Training Errors (Was: Re: [Spambayes] Can't Save Configuration)

[Meyer, Tony]

> Did the following message of mine get lost in the shuffle? 
> I'm still getting errors, and would like very much to know 
> what's causing them.

No, I just got busy with real work :) Sorry I didn't get to this
earlier.

> > I think the problem here may be that the directories don't exist. 
[...]
> Whoopee! It looks like that was my problem all along. Even 
> though I got an error on the changeopts page the first time I 
> tried to save my configuration, it seems that the 
> configuration WAS actually saved, but the database wasn't 
> created. Then, the next time I tried to run pop3proxy it 
> refused to run because there was no database (and gave a 
> meaningless error number).
> 
> I'm used to applications asking me if I want the directory to 
> be created. Can it be made to work this way? If not, it needs 
> to be clearly documented that the directories must exist 
> before specifying them in the configuration.

> >> Can you explain the "sb_server/pop3proxy" notation to me?
> > You mean, why do I refer to sb_server/pop3proxy?
[...]
> Oh! So the '/' just means OR! This was very confusing to me. 
> In my state of ignorance, I assumed that 
> "sb_server/pop3proxy" was the name of some single process I 
> needed to run, but it didn't make sense to have a slash in 
> the middle of a program name....

Sorry, I should be less lazy.  Or maybe I should just call it
sb_server.py and if anyone doesn't know what that is, I should encourage
them to upgrade ;)

[explanation of pop3proxy_tray, pop3proxy_service, sb_service]
> Okay, it's starting to make sense.... Is Mark another one of 
> the programmers?
> Does he participate in this list? 

Sorry, I really should be more clear.  I was in a bit of a hurry when I
wrote that.  "Mark", is Mark Hammond, who is the main force behind the
Outlook plug-in and, recently, the pop3proxy service and (forthcoming)
sb_server binary release.  He does read this list, but doesn't always
have time to get through everything, and tends to concentrate on people
asking for help with the plug-in that no-one else has managed to help,
because he's the expert there.

> How do I 
> install the service, or do I need to ask him that?

To install it, you should just have to run "pop3proxy_service.py
install".  You can then start it with "net start pop3proxy", stop it
with "net stop pop3proxy" and remove it with "pop3proxy_service.py
remove".  If something goes wrong, you can run "pop3proxy_service.py
debug" and it will print out the error (otherwise it goes to the Event
Log which you get to somehow (can't recall how) via Windows).  Note that
you need to have installed the Python win32 extensions before you can do
this.  (There's a link on <http://spambayes.org/windows>)

> I see. Looks like I came in right in the midst of change, 
> which has contributed to my confusion!

Indeed.

> Now...One more problem. Now that I'm up and running, I 
> trained on the first message I received, using the Web 
> interface. It appears that the training was successful (the 
> count was incremented), but I got the following:
> 
> Training... Trained on 1 message. Saving...
[...]
>   File "F:\PROGRA~1\Python23\lib\shelve.py", line 130, in __setitem__
>     self.dict[key] = f.getvalue()
> TypeError: object does not support item assignment

I think this is an instance of a bug that 1.0a6 had (which is the main
reason behind the proposed 1.0a7, which might come out soon).  If it is,
then what's happening is that you can't use the database after using the
web interface to change any options (it gets closed, but not reopened,
basically).  You should be able to fix it by simply restarting
pop3proxy_tray or sb_server (whichever you're using) after you use the
web interface to change any options.

If this *doesn't* fix it, then maybe it's not that bug after all, and it
would be great to know this so that one of the developers (maybe me) can
try and track it down.

=Tony Meyer