than numeric prefix.

Perhaps we have different documentations because what
I see is the above. It doesn't say anything about the
influence of the numeric argument (which it should, I
think, even though it is a common interface in the
Emacs world).

> M-i is supposed to give me a symbolic prefix, but is
> actually bound to tab-to-tab-stop.

Yes - your docs are creative. But check out
`gnus-symbolic-argument' if (?) you need that:

    (gnus-symbolic-argument &optional ARG)

    Read a symbolic argument and a command, and then
    execute command.

> G P a does, as far as I can tell, nothing at all, no
> matter if I mark some groups and if I give it a
> prefix.

It does something for me on `C-u G P a'.

Here is a good opportunity to develop your jedi-master
skills because it seems both the numeric and the
symbolic prefixes are at play:

    (gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
    &optional N REVERSE)

    Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group
    name. Obeys the process/prefix convention. If
    REVERSE (the symbolic prefix), sort in reverse
    order.

"Obeys the process/prefix convention." :)

--
underground experts united