Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!talos!kjones
From: kjones@talos.pm.com (Kyle Jones)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: Problem with rmail (maybe saveconf)
Keywords: rmail emacs GNU saveconf
Message-ID: <1990Jul9.141448.15783@talos.pm.com>
Date: 9 Jul 90 14:14:48 GMT
References: <933@progress.UUCP>
Lines: 21

Eric R. Feigenson writes:
 > I started using saveconf as someone recently suggested (I
 > didn't even know it was around!) with GNU Emacs 18.55.
 > However, as soon as I did I started having odd problems with
 > "rmail", which had been working perfectly.  It may be a
 > coincidence, but the problems started almost exactly at the
 > time I started using saveconf.
 > 
 > The problem is that as soon as I do a "M-x rmail" I get a message:
 > 
 > 	"Symbol's value as variable is void: rmail-inbox-list"

As I recall, the problem is with RMAIL.  If an uninitialized
~/RMAIL file buffer exists when RMAIL is invoked, RMAIL will get
confused and die.

saveconf.el stimulates the bug as follows: You exit Emacs with a
~/RMAIL buffer present.  You start a new Emacs session and
saveconf dutifully visits ~/RMAIL.  When you subsequently start
RMAIL it sees the buffer and (mistakenly) assumes that certain
local variables have been initialized.