10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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281 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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290 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
291 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
294 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
295 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
296 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
297 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
298 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
299 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
300 License'' in the Emacs manual.
302 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
303 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
304 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
306 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
307 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
308 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
309 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
317 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
319 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
320 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
322 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
323 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
324 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
325 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
326 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
327 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
328 License'' in the Emacs manual.
330 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
331 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
332 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
334 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
335 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
336 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
337 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
345 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
350 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
352 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
353 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
354 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
355 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
356 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
357 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
358 License'' in the Emacs manual.
360 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
361 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
362 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
364 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
365 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
366 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
367 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
376 @top The Gnus Newsreader
380 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
381 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
382 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
385 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.05
396 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
397 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
399 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
400 being accused of plagiarism:
402 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
403 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
404 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
405 can even read news with it!
407 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
408 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
409 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
410 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
411 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
417 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
418 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
419 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
420 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
421 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
422 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
423 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
424 * Various:: General purpose settings.
425 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
426 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
427 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
428 * Key Index:: Key Index.
431 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
435 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
436 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
437 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
438 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
439 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
440 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
441 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
442 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
443 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
444 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
445 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
449 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
450 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
451 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
455 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
456 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
457 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
458 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
459 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
460 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
461 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
462 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
463 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
464 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
465 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
466 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
467 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
468 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
469 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
470 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
471 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
475 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
476 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
477 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
481 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
482 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
483 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
484 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
485 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
489 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
490 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
491 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
492 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
493 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
497 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
498 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
499 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
500 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
501 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
503 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
504 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
505 * Threading:: How threads are made.
506 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
507 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
508 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
509 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
510 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
511 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
512 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
513 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
514 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
515 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
516 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
517 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
518 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
519 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
520 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
521 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
522 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
523 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
524 or reselecting the current group.
525 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
526 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
527 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
528 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
530 Summary Buffer Format
532 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
533 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
534 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
535 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
539 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
540 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
542 Reply, Followup and Post
544 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
545 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
546 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
547 * Canceling and Superseding::
551 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
552 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
553 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
555 * Generic Marking Commands::
556 * Setting Process Marks::
560 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
561 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
562 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
566 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
567 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
569 Customizing Threading
571 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
572 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
573 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
574 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
578 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
579 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
580 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
581 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
582 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
583 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
587 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
588 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
589 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
593 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
594 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
595 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
596 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
597 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
598 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
599 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
600 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
601 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
602 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
604 Alternative Approaches
606 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
607 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
609 Various Summary Stuff
611 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
612 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
613 * Summary Generation Commands::
614 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
618 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
619 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
620 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
621 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
622 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
626 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
627 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
628 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
629 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
630 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
631 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
632 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
633 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
637 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
638 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
642 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
643 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
669 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
670 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
671 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
672 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
673 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
674 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
675 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
676 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
677 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
678 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
679 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
680 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
681 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
685 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
686 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
687 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
689 Choosing a Mail Back End
691 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
692 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
693 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
694 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
695 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
696 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
701 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
702 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
703 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
704 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
705 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
706 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
710 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
711 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
712 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
716 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
717 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
718 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
719 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
720 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
724 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
728 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
729 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
730 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
734 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
735 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
739 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
740 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
741 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
742 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
743 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
744 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
745 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
746 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
747 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
748 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
752 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
753 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
754 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
758 * Group Agent Commands::
759 * Summary Agent Commands::
760 * Server Agent Commands::
764 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
765 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
766 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
767 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
768 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
769 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
770 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
771 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
772 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
773 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
774 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
775 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
776 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
777 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
778 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
779 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
780 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
784 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
785 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
786 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
787 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
791 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
792 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
793 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
797 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
798 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
799 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
800 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
801 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
802 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
803 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
804 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
805 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
806 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
807 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
808 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
809 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
810 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
811 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
812 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
813 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
814 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
815 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
819 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
820 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
821 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
822 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
823 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
824 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
825 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
826 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
830 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
831 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
832 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
833 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
834 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
838 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
839 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
840 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
841 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
842 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
846 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
847 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
848 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
849 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
850 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
851 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
852 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
853 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
854 * Frequently Asked Questions::
858 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
859 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
860 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
861 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
862 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
863 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
864 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
865 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
866 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
870 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
871 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
872 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
873 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
874 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
878 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
879 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
880 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
881 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
885 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
886 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
887 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
888 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
889 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
890 * Group Info:: The group info format.
891 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
892 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
893 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
897 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
898 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
899 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
900 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
901 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
902 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
906 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
907 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
911 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
912 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
918 @chapter Starting Gnus
923 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
924 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
927 @findex gnus-other-frame
928 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
929 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
930 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
932 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
933 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
934 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
936 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
937 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
940 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
941 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
942 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
943 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
944 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
945 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
946 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
947 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
948 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
949 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
950 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
954 @node Finding the News
955 @section Finding the News
958 @vindex gnus-select-method
960 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
961 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
962 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
963 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
966 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
967 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
970 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
973 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
976 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
979 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
980 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
981 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
983 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
985 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
986 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
987 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
988 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
989 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
990 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
992 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
993 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
994 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
995 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
997 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
998 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
999 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1000 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1001 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1002 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1003 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1004 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1005 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1008 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1010 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1011 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1012 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1013 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1014 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1015 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1019 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1020 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1021 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1022 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1023 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1024 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1027 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1028 you would typically set this variable to
1031 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1035 @node The First Time
1036 @section The First Time
1037 @cindex first time usage
1039 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1040 be subscribed by default.
1042 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1043 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1044 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1045 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1048 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1049 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1050 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1052 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1053 help you with most common problems.
1055 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1056 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1060 @node The Server is Down
1061 @section The Server is Down
1062 @cindex server errors
1064 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1065 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1066 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1068 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1069 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1070 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1071 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1072 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1073 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1074 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1076 @findex gnus-no-server
1077 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1079 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1080 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1081 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1082 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1083 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1084 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1085 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1089 @section Slave Gnusae
1092 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1093 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1094 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1095 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1097 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1098 @code{.newsrc} file.
1100 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1101 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1102 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1103 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1104 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1105 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1106 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1108 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1109 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1110 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1111 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1112 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1113 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1114 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1115 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1117 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1118 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1121 @node Fetching a Group
1122 @section Fetching a Group
1123 @cindex fetching a group
1125 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1126 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1127 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1128 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1129 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1130 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1136 @cindex subscription
1138 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1139 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1140 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1141 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1142 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1143 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1144 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1145 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1146 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1149 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1150 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1151 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1155 @node Checking New Groups
1156 @subsection Checking New Groups
1158 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1159 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1160 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1161 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1162 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1163 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1164 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1165 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1166 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1167 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1169 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1170 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1171 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1172 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1173 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1174 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1175 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1176 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1177 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1178 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1179 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1181 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1182 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1183 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1184 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1185 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1186 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1189 @node Subscription Methods
1190 @subsection Subscription Methods
1192 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1193 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1194 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1196 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1197 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1199 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1203 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1205 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1206 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1207 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1209 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1211 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1212 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1214 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1215 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1216 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1218 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1219 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1220 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1221 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1222 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1223 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1224 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1225 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1226 up. Or something like that.
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1230 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1231 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1232 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1236 Kill all new groups.
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1240 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1241 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1242 topic parameter that looks like
1248 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1251 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1257 A closely related variable is
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1259 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1260 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1261 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1264 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1265 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1267 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1270 @node Filtering New Groups
1271 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1273 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1274 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1275 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1278 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1282 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1283 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1284 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1285 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1286 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1287 subscribing these groups.
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1289 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1291 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1292 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1293 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1294 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1295 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1296 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1297 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1298 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1300 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1301 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1302 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1303 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1304 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1305 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1306 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1307 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1308 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1309 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1311 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1312 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1315 @node Changing Servers
1316 @section Changing Servers
1317 @cindex changing servers
1319 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1320 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1321 very flaky and you want to use another.
1323 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1324 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1328 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1329 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1330 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1331 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1334 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1335 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1336 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1337 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1339 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1340 @findex gnus-change-server
1341 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1342 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1343 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1344 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1345 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1348 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1349 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1350 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1351 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1353 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1354 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1356 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1358 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1360 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1361 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1362 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1366 @section Startup Files
1367 @cindex startup files
1372 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1373 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1375 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1376 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1377 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1378 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1379 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1380 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1381 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1383 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1384 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1385 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1386 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1387 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1388 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1390 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1391 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1392 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1393 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1394 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1395 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1396 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1397 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1398 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1399 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1402 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1403 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1404 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1405 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1406 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1407 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1408 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1409 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1410 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1411 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1412 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1414 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1415 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1416 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1417 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1419 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1420 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1421 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1422 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1423 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1424 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1425 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1426 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1427 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1428 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1431 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1432 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1434 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1435 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1438 @vindex gnus-init-file
1439 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1440 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1441 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1442 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1443 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1444 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1445 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1446 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1447 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1453 @cindex dribble file
1456 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1457 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1458 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1459 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1460 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1463 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1464 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1467 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1468 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1469 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1471 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1472 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1473 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1474 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1475 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1476 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1478 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1479 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1480 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1483 @node The Active File
1484 @section The Active File
1486 @cindex ignored groups
1488 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1489 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1490 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1492 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1493 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1494 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1495 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1496 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1497 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1498 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1501 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1502 @c if you set it to anything else.
1504 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1506 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1507 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1508 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1510 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1511 you actually subscribe to.
1513 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1514 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1515 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1516 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1518 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1519 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1520 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1521 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1522 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1523 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1525 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1526 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1527 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1530 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1531 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1532 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1533 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1534 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1535 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1537 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1538 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1540 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1541 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1543 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1544 secondary select methods.
1547 @node Startup Variables
1548 @section Startup Variables
1552 @item gnus-load-hook
1553 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1554 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1555 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1556 times you start Gnus.
1558 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1559 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1560 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1562 @item gnus-startup-hook
1563 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1564 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1566 @item gnus-started-hook
1567 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1568 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1571 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1572 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1573 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1574 generating the group buffer.
1576 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1577 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1578 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1579 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1580 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1581 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1582 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1583 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1585 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1586 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1587 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1588 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1589 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1590 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1592 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1593 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1594 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1596 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1597 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1598 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1600 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1602 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1603 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1609 @chapter Group Buffer
1610 @cindex group buffer
1612 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1614 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1615 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1616 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1617 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1618 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1619 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1620 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1621 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1622 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1623 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1624 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1625 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1626 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1627 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1628 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1629 @c human rights at 9...
1632 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1633 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1634 long as Gnus is active.
1638 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1639 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1640 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1641 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1642 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1643 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1644 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1645 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1651 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1652 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1653 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1654 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1655 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1656 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1657 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1658 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1659 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1660 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1661 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1662 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1663 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1664 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1665 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1666 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1667 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1671 @node Group Buffer Format
1672 @section Group Buffer Format
1675 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1676 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1677 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1681 @node Group Line Specification
1682 @subsection Group Line Specification
1683 @cindex group buffer format
1685 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1686 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1688 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1691 25: news.announce.newusers
1692 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1697 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1698 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1699 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1700 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1702 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1703 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1704 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1705 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1706 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1707 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1709 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1711 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1712 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1713 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1714 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1715 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1717 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1718 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1719 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1721 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1726 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1729 Whether the group is subscribed.
1732 Level of subscribedness.
1735 Number of unread articles.
1738 Number of dormant articles.
1741 Number of ticked articles.
1744 Number of read articles.
1747 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1748 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1750 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1751 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1752 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1753 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1754 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1755 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1756 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1757 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1760 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1772 Newsgroup description.
1775 @samp{m} if moderated.
1778 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1787 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1791 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1794 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1795 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1796 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1797 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1798 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1801 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1803 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1807 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1810 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1814 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1815 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1816 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1817 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1818 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1819 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1824 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1825 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1826 group, or a bogus native group.
1829 @node Group Modeline Specification
1830 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1831 @cindex group modeline
1833 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1834 The mode line can be changed by setting
1835 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1836 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1840 The native news server.
1842 The native select method.
1846 @node Group Highlighting
1847 @subsection Group Highlighting
1848 @cindex highlighting
1849 @cindex group highlighting
1851 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1852 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1853 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1854 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1855 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1857 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1861 (cond (window-system
1862 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1863 (defface my-group-face-1
1864 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1865 (defface my-group-face-2
1866 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1867 (defface my-group-face-3
1868 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1869 (defface my-group-face-4
1870 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1871 (defface my-group-face-5
1872 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1874 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1875 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1876 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1877 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1878 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1879 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1882 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1884 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1891 The number of unread articles in the group.
1895 Whether the group is a mail group.
1897 The level of the group.
1899 The score of the group.
1901 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1903 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1904 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1906 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1907 topic being inserted.
1910 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1911 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1912 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1914 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1915 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1916 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1917 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1918 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1921 @node Group Maneuvering
1922 @section Group Maneuvering
1923 @cindex group movement
1925 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1926 expected, hopefully.
1932 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1933 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1934 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1940 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1941 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1942 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1946 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1947 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1951 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1952 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1956 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1957 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1962 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1963 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1964 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1967 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1973 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1974 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1975 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1980 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1981 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1982 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1986 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1987 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1991 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1992 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1993 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1994 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1998 @node Selecting a Group
1999 @section Selecting a Group
2000 @cindex group selection
2005 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2006 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2007 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2008 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2009 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2010 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2011 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2012 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2013 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2014 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2016 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2017 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2018 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2020 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2021 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2026 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2027 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2028 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2029 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2030 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2034 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2035 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2036 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2037 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2038 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2039 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2040 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2041 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2042 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2043 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2046 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2047 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2048 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2049 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2050 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2053 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2055 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2056 doing any processing of its contents
2057 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2058 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2059 manner will have no permanent effects.
2063 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2064 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2065 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2066 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2067 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2068 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2069 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2070 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2073 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2074 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2075 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2076 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2077 Which article this is is controlled by the
2078 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2084 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2087 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2090 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2093 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2097 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2098 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2100 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2101 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2102 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2103 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2107 @node Subscription Commands
2108 @section Subscription Commands
2109 @cindex subscription
2117 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2118 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2119 Toggle subscription to the current group
2120 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2126 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2127 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2128 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2129 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2135 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2136 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2137 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2143 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2144 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2147 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2148 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2149 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2150 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2151 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2157 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2158 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2162 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2163 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2166 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2167 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2168 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2169 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2170 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2171 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2172 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2173 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2174 @file{.newsrc} file.
2178 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2188 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2189 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2191 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2192 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2193 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2198 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2199 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2200 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2204 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2205 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2206 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2208 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2209 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2210 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2211 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2212 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2213 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2220 @section Group Levels
2224 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2225 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2226 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2227 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2228 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2230 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2236 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2237 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2238 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2239 prompted for a level.
2242 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2243 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2244 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2245 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2246 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2247 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2248 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2249 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2250 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2251 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2252 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2253 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2254 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2255 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2256 reasons of efficiency.
2258 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2259 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2261 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2262 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2263 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2264 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2265 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2266 groups are hidden, in a way.
2268 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2269 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2270 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2271 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2272 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2273 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2275 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2276 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2277 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2278 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2279 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2280 list of killed groups.)
2282 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2283 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2284 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2286 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2287 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2288 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2289 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2290 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2291 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2292 relevant valid ranges.
2294 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2295 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2296 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2297 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2298 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2299 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2302 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2303 one with the best level.
2305 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2306 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2307 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2310 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2311 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2312 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2313 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2316 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2317 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2318 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2319 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2321 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2322 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2323 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2324 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2325 to 5. The default is 6.
2329 @section Group Score
2334 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2335 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2336 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2339 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2340 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2341 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2342 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2343 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2344 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2345 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2346 least significant part.))
2348 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2349 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2350 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2351 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2352 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2353 action after each summary exit, you can add
2354 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2355 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2356 slow things down somewhat.
2359 @node Marking Groups
2360 @section Marking Groups
2361 @cindex marking groups
2363 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2364 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2365 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2366 bidding on those groups.
2368 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2369 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2370 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2378 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2379 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2385 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2386 Remove the mark from the current group
2387 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2391 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2392 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2396 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2397 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2401 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2402 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2406 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2407 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2408 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2411 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2413 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2414 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2415 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2416 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2417 the command to be executed.
2420 @node Foreign Groups
2421 @section Foreign Groups
2422 @cindex foreign groups
2424 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2425 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2426 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2427 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2434 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2435 @cindex making groups
2436 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2437 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2438 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2442 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2443 @cindex renaming groups
2444 Rename the current group to something else
2445 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2446 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2452 @findex gnus-group-customize
2453 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2458 @cindex renaming groups
2459 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2460 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2464 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2465 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2466 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2470 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2471 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2472 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2476 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2478 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2479 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2485 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2489 @cindex (ding) archive
2490 @cindex archive group
2491 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2492 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2493 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2494 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2495 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2496 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2497 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2501 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2503 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2504 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2505 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2506 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2510 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2512 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2513 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2514 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2518 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2519 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2521 Make a group based on some file or other
2522 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2523 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2524 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2525 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2526 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2527 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2528 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2529 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2530 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2534 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2536 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2537 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2541 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2546 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2547 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2548 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2549 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2550 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2551 @xref{Web Searches}.
2553 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2554 to a particular group by using a match string like
2555 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2558 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2559 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2560 This function will delete the current group
2561 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2562 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2563 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2564 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2565 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2569 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2570 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2571 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2575 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2576 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2577 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2580 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2583 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2584 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2585 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2586 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2587 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2588 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2592 @node Group Parameters
2593 @section Group Parameters
2594 @cindex group parameters
2596 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2597 Here's an example group parameter list:
2600 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2604 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2605 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2606 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2607 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2609 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2610 is an alist of regexps and values.
2612 The following group parameters can be used:
2617 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2620 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2623 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2624 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2625 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2626 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2627 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2629 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2630 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2631 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2632 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2633 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2634 list address instead.
2636 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2640 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2643 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2646 It is totally ignored
2647 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2648 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2650 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2651 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2652 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2653 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2654 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2656 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2657 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2658 sending the message.
2660 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2661 @cindex Mail List Groups
2662 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2663 entering summary buffer.
2665 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2669 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2670 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2671 of whether it has any unread articles.
2673 @item broken-reply-to
2674 @cindex broken-reply-to
2675 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2676 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2677 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2678 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2679 broken behavior. So there!
2683 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2684 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2688 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2689 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2690 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2695 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2696 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2697 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2698 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2699 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2700 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2701 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2705 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2706 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2707 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2709 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2712 @cindex total-expire
2713 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2714 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2715 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2716 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2719 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2723 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2724 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2725 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2726 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2727 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2728 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2731 @cindex score file group parameter
2732 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2733 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2734 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2737 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2738 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2739 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2740 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2743 @cindex admin-address
2744 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2745 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2746 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2747 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2751 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2752 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2756 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2759 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2760 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2763 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2767 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2769 Here are some examples:
2773 Display only read articles.
2776 Display everything except expirable articles.
2778 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2779 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2783 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2784 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2785 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2786 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2787 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2791 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2792 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2793 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2797 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2798 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2799 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2804 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2805 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2806 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2808 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2810 @item ignored-charsets
2811 @cindex ignored-charset
2812 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2813 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2814 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2816 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2819 @cindex posting-style
2820 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2821 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2822 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2823 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2824 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2826 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2827 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2828 like this in the group parameters:
2833 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2838 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2839 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2843 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2844 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2845 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2846 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2847 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2851 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2852 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2853 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2854 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2856 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2857 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2858 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2859 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2862 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2863 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2867 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2870 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2871 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2872 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2873 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2874 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2875 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2876 @code{eval}ed there.
2878 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2879 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2880 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2881 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2882 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2886 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2887 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2888 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2889 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2890 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2892 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2893 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2897 (setq gnus-parameters
2899 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2900 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2901 (gnus-summary-line-format
2902 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2906 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2910 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2914 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2917 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2918 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2921 @node Listing Groups
2922 @section Listing Groups
2923 @cindex group listing
2925 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2933 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2934 List all groups that have unread articles
2935 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2936 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2937 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2938 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2945 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2946 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2947 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2948 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2949 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2950 unsubscribed groups).
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2955 List all unread groups on a specific level
2956 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2957 with no unread articles.
2961 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2962 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2963 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2964 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2969 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2970 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2974 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2975 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2976 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2980 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2981 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2985 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2986 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2987 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2988 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2989 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2990 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2991 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2992 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2996 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2997 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2998 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3002 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3003 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3004 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3008 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3009 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3014 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3018 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3019 List groups limited within the current selection
3020 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3024 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3025 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3029 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3030 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3034 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3035 @cindex visible group parameter
3036 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3037 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3038 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3039 get the same effect.
3041 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3042 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3043 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3044 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3045 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3048 @node Sorting Groups
3049 @section Sorting Groups
3050 @cindex sorting groups
3052 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3053 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3054 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3055 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3056 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3057 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3062 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3063 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3064 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3066 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3067 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3068 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3070 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3071 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3072 Sort by group level.
3074 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3075 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3076 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3078 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3079 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3080 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3081 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3083 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3084 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3085 Sort by number of unread articles.
3087 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3088 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3089 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3091 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3092 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3093 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3098 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3099 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3103 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3104 some sorting criteria:
3108 @kindex G S a (Group)
3109 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3110 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3111 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3114 @kindex G S u (Group)
3115 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3116 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3117 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3120 @kindex G S l (Group)
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3122 Sort the group buffer by group level
3123 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3126 @kindex G S v (Group)
3127 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3128 Sort the group buffer by group score
3129 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3132 @kindex G S r (Group)
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3134 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3135 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3138 @kindex G S m (Group)
3139 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3140 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3141 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3145 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3146 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3148 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3149 commands will sort in reverse order.
3151 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3155 @kindex G P a (Group)
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3157 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3158 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3161 @kindex G P u (Group)
3162 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3163 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3164 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3167 @kindex G P l (Group)
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3169 Sort the groups by group level
3170 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3173 @kindex G P v (Group)
3174 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3175 Sort the groups by group score
3176 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3179 @kindex G P r (Group)
3180 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3181 Sort the groups by group rank
3182 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3185 @kindex G P m (Group)
3186 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3187 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3188 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3192 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3196 @node Group Maintenance
3197 @section Group Maintenance
3198 @cindex bogus groups
3203 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3204 Find bogus groups and delete them
3205 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3209 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3210 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3211 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3212 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3213 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3217 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3218 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3219 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3220 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3221 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3222 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3225 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3227 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3228 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3233 @node Browse Foreign Server
3234 @section Browse Foreign Server
3235 @cindex foreign servers
3236 @cindex browsing servers
3241 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3242 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3243 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3244 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3247 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3248 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3249 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3250 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3252 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3257 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3258 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3262 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3263 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3266 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3267 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3268 Enter the current group and display the first article
3269 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3272 @kindex RET (Browse)
3273 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3274 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3278 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3279 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3280 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3286 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3287 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3291 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3292 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3293 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3298 @section Exiting Gnus
3299 @cindex exiting Gnus
3301 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3306 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3307 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3308 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3309 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3313 @findex gnus-group-exit
3314 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3315 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-quit
3320 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3321 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3324 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3325 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3326 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3327 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3328 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3333 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3334 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3335 trying to customize meta-variables.
3340 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3341 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3342 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3348 @section Group Topics
3351 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3352 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3353 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3354 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3355 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3356 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3360 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3361 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3372 2: alt.religion.emacs
3375 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3377 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3378 13: comp.sources.unix
3381 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3383 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3384 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3385 is a toggling command.)
3387 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3388 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3389 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3390 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3393 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3394 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3395 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3398 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3402 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3403 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3404 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3405 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3406 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3410 @node Topic Commands
3411 @subsection Topic Commands
3412 @cindex topic commands
3414 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3415 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3416 definitions slightly.
3418 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3419 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3420 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3421 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3422 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3423 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3425 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3432 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3433 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3434 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3438 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3440 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3441 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3442 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3443 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3446 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3447 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3448 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3449 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3453 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3454 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3455 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3456 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3462 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3463 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3464 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3468 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3469 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3470 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3473 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3474 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3475 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3476 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3477 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3479 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3480 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3484 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3485 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3492 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3494 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3495 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3496 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3497 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3498 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3499 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3503 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3509 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3510 Move the current group to some other topic
3511 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3512 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3516 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3517 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3521 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3522 Copy the current group to some other topic
3523 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3524 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3528 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3529 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3530 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3534 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3535 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3536 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3540 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3541 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3542 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3543 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3544 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3545 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3546 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3549 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3550 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3554 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3555 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3556 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3560 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3561 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3562 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3566 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3567 Toggle hiding empty topics
3568 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3572 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3573 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3574 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3577 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3578 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3579 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3583 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3584 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3585 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3586 expiry process (if any)
3587 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3591 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3592 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3595 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3596 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3597 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3601 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3602 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3603 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3606 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3607 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3608 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3611 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3612 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3613 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3617 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3618 @cindex group parameters
3619 @cindex topic parameters
3621 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3622 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3627 @node Topic Variables
3628 @subsection Topic Variables
3629 @cindex topic variables
3631 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3632 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3634 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3635 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3636 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3649 Number of groups in the topic.
3651 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3653 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3656 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3657 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3658 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3661 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3662 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3664 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3665 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3666 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3670 @subsection Topic Sorting
3671 @cindex topic sorting
3673 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3679 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3680 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3681 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3682 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3685 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3686 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3687 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3688 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3691 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3692 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3693 Sort the current topic by group level
3694 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3697 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3698 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3699 Sort the current topic by group score
3700 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3703 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3704 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3705 Sort the current topic by group rank
3706 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3709 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3710 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3711 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3712 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3715 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3716 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3717 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3718 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3722 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3725 @node Topic Topology
3726 @subsection Topic Topology
3727 @cindex topic topology
3730 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3736 2: alt.religion.emacs
3739 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3741 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3742 13: comp.sources.unix
3745 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3746 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3747 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3752 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3753 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3757 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3758 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3759 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3760 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3761 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3762 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3764 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3765 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3766 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3769 @node Topic Parameters
3770 @subsection Topic Parameters
3771 @cindex topic parameters
3773 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3774 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3775 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3777 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3782 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3783 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3784 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3787 @item subscribe-level
3788 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3789 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3790 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3794 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3795 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3796 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3797 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3803 2: alt.religion.emacs
3807 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3809 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3810 13: comp.sources.unix
3814 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3815 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3816 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3817 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3818 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3819 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3821 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3822 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3823 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3824 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3825 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3827 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3828 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3829 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3830 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3831 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3832 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3833 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3834 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3837 @node Misc Group Stuff
3838 @section Misc Group Stuff
3841 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3842 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3843 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3844 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3845 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3852 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3853 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3854 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3858 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3859 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3860 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3861 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3862 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3863 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3864 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3868 @findex gnus-group-mail
3869 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3870 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3871 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3872 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3876 @findex gnus-group-news
3877 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3878 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3879 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3881 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3882 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3883 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3884 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3885 for this to work though.
3889 Variables for the group buffer:
3893 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3894 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3895 is called after the group buffer has been
3898 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3899 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3900 is called after the group buffer is
3901 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3904 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3905 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3906 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3907 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3909 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3910 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3911 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3912 whether they are empty or not.
3914 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3915 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3916 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3917 non-ASCII group names.
3921 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3922 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3925 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3926 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3927 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3928 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3929 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3930 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3934 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3935 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3940 @node Scanning New Messages
3941 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3942 @cindex new messages
3943 @cindex scanning new news
3949 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3950 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3951 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3952 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3953 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3954 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3959 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3960 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3961 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3962 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3963 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3964 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3965 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3967 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3968 @cindex activating groups
3970 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3971 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3976 @findex gnus-group-restart
3977 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3978 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3979 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3983 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3984 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3986 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3987 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3991 @node Group Information
3992 @subsection Group Information
3993 @cindex group information
3994 @cindex information on groups
4001 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4002 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4005 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4006 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4007 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4008 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4009 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4010 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4011 for fetching the file.
4013 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4014 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4018 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4020 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4021 @cindex describing groups
4022 @cindex group description
4023 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4024 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4025 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4029 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4030 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4031 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4038 @findex gnus-version
4039 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4043 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4044 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4047 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4050 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4051 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4055 @node Group Timestamp
4056 @subsection Group Timestamp
4058 @cindex group timestamps
4060 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4061 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4062 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4065 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4068 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4070 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4071 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4074 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4075 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4078 This will result in lines looking like:
4081 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4082 0: custom 19961002T012713
4085 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4086 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4090 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4091 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4094 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4095 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4099 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4100 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %Ud\n")
4101 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4102 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4103 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)))
4108 @subsection File Commands
4109 @cindex file commands
4115 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4116 @vindex gnus-init-file
4117 @cindex reading init file
4118 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4119 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4123 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4124 @cindex saving .newsrc
4125 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4126 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4127 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4130 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4131 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4132 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4137 @node Sieve Commands
4138 @subsection Sieve Commands
4139 @cindex group sieve commands
4141 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4142 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4143 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4144 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4145 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4147 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4148 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4149 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4150 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4151 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4152 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4153 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4154 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4155 regenerate the Sieve script.
4157 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4158 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4159 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4160 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4161 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4162 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4163 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4164 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4165 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4166 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4169 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4170 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4175 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4181 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4182 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4183 @cindex generating sieve script
4184 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4185 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4189 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4190 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4191 @cindex updating sieve script
4192 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4193 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4194 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4199 @node Summary Buffer
4200 @chapter Summary Buffer
4201 @cindex summary buffer
4203 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4204 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4206 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4207 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4209 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4212 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4213 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4214 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4215 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4216 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4217 * Delayed Articles::
4218 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4219 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4220 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4221 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4222 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4223 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4224 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4225 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4226 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4227 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4228 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4229 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4230 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4231 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4232 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4233 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4234 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4235 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4236 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4237 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4238 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4239 or reselecting the current group.
4240 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4241 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4242 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4243 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4247 @node Summary Buffer Format
4248 @section Summary Buffer Format
4249 @cindex summary buffer format
4253 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4254 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4255 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4261 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4262 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4263 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4264 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4267 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4268 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4269 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4270 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4271 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4272 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4273 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4274 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4275 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4276 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4277 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4280 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4281 'mail-extract-address-components)
4284 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4285 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4286 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4287 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4290 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4291 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4293 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4294 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4295 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4296 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4297 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4299 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4300 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4301 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4302 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4303 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4304 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4306 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4308 The following format specification characters and extended format
4309 specification(s) are understood:
4315 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4316 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4318 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4319 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4320 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4322 Full @code{From} header.
4324 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4326 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4327 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4329 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4330 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4331 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4332 may be more thorough.
4334 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4337 Number of lines in the article.
4339 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4340 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4342 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4344 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4347 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4348 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4350 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4351 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4353 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4354 for adopted articles.
4356 One space for each thread level.
4358 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4360 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4363 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4364 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4365 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4368 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4370 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4371 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4372 default level. If the difference between
4373 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4374 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4382 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4384 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4390 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4391 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4393 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4394 article has any children.
4400 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4401 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4403 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4404 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4405 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4406 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4407 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4408 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4411 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4412 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4413 There can only be one such area.
4415 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4416 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4417 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4418 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4419 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4420 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4422 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4423 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4425 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4428 @node To From Newsgroups
4429 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4433 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4434 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4435 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4436 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4437 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4441 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4442 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4443 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4447 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4448 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4451 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4452 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4455 @findex gnus-extra-header
4456 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4457 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4458 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4461 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4465 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4466 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4467 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4468 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4469 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4470 headers are used instead.
4474 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4475 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4476 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4477 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4480 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4481 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4482 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4483 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4485 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4489 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4491 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4492 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4493 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4494 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4498 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4501 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4502 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4509 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4510 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4513 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4514 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4516 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4517 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4518 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4519 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4521 Here are the elements you can play with:
4527 Unprefixed group name.
4529 Current article number.
4531 Current article score.
4535 Number of unread articles in this group.
4537 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4540 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4541 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4542 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4543 and no unselected ones.
4545 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4546 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4548 Subject of the current article.
4550 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4552 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4554 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4556 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4558 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4560 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4564 @node Summary Highlighting
4565 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4569 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4570 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4571 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4572 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4573 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4575 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4576 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4577 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4578 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4580 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4581 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4582 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4583 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4585 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4586 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4587 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4588 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4589 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4590 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4593 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4594 ((> score default) . bold))
4596 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4597 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4601 @node Summary Maneuvering
4602 @section Summary Maneuvering
4603 @cindex summary movement
4605 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4606 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4608 None of these commands select articles.
4613 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4614 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4615 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4616 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4617 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4621 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4622 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4623 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4624 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4625 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4628 @kindex G g (Summary)
4629 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4630 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4631 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4634 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4635 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4636 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4637 to the group buffer.
4639 Variables related to summary movement:
4643 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4644 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4645 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4646 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4647 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4648 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4649 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4650 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4651 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4652 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4653 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4654 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4655 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4656 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4658 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4659 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4660 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4661 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4662 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4663 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4664 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4666 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4668 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4669 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4670 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4671 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4672 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4674 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4675 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4676 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4677 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4678 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4679 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4680 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4681 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4684 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4685 the given number of lines from the top.
4690 @node Choosing Articles
4691 @section Choosing Articles
4692 @cindex selecting articles
4695 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4696 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4700 @node Choosing Commands
4701 @subsection Choosing Commands
4703 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4704 and they all select and display an article.
4706 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4707 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4711 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4713 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4714 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4719 @kindex G n (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4721 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4722 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4727 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4728 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4729 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4734 @kindex G N (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4736 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4741 @kindex G P (Summary)
4742 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4743 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4746 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4747 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4748 Go to the next article with the same subject
4749 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4752 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4753 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4754 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4755 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4759 @kindex G f (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4762 Go to the first unread article
4763 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4767 @kindex G b (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4770 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4771 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4772 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4777 @kindex G l (Summary)
4778 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4779 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4782 @kindex G o (Summary)
4783 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4785 @cindex article history
4786 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4787 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4788 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4789 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4790 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4791 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4796 @kindex G j (Summary)
4797 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4798 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4799 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4804 @node Choosing Variables
4805 @subsection Choosing Variables
4807 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4810 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4811 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4812 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4813 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4814 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4815 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4817 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4818 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4819 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4820 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4822 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4823 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4824 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4825 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4826 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4827 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4828 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4829 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4830 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4831 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4832 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4833 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4834 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4835 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4840 @node Paging the Article
4841 @section Scrolling the Article
4842 @cindex article scrolling
4847 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4848 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4849 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4850 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4851 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4854 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4855 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4856 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4859 @kindex RET (Summary)
4860 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4861 Scroll the current article one line forward
4862 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4865 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4866 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4867 Scroll the current article one line backward
4868 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4872 @kindex A g (Summary)
4874 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4875 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4876 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4877 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4878 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4879 the way it came from the server.
4881 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4882 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4883 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4886 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4891 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4896 @kindex A < (Summary)
4897 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4898 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4899 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4904 @kindex A > (Summary)
4905 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4906 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4910 @kindex A s (Summary)
4912 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4913 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4914 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4918 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4919 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4924 @node Reply Followup and Post
4925 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4928 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4929 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4930 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4931 * Canceling and Superseding::
4935 @node Summary Mail Commands
4936 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4938 @cindex composing mail
4940 Commands for composing a mail message:
4946 @kindex S r (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4949 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4950 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4951 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4952 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4957 @kindex S R (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4959 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4960 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4961 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4962 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4965 @kindex S w (Summary)
4966 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4967 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4968 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4969 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4970 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4973 @kindex S V (Summary)
4974 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4975 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4976 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4977 the process/prefix convention.
4980 @kindex S v (Summary)
4981 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4982 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4983 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4984 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4985 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4986 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4990 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4991 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4993 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4994 Forward the current article to some other person
4995 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4996 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4997 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4998 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4999 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5000 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5001 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5002 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5003 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5008 @kindex S m (Summary)
5009 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5010 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5011 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5012 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5013 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5018 @kindex S i (Summary)
5019 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5020 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5021 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5022 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5024 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5025 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5026 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5027 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5028 for this to work though.
5031 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5033 @cindex bouncing mail
5034 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5035 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5036 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5037 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5038 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5039 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5040 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5041 very well fail, though.
5044 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5046 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5047 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5048 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5049 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5050 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5051 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5052 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5053 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5055 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5056 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5057 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5058 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5059 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
5061 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5062 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5065 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5067 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5068 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5069 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5072 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5074 @cindex crossposting
5075 @cindex excessive crossposting
5076 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5077 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5079 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5080 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5081 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5082 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5083 command understands the process/prefix convention
5084 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5088 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5089 Manual}, for more information.
5092 @node Summary Post Commands
5093 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5095 @cindex composing news
5097 Commands for posting a news article:
5103 @kindex S p (Summary)
5104 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5105 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5106 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5107 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5108 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5113 @kindex S f (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5115 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5116 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5120 @kindex S F (Summary)
5122 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5123 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5124 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5126 process/prefix convention.
5129 @kindex S n (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5131 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5132 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5135 @kindex S N (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5137 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5138 message through mail and include the original message
5139 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5140 the process/prefix convention.
5143 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5145 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5147 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5148 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5149 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5150 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5151 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5152 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5153 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5154 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5155 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5158 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5161 @cindex making digests
5162 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5163 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5164 process/prefix convention.
5167 @kindex S u (Summary)
5168 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5169 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5170 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5171 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5174 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5175 Manual}, for more information.
5178 @node Summary Message Commands
5179 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5183 @kindex S y (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5185 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5186 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5187 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5188 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5193 @node Canceling and Superseding
5194 @subsection Canceling Articles
5195 @cindex canceling articles
5196 @cindex superseding articles
5198 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5199 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5201 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5203 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5205 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5206 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5207 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5208 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5209 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5210 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5212 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5213 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5216 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5217 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5218 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5220 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5221 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5222 your original article.
5224 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5226 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5227 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5228 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5231 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5232 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5233 have posted almost the same article twice.
5235 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5236 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5237 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5238 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5239 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5240 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5241 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5242 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5243 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5244 canceled/superseded.
5246 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5248 @node Delayed Articles
5249 @section Delayed Articles
5250 @cindex delayed sending
5251 @cindex send delayed
5253 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5254 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5255 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5256 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5259 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5262 @findex gnus-delay-article
5263 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5264 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5265 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5266 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5270 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5271 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5272 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5273 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5276 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5277 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5278 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5281 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5282 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5283 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5284 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5285 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5286 that means a time tomorrow.
5289 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5290 couple of variables:
5293 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5294 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5295 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5296 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5298 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5299 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5300 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5301 formats described above.
5303 @item gnus-delay-group
5304 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5305 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5306 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5307 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5309 @item gnus-delay-header
5310 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5311 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5312 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5313 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5316 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5317 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5318 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5319 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5320 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5322 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5323 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5324 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5325 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5326 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5327 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5330 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5331 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5332 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5333 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5334 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5335 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5336 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5337 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5339 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5340 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5341 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5342 forget to set that up :-)
5346 @node Marking Articles
5347 @section Marking Articles
5348 @cindex article marking
5349 @cindex article ticking
5352 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5354 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5355 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5356 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5358 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5361 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5362 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5363 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5367 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5371 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5372 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5373 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5377 @node Unread Articles
5378 @subsection Unread Articles
5380 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5385 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5386 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5388 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5389 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5390 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5391 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5392 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5393 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5394 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5397 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5398 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5400 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5401 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5402 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5403 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5407 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5408 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5410 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5415 @subsection Read Articles
5416 @cindex expirable mark
5418 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5423 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5424 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5425 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5428 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5429 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5432 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5433 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5434 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5437 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5438 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5441 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5442 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5445 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5446 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5449 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5450 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5453 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5454 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5457 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5458 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5461 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5462 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5466 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5467 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5468 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5472 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5473 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5475 One more special mark, though:
5479 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5480 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5482 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5483 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5484 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5485 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5491 @subsection Other Marks
5492 @cindex process mark
5495 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5501 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5502 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5503 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5504 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5505 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5508 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5509 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5510 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5511 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5513 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5514 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5515 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5517 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5518 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5519 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5520 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5523 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5524 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5525 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5528 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5529 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5530 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5531 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5534 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5535 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5536 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5537 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5538 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5541 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5542 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5543 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5546 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5547 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5548 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5549 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5550 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5553 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5554 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5555 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5556 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5557 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5558 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5562 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5563 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5564 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5566 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5567 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5568 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5572 @subsection Setting Marks
5573 @cindex setting marks
5575 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5580 @kindex M c (Summary)
5581 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5583 @cindex mark as unread
5584 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5585 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5591 @kindex M t (Summary)
5592 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5593 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5594 @xref{Article Caching}.
5599 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5600 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5601 Mark the current article as dormant
5602 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5606 @kindex M d (Summary)
5608 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5609 Mark the current article as read
5610 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5614 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5615 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5616 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5621 @kindex M k (Summary)
5622 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5623 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5624 and then select the next unread article
5625 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5629 @kindex M K (Summary)
5630 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5631 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5632 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5633 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5636 @kindex M C (Summary)
5637 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5638 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5639 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5642 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5644 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5645 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5648 @kindex M H (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5650 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5651 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5654 @kindex M h (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5656 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5657 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5660 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5661 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5662 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5663 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5666 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5668 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5669 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5673 @kindex M e (Summary)
5675 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5676 Mark the current article as expirable
5677 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5680 @kindex M b (Summary)
5681 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5682 Set a bookmark in the current article
5683 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5686 @kindex M B (Summary)
5687 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5688 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5689 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5692 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5693 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5694 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5695 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5698 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5699 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5700 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5701 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5704 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5705 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5706 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5707 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5708 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5711 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5712 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5713 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5714 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5715 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5716 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5717 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5718 The default is @code{t}.
5721 @node Generic Marking Commands
5722 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5724 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5725 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5726 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5727 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5728 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5731 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5732 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5735 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5736 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5737 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5738 to list in this manual.
5740 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5741 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5742 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5743 article, you could say something like:
5746 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5747 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5748 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5754 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5755 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5759 @node Setting Process Marks
5760 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5761 @cindex setting process marks
5768 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5770 Mark the current article with the process mark
5771 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5772 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5776 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5777 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5778 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5779 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5782 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5784 Remove the process mark from all articles
5785 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5788 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5790 Invert the list of process marked articles
5791 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5794 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5795 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5796 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5797 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5800 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5801 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5802 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5803 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5806 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5807 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5808 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5811 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5812 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5813 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5814 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5817 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5819 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5820 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5823 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5824 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5825 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5826 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5829 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5831 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5834 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5836 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5837 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5840 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5842 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5845 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5847 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5848 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5851 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5852 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5853 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5854 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5857 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5858 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5859 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5860 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5863 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5864 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5865 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5866 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5870 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5871 set process marks based on article body contents.
5878 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5879 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5880 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5883 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5884 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5885 additional articles.
5891 @kindex / / (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5893 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
5898 @kindex / a (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5900 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5901 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
5905 @kindex / x (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5907 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5908 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5909 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
5914 @kindex / u (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5917 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5918 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5919 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5920 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5923 @kindex / m (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5925 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5926 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5929 @kindex / t (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5931 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5932 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5933 articles younger than that number of days.
5936 @kindex / n (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5938 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5939 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5940 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5943 @kindex / w (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5945 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5950 @kindex / v (Summary)
5951 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5952 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5953 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5956 @kindex / p (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5958 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5959 group parameter predicate
5960 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5961 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5965 @kindex M S (Summary)
5966 @kindex / E (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5968 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5972 @kindex / D (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5974 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5975 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5978 @kindex / * (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5980 Include all cached articles in the limit
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5984 @kindex / d (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5986 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5987 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5990 @kindex / M (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5992 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5995 @kindex / T (Summary)
5996 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5997 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6000 @kindex / c (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6002 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6003 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6006 @kindex / C (Summary)
6007 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6008 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6009 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6010 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6013 @kindex / N (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6015 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6016 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6019 @kindex / o (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6021 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6022 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6030 @cindex article threading
6032 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6033 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6034 hierarchical fashion.
6036 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6037 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6038 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6039 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6040 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6041 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6042 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6044 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6048 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6051 A tree-like article structure.
6054 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6057 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6058 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6059 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6060 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6061 called loose threads.
6063 @item thread gathering
6064 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6066 @item sparse threads
6067 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6068 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6074 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6075 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6079 @node Customizing Threading
6080 @subsection Customizing Threading
6081 @cindex customizing threading
6084 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6085 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6086 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6087 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6092 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6095 @cindex loose threads
6098 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6099 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6100 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6101 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6102 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6103 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6105 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6106 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6107 There are four possible values:
6111 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6112 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6113 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6114 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6115 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6120 @cindex adopting articles
6125 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6126 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6127 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6128 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6131 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6132 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6133 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6134 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6135 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6136 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6137 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6140 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6141 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6142 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6146 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6147 display them after one another.
6150 Don't gather loose threads.
6153 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6154 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6155 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6156 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6157 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6158 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6159 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6160 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6161 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6162 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6163 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6165 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6166 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6167 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6170 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6171 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6172 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6173 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6174 simplification is used.
6176 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6177 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6178 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6179 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6181 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6183 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6189 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6190 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6191 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6192 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6197 (mapconcat 'identity
6198 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6200 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6203 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6206 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6207 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6208 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6209 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6210 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6211 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6213 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6216 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6217 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6218 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6220 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6221 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6224 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6225 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6226 Remove excessive whitespace.
6229 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6232 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6233 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6234 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6235 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6236 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6237 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6238 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6239 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6241 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6242 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6243 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6244 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6245 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6246 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6247 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6248 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6249 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6253 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6254 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6255 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6256 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6258 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6259 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6260 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6263 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6267 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6268 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6274 @node Filling In Threads
6275 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6278 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6279 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6280 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6281 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6282 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6283 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6284 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6285 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6286 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6287 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6288 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6289 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
6291 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6292 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6293 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6295 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6296 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6297 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6298 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6299 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6300 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6301 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6302 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6303 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6304 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6305 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6306 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6307 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6308 @code{nil} by default.
6310 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6311 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6312 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6313 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6314 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6315 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6316 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6318 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6319 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6320 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6325 @node More Threading
6326 @subsubsection More Threading
6329 @item gnus-show-threads
6330 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6331 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6332 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6333 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6334 slower and more awkward.
6336 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6337 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6338 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6341 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6342 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6343 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6344 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6345 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6346 threads are expunged.
6348 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6349 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6350 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6353 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6354 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6355 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6356 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6357 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6358 result in a new thread.
6360 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6361 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6362 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6365 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6366 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6367 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6368 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6369 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6370 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6371 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6372 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6373 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6374 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6375 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6380 @node Low-Level Threading
6381 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6385 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6386 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6387 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6389 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6390 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6391 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6392 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6393 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6394 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6395 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6396 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6397 meaningful. Here's one example:
6400 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6402 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6403 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6405 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6407 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6414 @node Thread Commands
6415 @subsection Thread Commands
6416 @cindex thread commands
6422 @kindex T k (Summary)
6423 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6425 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6426 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6427 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6432 @kindex T l (Summary)
6433 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6435 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6439 @kindex T i (Summary)
6440 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6441 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6442 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6445 @kindex T # (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6447 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6448 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6451 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6452 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6453 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6454 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6457 @kindex T T (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6459 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6462 @kindex T s (Summary)
6463 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6464 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6465 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6468 @kindex T h (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6470 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6473 @kindex T S (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6475 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6478 @kindex T H (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6480 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6483 @kindex T t (Summary)
6484 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6485 Re-thread the current article's thread
6486 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6487 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6490 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6491 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6492 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6493 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6497 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6498 understand the numeric prefix.
6503 @kindex T n (Summary)
6505 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6507 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6508 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6509 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6512 @kindex T p (Summary)
6514 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6516 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6517 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6518 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6521 @kindex T d (Summary)
6522 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6523 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6526 @kindex T u (Summary)
6527 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6528 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6531 @kindex T o (Summary)
6532 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6533 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6536 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6537 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6538 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6539 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6540 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6541 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6542 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6543 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6544 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6545 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6546 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6547 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6551 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6552 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6554 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6555 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6556 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6557 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6558 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6559 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6560 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6561 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6562 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6563 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6564 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6565 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6567 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6568 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6569 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6570 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6571 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread} and
6572 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6574 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6575 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6576 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6578 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6579 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6580 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6581 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6582 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6583 ascending article order.
6585 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6586 by number, you could do something like:
6589 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6590 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6591 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6592 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6595 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6596 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6597 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6598 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6599 which the articles arrived.
6601 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6605 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6607 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6608 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6611 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6612 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6613 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6614 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6617 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6618 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6619 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6620 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6621 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6622 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6623 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6624 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6625 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6626 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6627 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6628 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6629 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6631 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6635 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6636 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6637 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6642 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6643 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6644 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6645 @cindex article pre-fetch
6648 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6649 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6650 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6651 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6652 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6654 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6655 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6657 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6658 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6659 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6660 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6661 connection is blocked.
6663 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6664 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6665 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6666 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6668 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6669 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6670 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6671 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6674 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6677 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6678 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6679 happen automatically.
6681 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6682 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6683 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6684 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6685 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6686 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6687 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6689 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6690 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6691 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6692 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6693 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6694 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6695 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6696 data structure as the only parameter.
6698 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6701 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6702 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6703 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6704 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6707 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6710 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6711 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6712 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6714 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6715 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6716 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6717 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6721 Remove articles when they are read.
6724 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6727 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6729 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6730 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6731 @c from the next group.
6734 @node Article Caching
6735 @section Article Caching
6736 @cindex article caching
6739 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6740 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6741 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6742 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6743 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6745 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6747 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6748 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6749 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6750 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6751 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6752 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6753 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6754 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6756 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6757 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6758 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6759 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6760 as dormant, and don't worry.
6762 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6764 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6765 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6766 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6767 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6768 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6769 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6770 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6771 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6772 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6773 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6775 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6776 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6777 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6778 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6779 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6780 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6781 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6782 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6783 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6784 not then be downloaded by this command.
6786 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6787 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6788 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6789 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6790 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6791 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6793 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6794 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6795 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6796 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6797 variables, the group is not cached.
6799 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6800 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6801 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6802 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6803 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6804 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6805 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6806 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6807 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6811 @node Persistent Articles
6812 @section Persistent Articles
6813 @cindex persistent articles
6815 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6816 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6817 useful in my opinion.
6819 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6820 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6821 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6822 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6823 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6824 the expiry going on at the news server.
6826 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6827 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6828 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6834 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6835 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6838 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6839 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6840 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6841 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6845 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6847 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6848 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6849 interested in persistent articles:
6852 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6856 @node Article Backlog
6857 @section Article Backlog
6859 @cindex article backlog
6861 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6862 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6863 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6864 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6865 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6866 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6867 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6868 increase memory usage some.
6870 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6871 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6872 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6873 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6874 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6875 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6876 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6878 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6881 @node Saving Articles
6882 @section Saving Articles
6883 @cindex saving articles
6885 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6886 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6887 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6888 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6889 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6891 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6892 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6893 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6895 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6896 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6897 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6898 deleted before saving.
6904 @kindex O o (Summary)
6906 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6907 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6908 Save the current article using the default article saver
6909 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6912 @kindex O m (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6914 Save the current article in mail format
6915 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6918 @kindex O r (Summary)
6919 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6920 Save the current article in rmail format
6921 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6924 @kindex O f (Summary)
6925 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6926 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6927 Save the current article in plain file format
6928 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6931 @kindex O F (Summary)
6932 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6933 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6934 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6937 @kindex O b (Summary)
6938 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6939 Save the current article body in plain file format
6940 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6943 @kindex O h (Summary)
6944 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6945 Save the current article in mh folder format
6946 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6949 @kindex O v (Summary)
6950 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6951 Save the current article in a VM folder
6952 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6956 @kindex O p (Summary)
6958 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6959 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6960 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6963 @kindex O P (Summary)
6964 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
6965 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
6966 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
6967 external program Muttprint (see
6968 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
6969 options to use is controlled by the variable
6970 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
6974 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6975 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6976 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6977 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6978 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6979 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6980 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6981 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6982 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6983 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6984 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6985 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6989 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6990 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6991 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6992 functions below, or you can create your own.
6996 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6997 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6998 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6999 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7000 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7001 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7002 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7004 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7005 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7006 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7007 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7008 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7009 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7011 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7012 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7013 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7014 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7015 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7016 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7017 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7019 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7020 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7021 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7022 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7023 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7024 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7026 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7027 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7028 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7029 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7030 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7032 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7033 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7034 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7035 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7036 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7039 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7040 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7041 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7042 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7043 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7045 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7046 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7047 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7048 reader to use this setting.
7051 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7052 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7053 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7054 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7057 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7058 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7059 available functions that generate names:
7063 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7064 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7065 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7067 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7068 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7069 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7071 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7072 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7073 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7075 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7076 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7077 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7079 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7080 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7081 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7084 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7085 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7086 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7087 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7088 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7092 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7093 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7094 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7095 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7098 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7099 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7100 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7101 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7102 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7103 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7104 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7105 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7106 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7108 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7109 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7110 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7111 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7113 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7114 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7115 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7118 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7119 lots of mail groups called things like
7120 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7121 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7122 following will do just that:
7125 (defun my-save-name (group)
7126 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7127 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7129 (setq gnus-split-methods
7130 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7135 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7136 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7137 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7138 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7139 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7140 all the files in the top level directory
7141 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7142 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7143 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7144 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7146 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7147 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7148 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7149 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7150 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7153 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7157 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7158 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7159 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7162 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7163 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7164 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7165 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7168 @node Decoding Articles
7169 @section Decoding Articles
7170 @cindex decoding articles
7172 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7173 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7176 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7177 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7178 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7179 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7180 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7181 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7185 @cindex article series
7186 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7187 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7188 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7189 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7190 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7192 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7193 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7194 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7196 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7197 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7198 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7200 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7201 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7202 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7205 @node Uuencoded Articles
7206 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7208 @cindex uuencoded articles
7213 @kindex X u (Summary)
7214 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7215 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7216 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7219 @kindex X U (Summary)
7220 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7221 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7222 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7225 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7226 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7227 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7230 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7231 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7232 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7233 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7237 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7238 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7239 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7240 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7241 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7243 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7244 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7245 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7246 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7249 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7250 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7251 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7252 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7253 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7254 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7258 @node Shell Archives
7259 @subsection Shell Archives
7261 @cindex shell archives
7262 @cindex shared articles
7264 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7265 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7266 some commands to deal with these:
7271 @kindex X s (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7273 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7276 @kindex X S (Summary)
7277 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7278 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7281 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7282 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7283 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7286 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7287 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7288 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7289 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7293 @node PostScript Files
7294 @subsection PostScript Files
7300 @kindex X p (Summary)
7301 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7302 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7305 @kindex X P (Summary)
7306 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7307 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7308 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7311 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7313 View the current PostScript series
7314 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7317 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7319 View and save the current PostScript series
7320 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7325 @subsection Other Files
7329 @kindex X o (Summary)
7330 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7331 Save the current series
7332 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7335 @kindex X b (Summary)
7336 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7337 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7338 doesn't really work yet.
7342 @node Decoding Variables
7343 @subsection Decoding Variables
7345 Adjective, not verb.
7348 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7349 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7350 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7354 @node Rule Variables
7355 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7356 @cindex rule variables
7358 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7359 variables are of the form
7362 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7369 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7370 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7372 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7373 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7376 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7377 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7380 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7381 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7382 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7383 user and default view rules.
7385 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7386 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7387 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7392 @node Other Decode Variables
7393 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7396 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7398 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7399 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7400 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7401 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7402 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7406 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7407 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7410 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7411 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7412 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7415 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7416 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7417 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7418 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7419 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7422 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7423 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7424 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7426 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7427 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7428 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7429 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7430 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7433 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7434 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7435 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7437 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7438 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7439 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7440 looking for files to display.
7442 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7443 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7444 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7447 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7448 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7449 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7452 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7453 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7454 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7457 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7458 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7459 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7462 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7463 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7464 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7465 decoded articles as unread.
7467 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7468 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7469 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7470 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7472 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7473 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7474 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7476 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7477 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7479 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7480 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7481 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7482 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7484 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7485 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7486 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7487 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7488 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7489 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7490 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7491 simply dropped them.
7496 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7497 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7501 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7502 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7503 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7504 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7505 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7506 for you when you post the article.
7508 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7509 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7510 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7511 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7513 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7514 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7515 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7516 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7517 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7518 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7519 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7521 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7522 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7523 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7524 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7525 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7526 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7527 Default is @code{t}.
7533 @subsection Viewing Files
7534 @cindex viewing files
7535 @cindex pseudo-articles
7537 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7538 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7539 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7540 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7541 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7542 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7543 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7545 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7546 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7547 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7548 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7550 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7551 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7552 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7554 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7555 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7556 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7557 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7558 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7560 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7561 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7562 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7563 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7564 a list of parameters to that command.
7566 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7567 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7568 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7570 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7571 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7572 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7575 @node Article Treatment
7576 @section Article Treatment
7578 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7579 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7580 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7581 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7582 these articles easier.
7585 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7586 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7587 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7588 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7589 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7590 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7594 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7598 @node Article Highlighting
7599 @subsection Article Highlighting
7600 @cindex highlighting
7602 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7603 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7608 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7609 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7610 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7611 Do much highlighting of the current article
7612 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7613 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7616 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7617 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7618 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7619 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7620 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7621 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7622 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7623 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7624 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7625 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7626 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7627 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7630 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7631 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7632 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7634 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7637 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7639 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7640 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7641 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7643 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7644 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7645 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7647 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7648 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7649 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7650 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7651 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7652 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7654 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7655 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7656 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7658 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7659 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7660 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7662 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7663 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7664 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7665 that it's a citation.
7667 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7668 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7669 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7671 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7672 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7673 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7675 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7676 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7677 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7678 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7684 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7685 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7686 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7687 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7688 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7689 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7690 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7691 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7696 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7699 @node Article Fontisizing
7700 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7702 @cindex article emphasis
7704 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7705 @kindex W e (Summary)
7706 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7707 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7708 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7709 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7711 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7712 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7713 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7714 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7715 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7716 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7717 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7718 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7722 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7723 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7724 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7733 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7734 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7735 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7736 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7737 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7738 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7739 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7740 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7741 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7742 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7743 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7744 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7745 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7747 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7748 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7749 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7753 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7756 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7758 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7759 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7760 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7761 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7763 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7766 @node Article Hiding
7767 @subsection Article Hiding
7768 @cindex article hiding
7770 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7771 too much cruft in most articles.
7776 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7777 @findex gnus-article-hide
7778 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7779 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7780 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7783 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7784 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7785 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7789 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7791 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7792 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7795 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7796 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7797 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7801 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7802 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7803 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7804 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7805 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7806 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7807 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7808 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7812 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7813 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7814 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7815 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7820 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7821 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7822 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7823 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7824 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7825 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7826 articles that have signatures in them do:
7828 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7830 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7832 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7833 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7835 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7838 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7843 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7844 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7845 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7846 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7849 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7850 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7853 @cindex stripping advertisements
7854 @cindex advertisements
7855 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7856 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7857 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7858 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7859 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7860 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7861 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7862 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7863 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7864 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7868 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7869 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7870 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7871 customizing the hiding:
7875 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7876 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7877 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7878 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7879 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7880 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7881 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7886 Starting point of the hidden text.
7888 Ending point of the hidden text.
7890 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7892 Number of lines of hidden text.
7895 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7896 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7897 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7898 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7899 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7904 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7905 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7907 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7908 following two variables:
7911 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7912 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7913 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7914 50), hide the cited text.
7916 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7917 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7918 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7923 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7924 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7925 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7926 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7927 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7928 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7932 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7933 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7934 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7936 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7937 citation customization.
7939 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7943 @node Article Washing
7944 @subsection Article Washing
7946 @cindex article washing
7948 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7949 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7951 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7952 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7955 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7956 articles by default.
7961 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7962 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7966 @kindex W l (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7968 Remove page breaks from the current article
7969 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7973 @kindex W r (Summary)
7974 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7975 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7976 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7977 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7978 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7979 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7981 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7982 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7983 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7984 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7988 @kindex W t (Summary)
7990 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7991 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7992 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7995 @kindex W v (Summary)
7996 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7997 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7998 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
8001 @kindex W o (Summary)
8002 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8003 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8006 @kindex W d (Summary)
8007 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8008 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8010 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8012 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8013 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8014 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8015 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8018 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8019 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8020 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8021 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8024 @kindex W w (Summary)
8025 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8026 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8028 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8032 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8033 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8034 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8037 @kindex W C (Summary)
8038 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8039 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8040 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8043 @kindex W c (Summary)
8044 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8045 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8046 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8047 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8048 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8051 @kindex W q (Summary)
8052 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8053 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8054 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8055 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8056 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8057 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
8058 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8059 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8060 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8063 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8064 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8065 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8066 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8067 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
8068 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8069 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8071 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8074 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8075 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8076 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8077 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8078 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8081 @kindex W h (Summary)
8082 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8083 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
8084 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
8085 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
8087 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8090 @kindex W b (Summary)
8091 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8092 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8093 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8096 @kindex W B (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8098 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8099 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8102 @kindex W p (Summary)
8103 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8104 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8105 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8106 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8107 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8108 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8109 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8112 @kindex W s (Summary)
8113 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8114 Verify a signed (PGP, PGP/MIME or S/MIME) message
8115 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8118 @kindex W W H (Summary)
8119 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
8120 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8121 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
8124 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8125 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8126 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8127 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8130 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8131 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8132 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8133 lines with a single empty line.
8134 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8137 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8139 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8140 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8143 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8144 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8145 Do all the three commands above
8146 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8149 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8150 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8151 Remove all blank lines
8152 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8155 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8156 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8157 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8158 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8161 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8162 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8163 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8164 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8168 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8171 @node Article Header
8172 @subsection Article Header
8174 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8179 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8180 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8181 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8184 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8185 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8186 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8187 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8190 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8191 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-header
8192 Fold all the message headers
8193 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8198 @node Article Buttons
8199 @subsection Article Buttons
8202 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8203 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8204 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8205 button on these references.
8207 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8208 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8209 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8214 @item gnus-button-alist
8215 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8216 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8219 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8225 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8226 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8227 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8230 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8231 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8232 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8235 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8236 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8237 avoid false matches.
8240 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8243 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8244 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8248 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8251 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8254 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8255 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8256 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8257 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8258 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8261 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8264 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8266 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8267 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8268 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8269 default values of the variables above.
8271 @item gnus-article-button-face
8272 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8273 Face used on buttons.
8275 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8276 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8277 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8281 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8285 @subsection Article Date
8287 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8288 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8289 when the article was sent.
8294 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8295 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8296 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8297 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8300 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8301 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8303 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8304 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8307 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8308 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8309 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8312 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8313 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8314 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8315 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8318 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8319 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8320 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8321 @findex format-time-string
8322 Display the date using a user-defined format
8323 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8324 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8325 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8326 for a list of possible format specs.
8329 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8330 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8331 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8332 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8333 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8334 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8337 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8340 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8341 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8344 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8345 into wonderful absurdities.
8347 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8350 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8353 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8354 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8358 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8360 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8361 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8362 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8363 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8364 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8368 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8369 preferred format automatically.
8372 @node Article Display
8373 @subsection Article Display
8378 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8379 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8381 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8382 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8384 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8385 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8387 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8388 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8390 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8395 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8397 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8398 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8401 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-smiley-smiley
8403 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8406 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8407 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8408 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8411 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8412 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8413 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8414 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8417 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8419 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8420 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8423 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8424 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8425 Remove all images from the article buffer
8426 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8432 @node Article Signature
8433 @subsection Article Signature
8435 @cindex article signature
8437 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8438 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8439 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8440 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8441 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8442 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8443 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8444 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8445 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8448 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8449 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8450 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8451 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8452 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8453 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8454 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8455 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8458 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8461 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8462 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8463 signature when displaying articles.
8467 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8470 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8473 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8474 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8476 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8477 in question is not a signature.
8480 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8481 listed above. Here's an example:
8484 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8485 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8488 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8489 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8490 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8491 signature after all.
8494 @node Article Miscellania
8495 @subsection Article Miscellania
8499 @kindex A t (Summary)
8500 @findex gnus-article-babel
8501 Translate the article from one language to another
8502 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8508 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8509 @cindex MIME decoding
8511 @cindex viewing attachments
8513 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8514 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8520 @kindex K v (Summary)
8521 View the @sc{mime} part.
8524 @kindex K o (Summary)
8525 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8528 @kindex K c (Summary)
8529 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8532 @kindex K e (Summary)
8533 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8536 @kindex K i (Summary)
8537 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8540 @kindex K | (Summary)
8541 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8544 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8549 @kindex K b (Summary)
8550 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8551 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8555 @kindex K m (Summary)
8556 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8557 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8558 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8559 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8560 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8563 @kindex X m (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8565 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8566 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8567 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8570 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8571 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8572 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8573 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8576 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8577 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8578 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8581 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8582 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8583 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8585 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8586 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8587 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8588 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8589 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8590 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8593 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8594 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8595 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8602 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8603 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8604 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8605 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8608 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8611 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8615 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8616 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8617 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8618 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8619 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8620 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8623 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8624 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8625 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8626 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8627 displayed. This variable overrides
8628 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8630 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8631 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8632 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8634 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8635 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8636 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8637 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8638 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8639 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8640 save all jpegs into some directory).
8642 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8645 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8646 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8648 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8649 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8650 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8651 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8652 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8655 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8656 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8657 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8659 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8660 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8661 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8662 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8664 Ready-made functions include@*
8665 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8666 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8667 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8668 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8669 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8670 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8671 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8672 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8673 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8674 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8675 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8676 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8678 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8679 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8681 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8682 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8683 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8686 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8687 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8688 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8689 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8693 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8702 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8703 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8704 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8705 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8706 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8707 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8708 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8710 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8711 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8712 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8713 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8715 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8716 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8717 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8718 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8719 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8720 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8721 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8722 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8724 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8725 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8726 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8727 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8728 quoted-printable header encoding.
8730 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8731 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8732 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8736 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8739 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8740 means encode all charsets),
8742 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8743 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8744 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8751 @cindex coding system aliases
8752 @cindex preferred charset
8754 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8756 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8757 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8760 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8761 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8764 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8765 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8767 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8770 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8773 This will almost do the right thing.
8775 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8779 (codepage-setup 1251)
8780 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8784 @node Article Commands
8785 @section Article Commands
8792 @kindex A P (Summary)
8793 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8794 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8795 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8796 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
8797 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
8798 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
8803 @node Summary Sorting
8804 @section Summary Sorting
8805 @cindex summary sorting
8807 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8808 can't really see why you'd want that.
8813 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8814 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8815 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8818 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8819 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8820 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8823 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8824 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8825 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8828 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8829 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8830 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8833 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8834 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8835 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8838 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8840 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8843 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8844 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8845 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8848 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8849 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8850 Sort using the default sorting method
8851 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8854 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8855 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8856 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8857 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8858 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8862 @node Finding the Parent
8863 @section Finding the Parent
8864 @cindex parent articles
8865 @cindex referring articles
8870 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8871 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8872 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8873 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8874 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8875 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8876 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8877 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8878 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8880 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8881 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8882 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8883 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8884 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8888 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8889 @kindex A R (Summary)
8890 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8891 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8894 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8895 @kindex A T (Summary)
8896 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8897 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8898 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8899 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8900 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8901 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8902 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8904 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8905 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8906 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8907 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8908 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8909 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8912 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8913 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8915 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8916 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8917 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8918 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8919 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8920 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8921 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8924 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8925 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8926 by giving this command a prefix.
8928 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8929 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8930 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8931 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8932 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8933 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8936 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8937 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8938 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8941 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8942 then ask Deja if that fails:
8945 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8947 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8950 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8951 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8952 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8953 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8954 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8955 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8959 @node Alternative Approaches
8960 @section Alternative Approaches
8962 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8963 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8966 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8967 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8972 @subsection Pick and Read
8973 @cindex pick and read
8975 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8976 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8977 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8978 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8980 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8981 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8982 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8983 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8984 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8985 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8987 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8992 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8993 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8994 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8995 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8996 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8997 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8998 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8999 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9002 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9003 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9004 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9005 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9009 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9010 Unpick the thread or article
9011 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9012 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9013 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9014 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9015 the thread or article at that line.
9019 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9020 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9021 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9022 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9023 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9024 will still be visible when you are reading.
9028 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9029 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9030 which is mapped to the same function
9031 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9033 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9036 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9039 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9040 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9042 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9043 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9044 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9046 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9047 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9048 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9049 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9050 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9051 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9052 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9056 @subsection Binary Groups
9057 @cindex binary groups
9059 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9060 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9061 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9062 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9063 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9064 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9065 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9068 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9069 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9070 command, when you have turned on this mode
9071 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9073 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9074 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9078 @section Tree Display
9081 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9082 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9083 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9084 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9087 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9090 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9091 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9092 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9094 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9095 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9096 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9097 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9098 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9100 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9101 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9102 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9103 default is @code{modeline}.
9105 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9106 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9107 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9108 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9109 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9110 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9111 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9117 The name of the poster.
9119 The @code{From} header.
9121 The number of the article.
9123 The opening bracket.
9125 The closing bracket.
9130 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9132 Variables related to the display are:
9135 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9136 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9137 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9138 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9139 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9140 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9142 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9143 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9144 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9145 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9149 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9150 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9151 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9152 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9153 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9154 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9155 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9156 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9157 other windows displayed next to it.
9159 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9163 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9164 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9167 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9168 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9169 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9170 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9171 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9172 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9173 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9177 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9180 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9190 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9194 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9195 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9197 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9199 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9204 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9205 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9206 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9209 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9210 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9211 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9212 (gnus-add-configuration
9216 (summary 0.75 point)
9221 @xref{Window Layout}.
9224 @node Mail Group Commands
9225 @section Mail Group Commands
9226 @cindex mail group commands
9228 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9229 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9231 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9232 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9237 @kindex B e (Summary)
9238 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9239 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9240 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9241 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9242 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9245 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9246 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9247 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9248 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9249 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9250 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9253 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9254 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9255 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9256 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9257 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9258 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9261 @kindex B m (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9264 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9265 Move the article from one mail group to another
9266 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9267 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9270 @kindex B c (Summary)
9272 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9273 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9274 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9275 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9276 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9279 @kindex B B (Summary)
9280 @cindex crosspost mail
9281 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9282 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9283 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9284 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9285 be properly updated.
9288 @kindex B i (Summary)
9289 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9290 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9291 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9292 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9295 @kindex B r (Summary)
9296 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9297 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9298 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9299 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9300 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9301 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9302 (which is the default).
9306 @kindex B w (Summary)
9308 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9309 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9310 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9311 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9312 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9313 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9316 @kindex B q (Summary)
9317 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9318 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9319 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9320 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9323 @kindex B t (Summary)
9324 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9325 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9326 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9329 @kindex B p (Summary)
9330 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9331 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9332 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9333 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9334 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9335 article from your news server (or rather, from
9336 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9337 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9338 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9339 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9340 just not have arrived yet.
9344 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9345 @cindex moving articles
9346 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9347 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9348 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9349 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9350 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9351 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9352 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9355 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9356 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9357 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9358 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9362 @node Various Summary Stuff
9363 @section Various Summary Stuff
9366 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9367 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9368 * Summary Generation Commands::
9369 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9373 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9374 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9375 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9377 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9378 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9379 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9380 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9381 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9382 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9385 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9386 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9387 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9388 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9389 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9391 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9392 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9393 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9396 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9397 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9398 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9399 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9400 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9401 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9402 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9403 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9404 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9405 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9407 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9408 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9409 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9410 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9411 list of articles to be selected.
9413 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9414 the list in one particular group:
9417 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9418 (if (string= group "some.group")
9419 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9423 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9424 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9425 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9426 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9427 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9428 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9429 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9430 buffers. For example:
9433 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9434 '(message-use-followup-to
9435 (gnus-visible-headers .
9436 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9442 @node Summary Group Information
9443 @subsection Summary Group Information
9448 @kindex H f (Summary)
9449 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9450 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9451 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9452 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9453 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9454 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9455 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9456 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9457 be used for fetching the file.
9460 @kindex H d (Summary)
9461 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9462 Give a brief description of the current group
9463 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9464 rereading the description from the server.
9467 @kindex H h (Summary)
9468 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9469 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9470 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9473 @kindex H i (Summary)
9474 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9475 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9479 @node Searching for Articles
9480 @subsection Searching for Articles
9485 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9486 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9487 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9488 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9491 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9492 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9493 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9494 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9498 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9499 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9500 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9501 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9502 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9503 search backward instead.
9505 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9506 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9509 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9510 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9511 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9512 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9515 @node Summary Generation Commands
9516 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9521 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9522 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9523 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9526 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9527 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9528 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9529 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9534 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9535 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9541 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9542 @kindex A D (Summary)
9543 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9544 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9545 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9546 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9547 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9548 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9549 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9550 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9554 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9555 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9556 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9557 several documents into one biiig group
9558 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9559 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9560 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9561 command understands the process/prefix convention
9562 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9565 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9566 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9567 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9568 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9569 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9570 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9574 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9575 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9576 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9579 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9580 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9581 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9582 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9585 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9586 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9587 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9588 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9593 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9594 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9595 @cindex summary exit
9596 @cindex exiting groups
9598 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9599 group and return you to the group buffer.
9605 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9607 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9608 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9609 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9610 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9611 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9612 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9613 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9614 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9615 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9616 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9617 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9621 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9623 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9624 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9625 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9629 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9631 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9632 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9633 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9634 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9637 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9638 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9639 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9640 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9643 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9644 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9645 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9646 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9649 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9650 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9651 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9652 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9653 all articles, both read and unread.
9657 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9658 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9659 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9660 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9661 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9662 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9663 articles, both read and unread.
9666 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9667 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9668 Exit the group and go to the next group
9669 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9672 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9673 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9674 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9675 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9678 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9679 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9680 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9681 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9682 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9683 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9686 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9687 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9688 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9689 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9691 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9692 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9693 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9694 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9695 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9696 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9697 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9698 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9699 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9700 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9701 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9702 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9704 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9706 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9707 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9708 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9709 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9710 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9711 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9712 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9713 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9714 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9717 @node Crosspost Handling
9718 @section Crosspost Handling
9722 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9723 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9724 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9725 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9726 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9727 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9730 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9731 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9732 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9733 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9734 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9736 @cindex cross-posting
9739 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9740 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9741 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9742 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9743 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9744 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9745 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9746 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9747 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9748 the cross reference mechanism.
9750 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9751 @cindex overview.fmt
9752 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9753 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9754 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9755 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9756 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9757 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9760 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9761 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9762 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9767 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9770 @node Duplicate Suppression
9771 @section Duplicate Suppression
9773 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9774 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9775 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9776 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9781 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9782 is evil and not very common.
9785 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9786 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9789 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9790 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9793 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9796 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9797 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9799 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9800 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9801 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9802 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9803 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9804 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9805 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9808 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9809 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9810 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9811 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9812 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9816 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9817 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9818 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9820 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9821 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9822 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9823 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9824 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9825 session are suppressed.
9827 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9828 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9829 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9830 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9832 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9833 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9834 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9835 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9838 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9839 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9840 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9841 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9842 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9843 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9844 to you to figure out, I think.
9849 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9850 The formats that are supported are PGP, PGP/MIME and S/MIME, however
9851 you need some external programs to get things to work:
9855 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
9856 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
9859 To handle S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
9860 or newer is recommended.
9864 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9865 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
9868 @item mm-verify-option
9869 @vindex mm-verify-option
9870 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9871 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9872 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9874 @item mm-decrypt-option
9875 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9876 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9877 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
9878 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9883 @section Mailing List
9885 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9886 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9887 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9890 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9893 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9898 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9899 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9900 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9903 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9904 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9905 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9908 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9909 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9910 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9914 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9915 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9916 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9919 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9920 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9921 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9924 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9925 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9926 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9930 @node Article Buffer
9931 @chapter Article Buffer
9932 @cindex article buffer
9934 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9935 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9936 tell Gnus otherwise.
9939 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9940 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9941 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9942 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9943 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9947 @node Hiding Headers
9948 @section Hiding Headers
9949 @cindex hiding headers
9950 @cindex deleting headers
9952 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9953 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9955 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9956 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9957 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9958 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9959 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9960 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9961 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9962 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9963 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9965 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9969 @item gnus-visible-headers
9970 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9971 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9972 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9973 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9975 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9976 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9979 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9982 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9985 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9986 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9987 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9988 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9989 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9990 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9992 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9993 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9996 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9999 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10002 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10003 variable will have no effect.
10007 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10008 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10009 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10010 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10011 the headers are to be displayed.
10013 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10014 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10017 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10020 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10021 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10023 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10024 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10025 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10026 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10027 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10028 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10029 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10032 These conditions are:
10035 Remove all empty headers.
10037 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10038 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10040 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10041 @code{From} header.
10043 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10046 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10047 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10049 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10052 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10054 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10057 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
10060 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10061 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10064 This is also the default value for this variable.
10068 @section Using MIME
10071 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10072 while people stand around yawning.
10074 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10075 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10077 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10078 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10079 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10081 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10082 @findex gnus-display-mime
10083 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10084 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10085 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10086 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10088 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10092 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10093 @item RET (Article)
10094 @kindex RET (Article)
10095 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10096 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10097 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
10099 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10100 @item M-RET (Article)
10101 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10103 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10104 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10106 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10108 @kindex t (Article)
10109 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10110 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10112 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10114 @kindex C (Article)
10115 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10116 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10118 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10120 @kindex o (Article)
10121 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10122 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10124 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10125 @item C-o (Article)
10126 @kindex C-o (Article)
10127 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10128 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10129 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10130 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10131 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10132 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10134 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10136 @kindex c (Article)
10137 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10138 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10140 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10142 @kindex p (Article)
10143 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10144 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10145 @file{.mailcap} file.
10147 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10149 @kindex i (Article)
10150 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10151 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10152 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10153 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10154 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10157 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
10159 @kindex E (Article)
10160 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10161 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10162 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
10164 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
10166 @kindex e (Article)
10167 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10168 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
10170 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10172 @kindex | (Article)
10173 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10175 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10177 @kindex . (Article)
10178 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10179 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10183 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10184 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
10187 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10188 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10189 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10190 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10191 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10192 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10193 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10194 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10195 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10197 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10199 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10202 @node Customizing Articles
10203 @section Customizing Articles
10204 @cindex article customization
10206 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10207 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10208 called automatically when you select the articles.
10210 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10211 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10212 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10213 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10215 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10216 for sensible values.
10220 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10223 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10226 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10229 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10232 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10236 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10237 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10238 regexps in the list.
10241 A list where the first element is not a string:
10243 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10244 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10245 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10249 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10254 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10255 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10256 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10257 considered to contain just a single part.
10259 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10260 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10261 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10262 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10263 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10264 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10265 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10267 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10268 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10269 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10270 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10273 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10274 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10276 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10278 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10279 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10280 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10281 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10282 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10283 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10284 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10285 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10286 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10288 @xref{Article Washing}.
10290 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10291 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10292 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10293 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10294 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10295 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10296 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10298 @xref{Article Date}.
10300 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10301 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10302 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10306 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10308 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10310 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10311 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10312 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10316 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10320 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10321 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10322 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10323 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10324 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10325 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10326 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10327 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10329 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10331 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10332 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10333 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10335 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10337 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10338 @item gnus-treat-translate
10339 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10341 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10342 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10343 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10349 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10350 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10351 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10352 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10353 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10357 @node Article Keymap
10358 @section Article Keymap
10360 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10361 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10362 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10363 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10366 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10371 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10372 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10373 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10376 @kindex DEL (Article)
10377 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10378 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10381 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10382 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10383 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10384 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10385 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10388 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10389 @findex gnus-article-mail
10390 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10391 given a prefix, include the mail.
10394 @kindex s (Article)
10395 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10396 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10397 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10400 @kindex ? (Article)
10401 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10402 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10403 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10406 @kindex TAB (Article)
10407 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10408 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10409 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10412 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10413 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10414 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10417 @kindex R (Article)
10418 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10419 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10420 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10421 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10425 @kindex F (Article)
10426 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10427 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10428 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10429 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10437 @section Misc Article
10441 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10442 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10443 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10444 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10447 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10448 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10450 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10451 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10453 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10454 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10455 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10456 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10457 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10458 the contents of the article buffer.
10460 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10461 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10462 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10464 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10465 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10466 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10467 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10469 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10470 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10471 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10472 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10473 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10479 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10480 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10481 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10486 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10489 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10492 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10493 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10494 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10497 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10500 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10503 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10508 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10512 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10514 @item gnus-break-pages
10515 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10516 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10517 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10518 paging will not be done.
10520 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10521 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10522 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10527 @node Composing Messages
10528 @chapter Composing Messages
10529 @cindex composing messages
10532 @cindex sending mail
10537 @cindex using s/mime
10538 @cindex using smime
10540 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10541 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10542 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10543 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10544 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10545 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10548 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10549 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10550 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10551 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10552 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10553 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10554 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10555 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10558 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10559 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10565 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10568 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10569 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10570 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10571 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10573 @item gnus-add-to-list
10574 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10575 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10576 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10581 @node Posting Server
10582 @section Posting Server
10584 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10585 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10587 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10589 @vindex gnus-post-method
10591 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10592 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10593 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10594 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10595 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10596 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10597 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10600 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10603 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10604 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10605 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10606 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10608 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10609 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10611 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10612 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10615 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10616 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10619 @node Mail and Post
10620 @section Mail and Post
10622 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10626 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10627 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10628 @cindex mailing lists
10630 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10631 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10632 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10633 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10634 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10635 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10636 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10637 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10638 still a pain, though.
10642 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10643 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10644 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10647 @findex ispell-message
10649 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10652 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10653 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10656 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10660 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10661 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10663 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10666 Modify to suit your needs.
10669 @node Archived Messages
10670 @section Archived Messages
10671 @cindex archived messages
10672 @cindex sent messages
10674 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10675 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10676 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10677 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10680 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10681 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
10682 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10685 (nnfolder "archive"
10686 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10687 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10688 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10689 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10692 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10693 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10694 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10695 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10698 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10699 '(nnfolder "archive"
10700 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10701 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10702 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10705 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10707 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10708 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10709 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10711 This variable can be used to do the following:
10716 Messages will be saved in that group.
10718 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10719 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10720 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10721 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10722 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10723 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10724 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10725 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10729 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10731 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10732 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10735 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10740 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10742 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10745 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10747 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10750 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10752 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10753 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10754 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10755 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10758 More complex stuff:
10760 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10761 '((if (message-news-p)
10766 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10767 messages in one file per month:
10770 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10771 '((if (message-news-p)
10773 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10776 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10777 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10779 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10780 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10781 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10782 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10783 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10784 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10785 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10786 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10787 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10788 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10790 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10791 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10792 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10793 this will disable archiving.
10796 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10797 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10798 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10799 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10800 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10803 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10804 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10805 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10808 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10809 but the latter is the preferred method.
10811 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10812 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10813 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10818 @node Posting Styles
10819 @section Posting Styles
10820 @cindex posting styles
10823 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10825 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10826 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10827 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10830 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10831 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10832 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10833 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10834 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10839 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10840 (organization "What me?"))
10842 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10843 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10844 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10847 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10848 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10849 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10850 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10851 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10852 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10853 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10854 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10856 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10857 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10858 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10859 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10860 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10861 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10862 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10863 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10864 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10866 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10867 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10868 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10869 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10870 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10871 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10872 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10873 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10874 result is thrown away.
10876 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10877 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10878 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10879 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10880 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10881 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10883 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10884 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10885 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10887 @findex message-mail-p
10888 @findex message-news-p
10890 So here's a new example:
10893 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10895 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10897 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10898 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10900 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10901 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10902 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10904 (signature my-news-signature))
10905 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10906 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10907 ((posting-from-work-p)
10908 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10909 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10910 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10911 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10913 (From (save-excursion
10914 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10915 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10917 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10920 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10921 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10922 if you fill many roles.
10929 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10930 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10931 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10932 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10933 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10935 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10936 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10937 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10938 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10939 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10943 @vindex nndraft-directory
10944 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10945 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10946 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10947 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10948 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10949 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10951 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10952 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10955 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10956 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10957 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10958 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10959 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10960 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10961 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10962 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10963 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10964 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10965 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10966 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10967 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10968 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10970 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10971 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10972 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10974 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10975 @kindex D e (Draft)
10976 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10977 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10978 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10980 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10983 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10984 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10985 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10986 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10987 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10988 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10989 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10992 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10993 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10994 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10997 @node Rejected Articles
10998 @section Rejected Articles
10999 @cindex rejected articles
11001 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11002 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11003 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11004 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11006 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11007 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11008 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11009 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11010 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11012 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11013 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11014 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11016 @node Signing and encrypting
11017 @section Signing and encrypting
11019 @cindex using s/mime
11020 @cindex using smime
11022 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11023 format or PGP/MIME or S/MIME. For decoding such messages, see the
11024 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11025 (@pxref{Security}).
11027 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11028 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The S/MIME
11029 support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11031 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
11032 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
11033 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11038 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11039 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
11041 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
11044 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11045 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
11047 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
11050 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11051 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
11053 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
11056 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11057 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
11059 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
11062 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11063 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
11065 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
11068 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11069 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
11071 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
11075 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11077 @node Select Methods
11078 @chapter Select Methods
11079 @cindex foreign groups
11080 @cindex select methods
11082 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11083 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11084 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11085 personal mail group.
11087 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11088 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11089 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11090 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11091 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11092 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11094 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11095 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11097 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11100 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11101 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11102 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11103 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11104 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11106 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11109 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11110 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11111 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11112 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11113 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11114 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11115 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11116 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11120 @node Server Buffer
11121 @section Server Buffer
11123 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11124 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11125 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11126 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11127 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11128 back end represents a virtual server.
11130 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11131 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11132 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11133 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11135 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11136 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11137 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11138 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11139 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11140 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11141 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11143 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11144 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11147 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11148 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11149 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11150 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11151 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11152 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11153 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11156 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11157 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11160 @node Server Buffer Format
11161 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11162 @cindex server buffer format
11164 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11165 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11166 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11167 variable, with some simple extensions:
11172 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11175 The name of this server.
11178 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11181 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11184 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11185 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11186 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11187 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11197 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11200 @node Server Commands
11201 @subsection Server Commands
11202 @cindex server commands
11208 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11209 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11213 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11214 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11217 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11218 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11219 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11223 @findex gnus-server-exit
11224 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11228 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11229 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11233 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11234 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11238 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11239 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11243 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11244 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11248 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11249 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11250 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11255 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11256 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11257 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11258 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11263 @node Example Methods
11264 @subsection Example Methods
11266 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11269 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11272 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11278 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11279 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11282 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11283 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11285 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11286 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11290 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11293 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11294 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11296 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11297 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11298 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11302 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11305 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11308 Here's the method for a public spool:
11312 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11313 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11319 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11320 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11321 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11322 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11323 should probably look something like this:
11327 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11328 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11329 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11330 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11333 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11334 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11335 configuration to the example above:
11338 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11341 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11342 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11343 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11347 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11348 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11349 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11350 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11353 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11354 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11355 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11356 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11359 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11360 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11362 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11363 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11365 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11366 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11367 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11369 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11371 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11372 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11373 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11374 will contain the following:
11384 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11385 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11386 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11389 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11390 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11391 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11394 @node Server Variables
11395 @subsection Server Variables
11397 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11398 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11399 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11400 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11401 won't change the "derived" variables.
11403 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11404 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11405 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11406 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11407 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11408 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11409 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11410 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11411 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11415 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11416 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11417 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11421 @node Servers and Methods
11422 @subsection Servers and Methods
11424 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11425 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11426 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11427 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11431 @node Unavailable Servers
11432 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11434 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11435 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11436 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11437 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11438 actually the case or not.
11440 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11441 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11442 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11443 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11444 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11445 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11446 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11447 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11449 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11450 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11452 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11453 with the following commands:
11459 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11460 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11461 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11465 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11466 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11467 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11471 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11472 Mark the current server as unreachable
11473 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11476 @kindex M-o (Server)
11477 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11478 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11479 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11482 @kindex M-c (Server)
11483 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11484 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11485 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11489 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11490 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11491 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11497 @section Getting News
11498 @cindex reading news
11499 @cindex news back ends
11501 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11502 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11503 or it can read from a local spool.
11506 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11507 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11512 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11515 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11516 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11517 server as the, uhm, address.
11519 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11520 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11521 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11522 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11524 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11525 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11526 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11528 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11533 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11534 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11535 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11537 @cindex authentification
11538 @cindex nntp authentification
11539 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11540 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11541 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11542 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11543 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11544 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11545 present in this hook.
11547 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11548 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11549 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11550 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11551 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11552 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11553 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11554 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11555 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11556 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11557 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11558 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11562 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11565 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11567 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11568 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11569 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11570 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11571 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11572 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11573 @samp{force} is explained below.
11577 Here's an example file:
11580 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11581 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11584 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11585 have to be first, for instance.
11587 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11588 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11589 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11590 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11591 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11592 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11593 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11595 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11596 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11602 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11603 previously mentioned.
11605 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11607 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11608 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11609 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11610 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11611 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11614 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11615 '(("innd" (ding))))
11618 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11620 The default value is
11623 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11624 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11625 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11628 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11629 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11631 @item nntp-maximum-request
11632 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11633 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11634 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11635 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11636 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11637 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11638 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11640 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11641 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11642 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11643 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11644 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11645 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11646 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11647 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11648 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11649 no timeouts are done.
11651 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11652 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11653 @c @cindex PPP connections
11654 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11655 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11656 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11657 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11658 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11659 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11660 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11661 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11662 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11663 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11665 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11666 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11667 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11668 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11669 @c described above.
11671 @item nntp-server-hook
11672 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11673 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11676 @item nntp-buggy-select
11677 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11678 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11680 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11681 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11682 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11683 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11686 @item nntp-xover-commands
11687 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11690 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11691 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11695 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11696 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11697 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11698 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11699 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11700 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11701 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11702 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11703 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11704 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11705 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11707 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11708 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11709 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11711 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11712 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11713 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11714 server closes connection.
11716 @item nntp-record-commands
11717 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11718 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11719 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11720 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11721 that doesn't seem to work.
11723 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11724 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11725 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11726 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11727 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11728 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11729 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11730 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11732 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11733 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11734 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11735 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11736 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11737 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11738 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11741 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11744 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
11745 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
11749 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11750 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11751 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11755 @node Direct Functions
11756 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11757 @cindex direct connection functions
11759 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11760 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11761 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11762 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11765 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11766 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11767 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11770 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11771 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11772 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11773 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11774 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11775 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11776 define a server as follows:
11779 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11781 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11783 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11784 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11785 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11786 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11789 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11790 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11791 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11792 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11793 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11794 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11795 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11796 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11800 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11801 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11802 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11805 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11806 session, which is not a good idea.
11810 @node Indirect Functions
11811 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11812 @cindex indirect connection functions
11814 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11815 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11816 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11817 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11818 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11819 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11822 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11823 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11824 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11825 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11826 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11828 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11831 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11832 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11833 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11834 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11837 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11838 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11839 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11840 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11842 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11845 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11846 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11847 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11850 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11851 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11852 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11853 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11855 @item nntp-via-user-password
11856 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11857 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11859 @item nntp-via-envuser
11860 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11861 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11862 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11863 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11865 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11866 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11867 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11868 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11875 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11880 @item nntp-via-user-name
11881 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11882 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11884 @item nntp-via-address
11885 @vindex nntp-via-address
11886 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11891 @node Common Variables
11892 @subsubsection Common Variables
11894 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11895 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11900 @item nntp-pre-command
11901 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11902 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11903 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11904 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11905 wrapper for instance.
11908 @vindex nntp-address
11909 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11911 @item nntp-port-number
11912 @vindex nntp-port-number
11913 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11915 @item nntp-end-of-line
11916 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11917 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11918 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11919 using a non native connection function.
11921 @item nntp-telnet-command
11922 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11923 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11924 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11925 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11927 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11928 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11929 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11936 @subsection News Spool
11940 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11941 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11942 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11945 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11946 anything else) as the address.
11948 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11949 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11950 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11951 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11955 @item nnspool-inews-program
11956 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11957 Program used to post an article.
11959 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11960 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11961 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11963 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11964 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11965 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11966 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11968 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11969 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11970 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11971 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11973 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11974 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11975 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11977 @item nnspool-active-file
11978 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11979 The path to the active file.
11981 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11982 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11983 The path to the group descriptions file.
11985 @item nnspool-history-file
11986 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11987 The path to the news history file.
11989 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11990 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11991 The path to the active date file.
11993 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11994 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11995 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11998 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11999 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12001 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12002 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12003 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12009 @section Getting Mail
12010 @cindex reading mail
12013 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12017 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12018 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12019 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12020 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12021 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12022 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12023 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12024 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12025 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12026 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12027 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12028 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12029 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12033 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12034 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12036 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12037 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12038 of a culture shock.
12040 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12041 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12043 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12044 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12045 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12046 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12048 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12050 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12051 deleted? How awful!
12053 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12054 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12055 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12056 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12059 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12060 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12061 they want to treat a message.
12063 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12064 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12065 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12066 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12067 archived somewhere else.
12069 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12070 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12071 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12072 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12073 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12075 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12076 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12077 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12079 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12080 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12083 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12084 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12085 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12086 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12087 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12089 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12090 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12091 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12092 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12093 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12094 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12098 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12099 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12101 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12102 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12103 and things will happen automatically.
12105 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12106 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12109 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12112 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12113 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12114 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12115 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12116 like any other group.
12118 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12121 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12122 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12123 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12127 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12128 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12129 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12132 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12133 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12134 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12137 @node Splitting Mail
12138 @subsection Splitting Mail
12139 @cindex splitting mail
12140 @cindex mail splitting
12142 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12143 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12144 to be split into groups.
12147 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12148 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12149 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12150 ("mail.other" "")))
12153 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12154 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12155 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12156 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12157 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12158 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12159 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12162 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12165 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12166 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12167 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12168 mail belongs in that group.
12170 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12171 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12172 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12173 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12174 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12175 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12177 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12178 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12179 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12180 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12181 thinks should carry this mail message.
12183 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12184 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12185 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12186 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12188 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12189 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12190 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12191 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12192 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12194 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12197 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12198 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12199 links. If that's the case for you, set
12200 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12201 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12203 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12204 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12205 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12206 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12207 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12208 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12211 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12212 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12213 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12214 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12215 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12216 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12217 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12218 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12219 month's rent money.
12223 @subsection Mail Sources
12225 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12226 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12230 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12231 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12232 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12236 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12237 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12239 @cindex mail server
12242 @cindex mail source
12244 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12245 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12250 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12253 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12254 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12255 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12258 The following mail source types are available:
12262 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12268 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12269 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
12272 An example file mail source:
12275 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12278 Or using the default path:
12284 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12285 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12286 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12289 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12293 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12296 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12300 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12303 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12305 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12308 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12312 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12313 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12314 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12315 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12316 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12317 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12318 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12319 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12325 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12329 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12333 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12334 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12335 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12336 predicate are considered.
12340 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12344 An example directory mail source:
12347 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12352 Get mail from a POP server.
12358 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12359 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12362 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12363 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12364 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12365 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12366 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12369 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12373 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12377 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12378 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12381 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12384 The valid format specifier characters are:
12388 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12389 included in this string.
12392 The name of the server.
12395 The port number of the server.
12398 The user name to use.
12401 The password to use.
12404 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12405 corresponding keywords.
12408 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12409 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12412 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12413 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12416 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12417 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12420 @item :authentication
12421 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12422 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12427 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12428 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12430 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12431 default user name, and default fetcher:
12437 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12440 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12441 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12444 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12447 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12451 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12452 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12453 contains exactly one mail.
12459 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12460 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12463 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12464 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12466 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12467 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12468 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12471 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12472 from locking problems).
12476 Two example maildir mail sources:
12479 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12480 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12484 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12489 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12490 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12491 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12492 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12495 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12496 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12502 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12503 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12506 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12507 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12510 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12514 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12518 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12519 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12520 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12521 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12523 @item :authentication
12524 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12525 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12526 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12527 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12530 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12531 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12532 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12538 The valid format specifier characters are:
12542 The name of the server.
12545 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12548 The port number of the server.
12551 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12552 corresponding keywords.
12555 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12556 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12559 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12560 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12561 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12562 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12563 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12564 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12567 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12568 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12569 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12570 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12573 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12574 after finishing the fetch.
12578 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12581 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12583 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12587 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12588 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12590 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12593 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12594 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12596 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12602 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12603 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12606 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12610 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12614 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12615 folder after finishing the fetch.
12619 An example webmail source:
12622 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12624 :password "secret")
12629 @item Common Keywords
12630 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12636 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12637 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12641 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12646 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12647 useful when you use local mail and news.
12652 @subsubsection Function Interface
12654 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12655 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12656 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12657 consider the following mail-source setting:
12660 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12661 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12664 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12665 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12666 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12667 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12668 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12670 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12673 @node Mail Source Customization
12674 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12676 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12677 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12681 @item mail-source-crash-box
12682 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12683 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12684 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12686 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12687 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12688 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12690 @item mail-source-directory
12691 @vindex mail-source-directory
12692 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12693 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12694 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12697 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12698 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12699 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12700 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12701 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12702 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12704 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12705 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12706 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12708 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12709 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12710 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12711 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12716 @node Fetching Mail
12717 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12719 @vindex mail-sources
12720 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12721 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12722 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12723 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12725 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12726 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12729 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12730 mail server, you'd say something like:
12735 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12736 :password "secret")))
12739 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12743 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12744 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12747 :password "secret")))
12751 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12752 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12753 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12754 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12755 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12756 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12760 @node Mail Back End Variables
12761 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12763 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12767 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12768 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12769 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12770 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12772 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12773 @item nnmail-split-hook
12774 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12775 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12776 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12777 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12778 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12779 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12780 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12781 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12782 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12785 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12786 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12787 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12788 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12789 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12790 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12791 starting to handle the new mail) and
12792 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12793 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12794 default file modes the new mail files get:
12797 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12798 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12800 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12801 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12804 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12805 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12806 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12807 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12808 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12809 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12810 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12812 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12813 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12814 @findex delete-file
12815 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12817 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12818 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12819 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12820 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12821 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12826 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12827 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12828 @cindex mail splitting
12829 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12831 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12832 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12833 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12834 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12835 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12836 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12838 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12841 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12842 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12843 ;; from real errors.
12844 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12846 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12847 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12848 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12849 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12850 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12851 ;; Other mailing lists...
12852 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12853 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12854 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12855 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12856 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12857 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12858 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12859 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12861 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12862 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12866 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12867 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12868 the five possible split syntaxes:
12873 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12874 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12878 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12879 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12880 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12881 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12882 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12883 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12884 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12885 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12888 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12889 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12890 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12891 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12894 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12895 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12898 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12899 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12902 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12903 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12904 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12905 function should return a @var{split}.
12908 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12909 body of the messages:
12912 (defun split-on-body ()
12914 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12915 (goto-char (point-min))
12916 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12920 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12921 when the @code{:} function is run.
12924 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12925 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12926 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12930 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12934 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12935 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12936 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12937 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12938 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12940 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12941 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12942 are expanded as specified by the variable
12943 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12944 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12947 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12948 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12949 when all this splitting is performed.
12951 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12952 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12953 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12956 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12959 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12960 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12962 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12963 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12964 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12965 groupings 1 through 9.
12967 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12968 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12969 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12970 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12971 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12972 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12973 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12974 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12975 it once per thread.
12977 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12978 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12979 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12982 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12983 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12984 ;; other splits go here
12988 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12989 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12990 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12991 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12992 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12993 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12994 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12995 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12996 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12997 unless the group name matches the regexp
12998 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
12999 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13000 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13001 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13002 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13003 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13004 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13005 messages goes into the new group.
13008 @node Group Mail Splitting
13009 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13010 @cindex mail splitting
13011 @cindex group mail splitting
13013 @findex gnus-group-split
13014 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13015 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13016 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13017 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13018 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13019 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13020 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13021 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13023 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13024 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13025 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13026 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13028 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13029 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13030 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13031 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13032 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13033 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13034 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13036 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13037 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13038 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13039 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13040 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13041 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13042 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13044 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13045 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13046 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13047 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13048 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13049 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13050 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13051 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13052 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13053 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13054 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13055 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13056 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13058 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13063 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13064 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13066 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13067 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13068 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13069 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13071 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13074 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13075 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13076 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13079 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13080 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13081 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13085 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13086 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13087 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13091 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13094 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13095 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13096 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13097 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13098 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13099 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13100 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13101 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13102 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13104 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13105 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13106 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13107 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13108 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13109 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13110 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13111 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13112 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13114 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13115 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13116 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13117 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13118 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13119 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13122 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13125 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13126 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13127 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13128 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13129 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13132 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13133 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13134 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13135 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13137 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13138 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13139 @cindex incorporating old mail
13140 @cindex import old mail
13142 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13143 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13144 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13147 Doing so can be quite easy.
13149 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13150 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13151 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13152 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13153 your @code{nnml} groups.
13159 Go to the group buffer.
13162 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13163 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13166 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13169 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13170 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13173 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13174 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13177 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13178 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13179 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13180 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13181 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13183 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13184 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13185 using the new mail back end.
13188 @node Expiring Mail
13189 @subsection Expiring Mail
13190 @cindex article expiry
13192 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13193 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13194 different approach to mail reading.
13196 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13197 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13198 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13199 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13200 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13201 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13204 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13205 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13206 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13207 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13208 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13209 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13210 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13211 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13213 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13214 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13215 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13216 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13217 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13218 column in the summary buffer.
13220 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13221 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13222 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13223 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13226 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13228 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13229 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13230 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13233 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13234 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13235 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13236 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13237 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13239 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13240 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13243 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13244 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13247 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13248 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13250 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13251 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13252 don't really mix very well.
13254 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13255 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13256 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13257 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13260 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13261 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13262 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13263 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13266 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13268 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13270 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13272 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13274 ((string= group "important")
13280 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13281 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13283 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13284 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13285 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13288 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13289 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13291 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13292 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13293 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13294 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13295 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13296 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13297 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13298 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13299 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13300 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13301 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13302 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13303 name or @code{delete}.
13305 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13307 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13310 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13311 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13312 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13313 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13314 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13317 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13318 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13319 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13320 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13321 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13324 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13325 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13326 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13327 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13328 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13329 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13331 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13332 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13333 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13334 easier for procmail users.
13336 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13337 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13338 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13339 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13340 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13341 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13342 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13343 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13344 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13345 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13346 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13347 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13348 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13351 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13353 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13354 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13355 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13356 auto-expire turned on.
13360 @subsection Washing Mail
13361 @cindex mail washing
13362 @cindex list server brain damage
13363 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13365 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13366 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13367 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13368 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13369 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13370 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13372 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13373 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13374 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13377 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13378 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13379 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13380 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13383 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13384 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13385 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13386 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13387 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13390 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13391 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13392 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13393 Emacs running on MS machines.
13397 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13398 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13399 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13400 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13403 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13404 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13405 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13406 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13408 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13409 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13410 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13411 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13412 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13413 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13414 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13417 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13418 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13421 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13422 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13425 This can also be done non-destructively with
13426 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13428 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13429 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13430 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13432 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13433 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13435 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13436 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13437 @code{References} headers.
13441 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13442 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13443 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13447 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13448 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13449 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13456 @subsection Duplicates
13458 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13459 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13460 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13461 @cindex duplicate mails
13462 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13463 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13464 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13465 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13466 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13467 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13468 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13469 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13470 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13471 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13472 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13473 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13474 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13476 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13477 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13478 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13479 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13481 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13484 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13485 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13489 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13490 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13491 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13492 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13493 (any mail "mail.misc")
13500 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13501 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13506 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13507 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13508 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13509 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13510 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13513 @node Not Reading Mail
13514 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13516 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13517 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13518 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13520 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13521 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13522 mail, which should help.
13524 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13525 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13526 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13527 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13528 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13529 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13530 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13531 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13532 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13533 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13534 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13536 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13537 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13541 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13542 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13544 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13545 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13546 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13548 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13549 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13550 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13551 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13554 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13555 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13556 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13557 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13558 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13559 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13563 @node Unix Mail Box
13564 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13566 @cindex unix mail box
13568 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13569 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13570 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13571 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13572 which group it belongs in.
13574 Virtual server settings:
13577 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13578 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13579 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13582 @item nnmbox-active-file
13583 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13584 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13585 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13587 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13588 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13589 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13590 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13595 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13599 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13600 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13601 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13602 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13603 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13605 Virtual server settings:
13608 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13609 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13610 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13612 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13613 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13614 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13615 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13617 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13618 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13619 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13625 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13627 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13629 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13630 format. It should be used with some caution.
13632 @vindex nnml-directory
13633 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13634 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13635 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13636 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13638 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13641 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13642 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13643 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13644 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13645 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13646 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13647 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13648 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13650 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13651 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13652 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13653 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13655 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13656 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13657 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13658 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13659 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13660 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13661 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13662 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13663 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13666 Virtual server settings:
13669 @item nnml-directory
13670 @vindex nnml-directory
13671 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13672 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13675 @item nnml-active-file
13676 @vindex nnml-active-file
13677 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13678 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13680 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13681 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13682 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13683 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13685 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13686 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13687 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13690 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13691 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13692 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13693 default is @code{nil}.
13695 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13696 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13697 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13699 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13700 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13701 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13703 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13704 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13705 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13706 default is @code{nil}.
13708 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13709 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13710 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13714 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13715 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13716 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13717 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13718 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13719 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13720 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13725 @subsubsection MH Spool
13727 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13729 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13730 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13731 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13732 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13734 Virtual server settings:
13737 @item nnmh-directory
13738 @vindex nnmh-directory
13739 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13740 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13743 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13744 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13745 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13749 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13750 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13751 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13752 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13753 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13754 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13755 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13760 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13762 @cindex mbox folders
13763 @cindex mail folders
13765 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13766 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13767 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13770 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13771 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13772 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13773 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13774 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13775 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13776 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13777 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13778 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13779 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13780 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13782 Virtual server settings:
13785 @item nnfolder-directory
13786 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13787 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13788 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13791 @item nnfolder-active-file
13792 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13793 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13795 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13796 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13797 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13798 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13800 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13801 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13802 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13805 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13806 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13807 @cindex backup files
13808 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13809 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13810 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13811 your @file{.emacs} file:
13814 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13815 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13817 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13820 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13821 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13822 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13823 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13824 extract some information from it before removing it.
13826 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13827 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13828 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13829 default is @code{nil}.
13831 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13832 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13833 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13835 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13836 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13837 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13838 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13840 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13841 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13842 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13843 default is @code{nil}.
13845 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13846 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13847 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13849 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13850 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13851 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13852 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13857 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13858 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13859 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13860 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13861 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13862 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13865 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13866 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13868 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13869 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13870 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13871 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13872 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13874 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13875 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13876 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13877 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13878 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13879 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13880 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13881 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13884 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13885 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13886 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13887 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13892 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13893 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13894 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13895 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13896 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13897 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13898 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13899 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13900 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13901 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13902 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13903 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13904 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13909 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13910 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13911 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13912 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13913 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13914 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13915 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13916 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13917 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13918 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13919 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13920 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13921 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13922 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13924 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13925 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13930 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13931 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13932 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13933 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13934 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13935 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13936 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13937 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13938 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13939 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13940 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13941 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13942 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13943 provided by the active file and overviews.
13945 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13946 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13947 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13948 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13949 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13952 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13953 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13958 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13959 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13960 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13961 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13962 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13963 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13964 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13968 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13969 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13970 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13971 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13972 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13973 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13974 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13975 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13976 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13978 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13979 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13980 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13981 friendly mail back end all over.
13986 @node Browsing the Web
13987 @section Browsing the Web
13989 @cindex browsing the web
13993 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13994 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13995 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13996 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13997 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13998 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13999 even know what a news group is.
14001 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14002 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14003 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14004 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14005 you mad in the end.
14007 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14010 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14011 interfaces to these sources.
14015 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14016 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14017 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14018 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14019 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14020 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14023 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14025 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14026 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14027 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14028 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14029 though, you should be ok.
14031 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14032 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14033 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14034 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14035 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14037 @node Archiving Mail
14038 @subsection Archiving Mail
14039 @cindex archiving mail
14040 @cindex backup of mail
14042 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
14043 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
14044 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
14046 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14047 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
14050 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
14051 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
14052 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
14053 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
14054 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
14055 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
14056 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
14059 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
14060 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
14061 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
14062 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
14063 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
14064 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
14065 notice the new directory.
14068 @subsection Web Searches
14072 @cindex InReference
14073 @cindex Usenet searches
14074 @cindex searching the Usenet
14076 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14077 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14078 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14079 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14080 searches without having to use a browser.
14082 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14083 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14084 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14085 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14086 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14088 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14089 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14090 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14091 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14092 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14093 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14094 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14095 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14096 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14097 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14100 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14101 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14102 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14103 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14104 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14105 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14107 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14108 to use @code{nnweb}.
14110 Virtual server variables:
14115 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14116 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
14120 @vindex nnweb-search
14121 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14123 @item nnweb-max-hits
14124 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14125 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14128 @item nnweb-type-definition
14129 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14130 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14131 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14136 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14140 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14143 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14146 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14150 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14157 @subsection Slashdot
14161 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14162 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14163 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14165 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14166 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14169 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14170 '((nnslashdot "")))
14173 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14174 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14175 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14176 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14177 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14180 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14181 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14183 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14184 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14185 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14186 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14187 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14188 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14191 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14194 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14195 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14196 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14197 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14198 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14199 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14200 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14202 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14203 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14204 The login name to use when posting.
14206 @item nnslashdot-password
14207 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14208 The password to use when posting.
14210 @item nnslashdot-directory
14211 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14212 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14213 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14215 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14216 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14217 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14218 news articles and comments. The default is
14219 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14221 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14222 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14223 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14225 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14227 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14228 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14229 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14231 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14233 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14234 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14235 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14237 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14238 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14239 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14240 updated. The default is 0.
14247 @subsection Ultimate
14249 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14251 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14252 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14253 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14254 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14256 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14257 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14258 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14259 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14260 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14261 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14262 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14264 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14267 @item nnultimate-directory
14268 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14269 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14270 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14275 @subsection Web Archive
14277 @cindex Web Archive
14279 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14280 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14281 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14282 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14285 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14286 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14287 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14288 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14289 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14290 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14291 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14293 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14296 @item nnwarchive-directory
14297 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14298 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14299 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14301 @item nnwarchive-login
14302 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14303 The account name on the web server.
14305 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14306 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14307 The password for your account on the web server.
14315 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14316 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14317 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14320 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14321 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14324 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14327 @item nnrss-directory
14328 @vindex nnrss-directory
14329 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14330 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14334 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14335 the summary buffer.
14338 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14339 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14341 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14343 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14344 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14347 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14350 (require 'browse-url)
14352 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14354 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14357 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14358 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14360 (browse-url (cdr url))
14361 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14363 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14364 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14365 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14366 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14369 @node Customizing w3
14370 @subsection Customizing w3
14376 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14377 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14378 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14380 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14381 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14382 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14385 (eval-after-load "w3"
14387 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14388 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14389 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14390 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14392 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14395 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14396 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14405 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14406 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14407 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14408 specify the network address of the server.
14410 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14411 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14412 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14413 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14414 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14416 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14417 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14418 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14419 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14421 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14422 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14423 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14424 usage explained in this section.
14426 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14427 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14428 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14431 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14432 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14433 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14435 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14436 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14437 ; a UW server running on localhost
14439 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14440 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14441 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14442 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14443 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14444 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14445 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14446 (nnimap-stream network))
14447 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14449 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14450 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14451 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14454 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14459 @item nnimap-address
14460 @vindex nnimap-address
14462 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14463 server name if not specified.
14465 @item nnimap-server-port
14466 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14467 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14469 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14472 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14473 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14476 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14477 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14478 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14479 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14480 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14481 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14482 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14484 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14485 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14486 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14489 Example server specification:
14492 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14493 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14494 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14497 @item nnimap-stream
14498 @vindex nnimap-stream
14499 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14500 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14501 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14502 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14504 Example server specification:
14507 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14508 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14511 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14515 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
14516 @samp{imtest} program.
14518 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14520 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14521 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14524 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14525 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14526 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14528 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14530 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14533 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14534 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14535 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14536 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14537 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14538 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14539 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14540 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14541 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14544 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14545 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14546 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14547 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14548 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14549 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14550 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14551 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14552 distribution, for instance).
14554 @vindex imap-shell-program
14555 @vindex imap-shell-host
14556 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14557 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14559 @item nnimap-authenticator
14560 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14562 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14563 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14565 Example server specification:
14568 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14569 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14572 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14576 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
14577 external program @code{imtest}.
14579 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
14582 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
14583 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14585 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14587 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14589 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14592 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14594 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14595 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14596 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14597 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14598 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14599 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14602 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14603 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14604 running in circles yet?
14606 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14607 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14610 The possible options are:
14615 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14618 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14619 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14620 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14621 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14623 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14628 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14629 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14631 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14632 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14633 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14634 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14635 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14637 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14638 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14641 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14642 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14643 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14644 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14647 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14648 as ticked for other users.
14650 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14652 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14654 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14655 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14656 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14657 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14659 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14660 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14661 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14662 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14664 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14665 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14667 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14668 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14669 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14675 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14676 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14677 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14682 @node Splitting in IMAP
14683 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14684 @cindex splitting imap mail
14686 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14687 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14688 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14689 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14690 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14694 Here are the variables of interest:
14698 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14699 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14701 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14703 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14704 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14706 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14708 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14709 @cindex splitting, inbox
14711 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14713 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14714 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14718 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14719 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14722 No nnmail equivalent.
14724 @item nnimap-split-rule
14725 @cindex Splitting, rules
14726 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14728 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14731 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14732 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14733 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14734 Neither did I, we need examples.
14737 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14739 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14740 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14741 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14744 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14745 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14746 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14748 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14749 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14753 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14756 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14757 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14758 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14759 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14761 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14762 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14763 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14764 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14765 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14766 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14768 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14769 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14770 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14772 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14773 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14774 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14776 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
14778 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14779 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14780 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14783 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14784 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14785 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14786 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14787 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14788 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14791 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14792 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14793 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14794 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14795 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14796 group/function elements.
14798 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14800 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14802 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14804 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14805 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14807 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14808 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14809 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14812 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14813 @cindex splitting, fancy
14814 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14815 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14817 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14818 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14819 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14821 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14822 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14823 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14824 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14829 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14830 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14833 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14837 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14838 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14839 @cindex editing imap acls
14840 @cindex Access Control Lists
14841 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14843 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14845 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14846 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14847 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14850 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14851 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14852 editing window with detailed instructions.
14854 Some possible uses:
14858 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14859 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14860 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14862 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14863 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14864 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14868 @node Expunging mailboxes
14869 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14873 @cindex Manual expunging
14875 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14877 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14878 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14879 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14881 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14886 @node Other Sources
14887 @section Other Sources
14889 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14890 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14894 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14895 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14896 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14897 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14898 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14902 @node Directory Groups
14903 @subsection Directory Groups
14905 @cindex directory groups
14907 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14908 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14911 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14912 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14913 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14914 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14916 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14917 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14918 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14919 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14920 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14922 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14924 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14925 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14926 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14927 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14930 @node Anything Groups
14931 @subsection Anything Groups
14934 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14935 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14936 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14939 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14940 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14941 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14942 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14943 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14944 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14945 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14946 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14947 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14948 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14951 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14952 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14953 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14954 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14956 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14957 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14958 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14959 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14961 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14962 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14963 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14964 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14965 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14966 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14967 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14968 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14973 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14974 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14975 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14976 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14978 @item nneething-exclude-files
14979 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14980 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14981 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14983 @item nneething-include-files
14984 @vindex nneething-include-files
14985 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14986 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14988 @item nneething-map-file
14989 @vindex nneething-map-file
14990 Name of the map files.
14994 @node Document Groups
14995 @subsection Document Groups
14997 @cindex documentation group
15000 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15001 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15008 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15013 The standard Unix mbox file.
15015 @cindex MMDF mail box
15017 The MMDF mail box format.
15020 Several news articles appended into a file.
15023 @cindex rnews batch files
15024 The rnews batch transport format.
15025 @cindex forwarded messages
15028 Forwarded articles.
15031 Netscape mail boxes.
15034 MIME multipart messages.
15036 @item standard-digest
15037 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15040 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15043 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15044 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15045 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15048 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15049 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15050 group. And that's it.
15052 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15053 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15054 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15055 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15056 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15057 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15058 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15059 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15060 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15061 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15063 Virtual server variables:
15066 @item nndoc-article-type
15067 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15068 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15069 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15070 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15071 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
15072 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
15074 @item nndoc-post-type
15075 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15076 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15077 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15082 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15086 @node Document Server Internals
15087 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15089 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15090 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15091 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15092 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15094 First, here's an example document type definition:
15098 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15099 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15102 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15103 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15104 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15105 types can be defined with very few settings:
15108 @item first-article
15109 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15110 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15113 @item article-begin
15114 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15115 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15117 @item head-begin-function
15118 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15121 @item nndoc-head-begin
15122 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15125 @item nndoc-head-end
15126 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15127 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15129 @item body-begin-function
15130 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15134 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15137 @item body-end-function
15138 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15142 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15145 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15146 regexp will be totally ignored.
15150 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15151 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15152 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15153 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15154 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15157 @item prepare-body-function
15158 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15159 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15160 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15162 @item article-transform-function
15163 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15164 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15165 body of the article.
15167 @item generate-head-function
15168 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15169 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15170 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15171 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15175 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15180 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15181 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15182 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15183 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15184 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15185 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15186 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15187 (subtype digest guess))
15190 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15191 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15192 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15193 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15194 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15196 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15197 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15198 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15199 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15200 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15201 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15202 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15203 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15204 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15205 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15213 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15214 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15215 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15217 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15218 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15219 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15222 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15223 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15224 that interested in doing things properly.
15226 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15227 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15230 First some terminology:
15235 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15236 get news and/or mail from.
15239 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15240 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15243 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15247 @item message packets
15248 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15249 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15250 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15252 @item response packets
15253 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15254 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15255 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15265 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15266 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15267 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15268 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15271 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15274 You put the packet in your home directory.
15277 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15278 the native or secondary server.
15281 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15282 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15285 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15289 You transfer this packet to the server.
15292 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15295 You then repeat until you die.
15299 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15300 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15303 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15304 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15305 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15309 @node SOUP Commands
15310 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15312 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15316 @kindex G s b (Group)
15317 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15318 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15319 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15320 process/prefix convention.
15323 @kindex G s w (Group)
15324 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15325 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15328 @kindex G s s (Group)
15329 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15330 Send all replies from the replies packet
15331 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15334 @kindex G s p (Group)
15335 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15336 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15339 @kindex G s r (Group)
15340 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15341 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15344 @kindex O s (Summary)
15345 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15346 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15347 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15348 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15353 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15358 @item gnus-soup-directory
15359 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15360 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15361 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15363 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15364 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15365 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15366 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15368 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15369 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15370 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15371 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15373 @item gnus-soup-packer
15374 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15375 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15376 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15378 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15379 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15380 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15381 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15383 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15384 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15385 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15387 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15388 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15389 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15390 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15396 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15399 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15400 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15401 you can read them at leisure.
15403 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15407 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15408 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15409 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15410 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15412 @item nnsoup-directory
15413 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15414 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15415 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15417 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15418 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15419 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15420 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15422 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15423 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15424 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15425 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15426 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15428 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15429 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15430 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15431 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15433 @item nnsoup-active-file
15434 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15435 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15436 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15437 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15438 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15440 @item nnsoup-packer
15441 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15442 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15443 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15445 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15446 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15447 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15448 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15450 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15451 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15452 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15455 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15456 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15457 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15460 @item nnsoup-always-save
15461 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15462 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15468 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15470 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15471 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15472 more for that to happen.
15474 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15475 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15476 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15479 In specific, this is what it does:
15482 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15483 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15486 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15487 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15488 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15491 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15492 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15493 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15496 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15497 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15498 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15500 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15506 @item nngateway-address
15507 @vindex nngateway-address
15508 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15510 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15511 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15512 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15513 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15514 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15515 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15516 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15519 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15520 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15521 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15524 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15527 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15530 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15533 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15535 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15538 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15539 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15540 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15542 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15544 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15545 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15546 @code{nngateway-address}.
15551 (setq gnus-post-method
15553 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15554 (nngateway-header-transformation
15555 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15563 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15566 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15571 @node Combined Groups
15572 @section Combined Groups
15574 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15578 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15579 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15583 @node Virtual Groups
15584 @subsection Virtual Groups
15586 @cindex virtual groups
15587 @cindex merging groups
15589 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15592 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15593 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15594 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15596 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15597 regexp to match component groups.
15599 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15600 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15601 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15602 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15603 the virtual group.)
15605 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15606 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15609 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15612 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15613 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15615 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15616 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15617 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15618 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15621 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15624 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15625 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15626 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15628 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15629 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15630 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15631 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15632 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15634 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15635 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15636 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15638 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15639 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15640 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15641 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15642 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15643 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15644 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15645 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15646 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15647 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15648 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15650 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15651 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15652 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15653 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15654 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15655 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15656 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15658 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15659 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15661 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
15662 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
15666 @node Kibozed Groups
15667 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15671 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15672 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15673 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15674 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15676 @kindex G k (Group)
15677 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15680 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15681 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15682 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15683 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15685 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15686 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15687 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15689 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15690 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15691 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15692 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15693 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15694 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15695 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15696 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15698 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15699 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15700 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15701 Stranger things have happened.
15703 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15704 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15706 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15707 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15708 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15709 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15710 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15711 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15713 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15714 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15717 @node Gnus Unplugged
15718 @section Gnus Unplugged
15723 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15725 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15726 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15727 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15728 read news. Believe it or not.
15730 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15731 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15732 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15733 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15734 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15736 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15737 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15738 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15739 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15740 reading news on a machine.
15742 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15746 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15747 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15751 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15752 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15759 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15761 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15764 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15765 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15766 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15767 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15768 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15769 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15770 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15771 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15772 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15773 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15778 @subsection Agent Basics
15780 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15782 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15783 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15784 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15785 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15787 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15788 connected to the net continuously.
15790 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15791 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15793 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15798 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15799 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15800 already fetched while in this mode.
15803 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15804 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15805 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15806 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15807 Source Specifiers}).
15810 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15811 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15812 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15813 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15814 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15817 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15818 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15819 then you read the news offline.
15822 And then you go to step 2.
15825 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15831 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15832 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15833 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15834 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15835 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15836 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15839 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15846 @node Agent Categories
15847 @subsection Agent Categories
15849 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15850 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15851 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15852 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15853 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15854 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15855 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15857 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15858 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15859 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15860 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15861 managing categories.
15864 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15865 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15866 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15870 @node Category Syntax
15871 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15873 A category consists of two things.
15877 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15878 are eligible for downloading; and
15881 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15882 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15883 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15886 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15887 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15888 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15889 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15891 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15892 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15893 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15895 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15896 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15897 operators sprinkled in between.
15899 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15901 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15902 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15908 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15909 short (for some value of ``short'').
15911 Here's a more complex predicate:
15920 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15921 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15924 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15925 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15926 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15928 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15929 you want to do, you can write your own.
15933 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15934 lines; default 100.
15937 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15938 lines; default 200.
15941 True iff the article has a download score less than
15942 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15945 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15946 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15949 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15950 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15951 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15960 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15961 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15962 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15965 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15966 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15967 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15968 something along the lines of the following:
15971 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15972 "Say whether an article is old."
15973 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15974 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15977 with the predicate then defined as:
15980 (not my-article-old-p)
15983 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15984 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15985 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15986 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15989 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15990 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15991 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15994 and simply specify your predicate as:
16000 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16001 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16002 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16003 just don't give a damn.
16005 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16006 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16007 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16008 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16009 parameters like so:
16012 (agent-predicate . short)
16015 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16016 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16017 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16019 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16022 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16025 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16026 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16027 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16030 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16031 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16032 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16033 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16034 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16035 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16037 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16038 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16039 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16040 if it's to be specific to that group.
16042 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16049 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16050 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16056 Category specification
16060 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16066 Group Parameter specification
16069 (agent-score ("from"
16070 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16075 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16081 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16088 Category specification
16091 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16097 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16101 Group Parameter specification
16104 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16107 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16112 Use @code{normal} score files
16114 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16115 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16116 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16117 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16119 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16120 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16121 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16122 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16126 Category Specification
16133 Group Parameter specification
16136 (agent-score . file)
16141 @node Category Buffer
16142 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16144 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16145 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16146 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16148 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16152 @kindex q (Category)
16153 @findex gnus-category-exit
16154 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16157 @kindex k (Category)
16158 @findex gnus-category-kill
16159 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16162 @kindex c (Category)
16163 @findex gnus-category-copy
16164 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16167 @kindex a (Category)
16168 @findex gnus-category-add
16169 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16172 @kindex p (Category)
16173 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16174 Edit the predicate of the current category
16175 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16178 @kindex g (Category)
16179 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16180 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16181 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16184 @kindex s (Category)
16185 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16186 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16187 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16190 @kindex l (Category)
16191 @findex gnus-category-list
16192 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16196 @node Category Variables
16197 @subsubsection Category Variables
16200 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16201 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16202 Hook run in category buffers.
16204 @item gnus-category-line-format
16205 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16206 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16207 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16211 The name of the category.
16214 The number of groups in the category.
16217 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16218 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16219 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16221 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16222 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16223 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16225 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16226 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16227 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16229 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16230 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16231 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16234 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16235 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16236 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16242 @node Agent Commands
16243 @subsection Agent Commands
16245 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16246 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16247 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16251 * Group Agent Commands::
16252 * Summary Agent Commands::
16253 * Server Agent Commands::
16256 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
16257 following incantation:
16259 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16261 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16266 @node Group Agent Commands
16267 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16271 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16272 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16273 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16274 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16277 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16278 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16279 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16282 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16283 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16284 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16285 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16288 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16289 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16290 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16291 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16294 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16295 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16296 Add the current group to an Agent category
16297 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16298 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16301 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16302 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16303 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16304 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16305 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16308 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16309 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16310 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16316 @node Summary Agent Commands
16317 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16321 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16322 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16323 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16326 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16327 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16328 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16329 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16332 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16333 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16334 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16337 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16338 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16339 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16342 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16343 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16344 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16345 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16350 @node Server Agent Commands
16351 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16355 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16356 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16357 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16358 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16361 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16362 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16363 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16364 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16370 @subsection Agent Expiry
16372 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16373 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16374 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16375 @cindex Agent expiry
16376 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16379 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16380 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16381 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16382 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16383 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16384 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16386 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16387 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16388 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16389 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16390 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16393 @node Agent and IMAP
16394 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16396 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16397 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16398 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16399 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16401 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16402 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16403 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16404 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16406 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16407 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16408 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16409 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16410 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16412 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16413 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16414 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16415 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16416 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16417 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16419 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16420 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16421 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16422 in the group buffer by default.
16424 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16425 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16430 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16433 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16437 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16438 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16439 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16440 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16441 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16442 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16443 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16444 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16447 @node Outgoing Messages
16448 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16450 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16451 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16452 after posting, and edit them at will.
16454 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16455 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16456 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16457 messages in the draft group.
16461 @node Agent Variables
16462 @subsection Agent Variables
16465 @item gnus-agent-directory
16466 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16467 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16468 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16470 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16471 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16472 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16473 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16474 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16477 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16478 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16479 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16481 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16482 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16483 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16485 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16486 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16487 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
16492 @node Example Setup
16493 @subsection Example Setup
16495 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16496 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16497 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16500 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16501 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16502 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16504 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16505 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16506 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16508 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16509 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16511 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16515 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16516 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16519 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16520 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16521 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16522 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16523 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16526 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16527 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16528 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16529 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16530 back all the killed groups.)
16532 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16533 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16534 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16537 @node Batching Agents
16538 @subsection Batching Agents
16540 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16541 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16542 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16546 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16550 @node Agent Caveats
16551 @subsection Agent Caveats
16553 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16554 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16558 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16563 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16564 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16570 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16571 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16578 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16579 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16580 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16583 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16584 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16585 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16586 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16587 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16589 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16590 before generating the summary buffer.
16592 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16593 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16594 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16596 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16597 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16598 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16599 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16602 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16603 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16604 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16605 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16606 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16607 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16608 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16609 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16610 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16611 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16612 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16613 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16614 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16615 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16616 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16617 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16618 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16622 @node Summary Score Commands
16623 @section Summary Score Commands
16624 @cindex score commands
16626 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16627 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16628 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16629 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16630 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16632 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16633 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16634 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16635 score file the current one.
16637 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16642 @kindex V s (Summary)
16643 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16644 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16647 @kindex V S (Summary)
16648 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16649 Display the score of the current article
16650 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16653 @kindex V t (Summary)
16654 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16655 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16656 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16659 @kindex V R (Summary)
16660 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16661 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16662 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16663 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16664 effect you're having.
16667 @kindex V c (Summary)
16668 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16669 Make a different score file the current
16670 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16673 @kindex V e (Summary)
16674 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16675 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16676 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16680 @kindex V f (Summary)
16681 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16682 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16683 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16686 @kindex V F (Summary)
16687 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16688 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16689 after editing score files.
16692 @kindex V C (Summary)
16693 @findex gnus-score-customize
16694 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16695 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16699 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16704 @kindex V m (Summary)
16705 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16706 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16707 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16710 @kindex V x (Summary)
16711 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16712 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16713 expunge all articles below this score
16714 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16717 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16718 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16721 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16722 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16726 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16727 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16729 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16730 keys are available:
16734 Score on the author name.
16737 Score on the subject line.
16740 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16743 Score on the @code{References} line.
16749 Score on the number of lines.
16752 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16755 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16756 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16757 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16766 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16772 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16773 what headers you are scoring on.
16785 Substring matching.
16788 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16817 Greater than number.
16822 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16823 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16824 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16828 Temporary score entry.
16831 Permanent score entry.
16834 Immediately scoring.
16839 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16840 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16841 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16842 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16844 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16845 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16846 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16847 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16848 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16850 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16851 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16852 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16853 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16854 current score file.
16856 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16857 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16858 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16861 @node Group Score Commands
16862 @section Group Score Commands
16863 @cindex group score commands
16865 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16870 @kindex W f (Group)
16871 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16872 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16873 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16874 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16878 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16880 @findex gnus-batch-score
16881 @cindex batch scoring
16883 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16887 @node Score Variables
16888 @section Score Variables
16889 @cindex score variables
16893 @item gnus-use-scoring
16894 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16895 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16896 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16898 @item gnus-kill-killed
16899 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16900 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16901 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16902 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16903 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16904 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16905 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16907 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16908 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16909 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16910 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16911 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16913 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16914 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16915 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16916 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16918 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16919 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16920 @cindex score cache
16921 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16922 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16923 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
16924 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16925 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16926 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16929 @item gnus-save-score
16930 @vindex gnus-save-score
16931 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16932 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16933 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16935 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16936 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16937 across group visits.
16939 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16940 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16941 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16942 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16943 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16944 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16945 manually entered data.
16947 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16948 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16949 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16951 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16952 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16953 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16954 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16955 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16956 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16958 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16959 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16960 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16961 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16963 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16964 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16965 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16966 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16968 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16969 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16970 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16971 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16973 Predefined functions available are:
16976 @item gnus-score-find-single
16977 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16978 Only apply the group's own score file.
16980 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16981 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16982 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16983 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16984 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16985 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16986 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16987 then a regexp match is done.
16989 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16990 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16992 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16993 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16994 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16995 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16997 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16998 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16999 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17000 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17001 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17005 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17006 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17007 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17008 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17009 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17010 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17011 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17014 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17015 overall score file, you could use the value
17017 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17018 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17021 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17022 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17023 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17024 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17025 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17027 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17028 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17029 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
17030 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
17031 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
17032 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
17033 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
17036 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17037 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17038 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17040 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17041 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17042 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17043 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17044 threading---according to the current value of
17045 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17046 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17047 simplified in this manner.
17052 @node Score File Format
17053 @section Score File Format
17054 @cindex score file format
17056 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17057 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17058 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17060 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17064 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17066 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17068 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17070 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17075 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17079 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17080 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17081 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17082 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17086 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17087 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17089 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17090 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17091 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17093 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17098 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17099 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17100 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17101 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17102 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17103 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17104 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17105 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17106 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17107 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17108 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17109 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17110 to articles that matches these score entries.
17112 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17113 score entry has one to four elements.
17117 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17118 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17122 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17123 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17124 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17125 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17126 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17127 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17130 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17131 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17132 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17133 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17134 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17137 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17138 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17139 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17140 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17143 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17144 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17145 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17146 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17147 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17148 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17149 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17150 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17151 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17152 instead, if you feel like.
17155 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17156 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17158 These predicates are true if
17161 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17164 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17165 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17172 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17173 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17174 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17175 it's not. I think.)
17177 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17178 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17179 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17180 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17183 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17184 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17185 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17186 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17187 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17188 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17189 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17193 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17194 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17195 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17196 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17197 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17198 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17199 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17200 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17203 @item Head, Body, All
17204 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17208 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17209 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17210 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17211 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17212 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17213 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17214 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17218 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17219 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17220 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17221 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17222 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17223 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17224 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17225 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17226 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17227 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17228 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17232 @cindex Score File Atoms
17234 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17235 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17238 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17239 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17241 @item mark-and-expunge
17242 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17243 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17246 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17247 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17248 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17249 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17250 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17253 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17254 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17257 @item exclude-files
17258 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17259 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17263 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17264 ignored when handling global score files.
17267 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17268 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17269 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17270 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17273 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17274 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17275 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17276 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17278 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17282 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17285 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17286 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17287 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17288 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17289 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17291 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17292 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17293 scoring rules exist.
17296 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17297 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17298 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17299 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17300 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17301 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17302 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17303 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17304 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17305 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17306 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17310 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17311 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17312 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17313 file for a number of groups.
17316 @cindex local variables
17317 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17318 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17319 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17320 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17321 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17325 @node Score File Editing
17326 @section Score File Editing
17328 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17329 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17330 with a mode for that.
17332 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17333 additional commands:
17338 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17339 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17340 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17341 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17344 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17345 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17346 Insert the current date in numerical format
17347 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17348 you were wondering.
17351 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17352 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17353 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17354 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17355 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17360 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17362 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17363 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17365 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17366 e} to begin editing score files.
17369 @node Adaptive Scoring
17370 @section Adaptive Scoring
17371 @cindex adaptive scoring
17373 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17374 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17375 stupidity, to be precise.
17377 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17378 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17379 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17380 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17381 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17382 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17383 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17384 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17385 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17387 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17388 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17389 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17390 might look something like this:
17393 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17394 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17395 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17396 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17397 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17398 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17399 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17400 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17401 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17402 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17403 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17404 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17407 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17408 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17409 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17410 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17411 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17412 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17415 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17416 will be applied to each article.
17418 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17419 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17420 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17421 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17423 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17424 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17425 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17426 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17428 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17429 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17430 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17431 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17433 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17434 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17435 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17436 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17437 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17438 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17440 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17441 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17442 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17443 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17444 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17445 aspirins afterwards.)
17447 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17448 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17449 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17451 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17452 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17453 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17455 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17456 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17457 let you use different rules in different groups.
17459 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17460 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17461 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17464 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17465 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17466 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17467 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17468 the length of the match is less than
17469 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17470 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17473 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17474 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17475 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17476 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17477 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17480 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17481 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17482 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17483 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17484 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17487 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17488 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17489 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17490 score with 30 points.
17492 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17493 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17494 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17495 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17496 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17498 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17499 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17500 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17501 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17502 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17504 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17505 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17506 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17507 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17509 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17510 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17511 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17512 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17514 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17515 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17516 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17517 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17518 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17520 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17521 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17522 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17524 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17525 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17526 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17527 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17530 @node Home Score File
17531 @section Home Score File
17533 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17534 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17535 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17536 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17538 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17539 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17540 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17542 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17543 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17548 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17552 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17553 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17557 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17561 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17562 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17565 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17566 the home score file.
17569 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17572 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17577 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17580 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17581 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17584 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17585 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17587 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17589 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17590 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17593 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17594 Other functions include
17597 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17598 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17599 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17600 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17604 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17605 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17606 their own home score files:
17609 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17610 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17611 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17612 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17613 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17616 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17617 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17618 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17619 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17620 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17622 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17623 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17624 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17625 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17626 precedence over this variable.
17629 @node Followups To Yourself
17630 @section Followups To Yourself
17632 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17633 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17634 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17635 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17636 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17637 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17641 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17642 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17643 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17646 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17647 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17648 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17652 @vindex message-sent-hook
17653 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17654 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17656 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17660 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17661 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17665 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17666 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17669 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17670 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17675 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17679 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17680 is system-dependent.
17683 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17684 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17685 @cindex scoring on other headers
17687 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17688 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17689 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17690 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17691 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17693 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17694 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17695 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17696 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17697 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17699 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17702 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17703 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17706 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17707 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17708 time if you have much mail.
17710 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17711 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17717 @section Scoring Tips
17718 @cindex scoring tips
17724 @cindex scoring crossposts
17725 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17726 the @code{Xref} header.
17728 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17731 @item Multiple crossposts
17732 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17733 more than, say, 3 groups:
17736 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17740 @item Matching on the body
17741 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17742 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17743 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17744 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17745 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17746 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17747 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17750 @item Marking as read
17751 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17752 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17753 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17757 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17759 @item Negated character classes
17760 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17761 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17762 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17766 @node Reverse Scoring
17767 @section Reverse Scoring
17768 @cindex reverse scoring
17770 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17771 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17772 like this in your score file:
17776 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17781 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17782 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17785 @node Global Score Files
17786 @section Global Score Files
17787 @cindex global score files
17789 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17790 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17791 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17793 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17794 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17795 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17797 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17798 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17799 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17800 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17801 files are applicable to which group.
17803 To use the score file
17804 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17805 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17809 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17810 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17811 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17814 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17816 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17817 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17818 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17819 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17821 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17822 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17824 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17825 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17826 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17827 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17828 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17829 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17831 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17837 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17839 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17841 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17843 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17844 lowered out of existence.
17846 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17847 articles completely.
17850 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17851 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17852 old articles for a long time.
17855 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17856 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17857 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17858 holding our breath yet?
17862 @section Kill Files
17865 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17866 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17867 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17869 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17870 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17871 files into score files.
17873 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17874 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17875 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17876 that isn't a very good idea.
17878 Normal kill files look like this:
17881 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17882 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17886 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17887 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17889 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17890 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17893 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17898 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17899 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17900 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17903 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17904 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17905 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17908 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17913 @kindex M-k (Group)
17914 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17915 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17918 @kindex M-K (Group)
17919 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17920 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17923 Kill file variables:
17926 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17927 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17928 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17929 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17930 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17931 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17932 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17934 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17935 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17936 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17937 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17940 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17941 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17942 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17943 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17944 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17945 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17946 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17947 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17948 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17950 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17951 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17952 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17957 @node Converting Kill Files
17958 @section Converting Kill Files
17960 @cindex converting kill files
17962 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17963 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17964 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17967 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17968 You can fetch it from
17969 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17971 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17972 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17973 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17981 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17982 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17983 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17984 news articles generated every day.
17986 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17987 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17988 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17989 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17990 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17991 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17992 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17993 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17996 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
17997 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18000 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18001 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18002 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18003 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18007 @node Using GroupLens
18008 @subsection Using GroupLens
18010 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18012 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18013 better bit in town at the moment.
18015 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18019 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18020 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18021 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18022 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18024 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18025 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18026 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18027 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18029 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18030 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18031 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18035 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18036 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18037 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18038 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18039 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18040 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18043 @node Rating Articles
18044 @subsection Rating Articles
18046 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18047 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18048 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18049 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18052 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18057 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18058 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18059 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18062 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18063 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18064 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18065 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18066 threads in rec.humor.
18070 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18071 the score of the article you're reading.
18076 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18077 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18078 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18081 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18082 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18083 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18087 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18088 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18091 @node Displaying Predictions
18092 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18094 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18095 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18096 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18097 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18098 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18100 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18101 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18102 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18103 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18104 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18105 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18106 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18107 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18108 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18109 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18110 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18111 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18112 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18114 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18115 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18116 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18117 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18119 The following are valid values for that variable.
18122 @item prediction-spot
18123 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18126 @item confidence-interval
18127 A numeric confidence interval.
18129 @item prediction-bar
18130 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18132 @item confidence-bar
18133 Numerical confidence.
18135 @item confidence-spot
18136 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18138 @item prediction-num
18139 Plain-old numeric value.
18141 @item confidence-plus-minus
18142 Prediction +/- confidence.
18147 @node GroupLens Variables
18148 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18152 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18153 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18154 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18155 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18158 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18159 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18162 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18163 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18165 @item grouplens-score-offset
18166 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18167 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18170 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18171 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18172 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18177 @node Advanced Scoring
18178 @section Advanced Scoring
18180 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18181 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18182 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18183 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18184 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18186 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18190 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18191 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18192 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18196 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18197 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18199 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18200 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18201 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18202 non-@code{nil} value.
18204 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18205 operator, and various match operators.
18212 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18213 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18214 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18219 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18220 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18221 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18226 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18227 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18231 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18232 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18233 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18234 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18235 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18236 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18237 the ancestry you want to go.
18239 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18240 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18241 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18242 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18243 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18246 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18247 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18249 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18250 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18253 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18254 when he's talking about Gnus:
18258 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18259 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18265 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18269 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18276 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18277 really don't want to read what he's written:
18281 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18282 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18286 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18287 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18288 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18295 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18296 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18297 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18298 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18302 The possibilities are endless.
18305 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18306 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18308 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18309 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18310 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18311 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18312 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18313 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18314 @samp{subject}) first.
18316 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18317 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18328 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18329 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18335 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18342 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18343 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18348 @section Score Decays
18349 @cindex score decays
18352 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18353 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18354 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18355 use them in any sensible way.
18357 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18358 @findex gnus-decay-score
18359 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18360 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18361 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18362 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18363 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18364 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18365 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18366 definition of that function:
18369 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18371 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18372 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18375 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18377 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18379 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18382 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18383 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18384 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18385 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18389 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18392 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18395 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18399 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18400 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18401 the new score, which should be an integer.
18403 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18404 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18409 @include message.texi
18410 @chapter Emacs MIME
18411 @include emacs-mime.texi
18413 @include sieve.texi
18421 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18422 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18423 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18424 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18425 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18426 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18427 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18428 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18429 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18430 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18431 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18432 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18433 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18434 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
18435 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18436 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18437 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18438 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18439 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18443 @node Process/Prefix
18444 @section Process/Prefix
18445 @cindex process/prefix convention
18447 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18448 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18450 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18451 command to be performed on.
18455 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18456 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18457 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18458 with the current one.
18460 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18461 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18462 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18464 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18465 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18468 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18469 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18471 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18474 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18475 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18476 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18477 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18479 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18480 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18481 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18482 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18483 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18484 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18485 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18486 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18488 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18489 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18490 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18491 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18492 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18496 @section Interactive
18497 @cindex interaction
18501 @item gnus-novice-user
18502 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18503 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18504 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18505 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18506 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18509 @item gnus-expert-user
18510 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18511 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18512 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18513 matter how strange.
18515 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18516 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18517 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18518 is @code{t} by default.
18520 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18521 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18522 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18527 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18528 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18529 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18531 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18532 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18533 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18534 rule of 900 to the current article.
18536 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18537 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18538 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18539 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18540 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18541 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18542 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18544 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18545 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18546 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18547 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18548 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18549 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
18550 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
18551 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18552 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18554 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18555 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18556 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18558 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18562 @node Formatting Variables
18563 @section Formatting Variables
18564 @cindex formatting variables
18566 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18567 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18568 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18569 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18570 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18573 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18574 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18575 lots of percentages everywhere.
18578 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18579 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18580 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18581 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18582 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18583 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18584 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18585 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18588 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18589 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18590 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18591 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18592 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18593 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18594 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18595 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18597 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18598 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18600 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18601 @findex gnus-update-format
18602 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18603 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18604 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18605 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18609 @node Formatting Basics
18610 @subsection Formatting Basics
18612 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18613 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18614 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18616 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18617 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18618 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18619 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18620 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18623 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18624 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18625 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18626 less than 4 characters wide.
18628 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18629 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18632 @node Mode Line Formatting
18633 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18635 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18636 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18637 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18638 with the following two differences:
18643 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18646 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18647 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18648 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18649 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18650 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18651 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18652 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18657 @node Advanced Formatting
18658 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18660 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18661 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18662 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18663 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18665 These are the valid modifiers:
18670 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18674 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18679 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18682 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18687 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18690 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18693 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18696 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18702 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
18707 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18708 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18709 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18710 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18711 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18712 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18713 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18715 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18716 last operation, padding.
18718 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
18719 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
18720 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
18721 @xref{Compilation}.
18724 @node User-Defined Specs
18725 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18727 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18728 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18729 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18730 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18731 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18732 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18733 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18734 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18735 should protect against that.
18737 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18738 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18740 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18741 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18742 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18743 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18747 @node Formatting Fonts
18748 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18750 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18751 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18752 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18753 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18756 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18757 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18758 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18759 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18760 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18761 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18763 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18764 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18765 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18766 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18767 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18768 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18769 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18770 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18772 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18775 ;; Create three face types.
18776 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18777 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18779 ;; We want the article count to be in
18780 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18781 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18782 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18784 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18785 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18787 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18788 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18789 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18792 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18793 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18795 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18796 mode-line variables.
18798 @node Positioning Point
18799 @subsection Positioning Point
18801 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18802 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18803 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18805 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18807 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18808 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18809 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18811 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18812 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18813 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18818 @subsection Tabulation
18820 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18821 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18822 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18823 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18825 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18826 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18828 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18829 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18830 This is the soft tabulator.
18832 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18833 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18834 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18837 @node Wide Characters
18838 @subsection Wide Characters
18840 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18841 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18842 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18844 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18845 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18846 these coutries, that's not true.
18848 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18849 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18850 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18851 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18855 @node Window Layout
18856 @section Window Layout
18857 @cindex window layout
18859 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18861 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18862 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18863 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18864 @code{t} by default.
18866 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18867 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18869 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18870 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18871 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18874 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18875 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18876 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18880 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18881 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18882 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18883 possible names is listed below.
18885 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18886 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18889 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18893 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18894 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18895 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18896 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18897 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18898 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18899 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18900 size spec per split.
18902 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18903 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18904 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18905 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18906 present) gets focus.
18908 Here's a more complicated example:
18911 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18912 (summary 0.25 point)
18913 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18917 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18918 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18919 occupy, not a percentage.
18921 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18922 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18923 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18924 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18925 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18928 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18931 (article (horizontal 1.0
18936 (summary 0.25 point)
18941 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18942 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18944 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18945 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18946 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18947 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18948 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18950 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18951 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18952 lines from the splits.
18954 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18958 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18959 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18960 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18961 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18962 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18963 size = number | frame-params
18964 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18967 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18968 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18969 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18970 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18972 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18973 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18974 @cindex window height
18975 @cindex window width
18976 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18977 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18978 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18979 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18980 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18981 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18983 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18984 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
18985 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
18986 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
18988 @findex gnus-configure-frame
18989 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
18990 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
18991 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
18992 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
18993 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
18994 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
18995 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
18996 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
18997 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
18998 configuration list.
19001 (gnus-configure-frame
19005 (article 0.3 point))
19013 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19014 @code{frame} split:
19017 (gnus-configure-frame
19020 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19022 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19023 (user-position . t)
19024 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19029 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19030 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19031 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19032 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19033 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19034 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19035 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19036 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19038 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19039 be found in its default value.
19041 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19042 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19043 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19047 (message (horizontal 1.0
19048 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19050 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19055 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19056 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19057 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19062 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19063 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19064 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19065 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19066 (name . "Message"))
19067 (message 1.0 point))))
19070 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19071 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19072 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19073 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19074 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19077 (gnus-add-configuration
19078 '(article (vertical 1.0
19080 (summary .25 point)
19084 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19085 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19086 Gnus has been loaded.
19088 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19089 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19090 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19091 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19092 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19094 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19095 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19096 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19099 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19103 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19104 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19119 (gnus-add-configuration
19122 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19124 (summary 0.16 point)
19127 (gnus-add-configuration
19130 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19131 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19137 @node Faces and Fonts
19138 @section Faces and Fonts
19143 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19144 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19145 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19150 @section Compilation
19151 @cindex compilation
19152 @cindex byte-compilation
19154 @findex gnus-compile
19156 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19157 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19158 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19159 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19160 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19161 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19164 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19165 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19166 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19167 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19168 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19169 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19170 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19174 @section Mode Lines
19177 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19178 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19179 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19180 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19181 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19182 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19183 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19186 @cindex display-time
19188 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19189 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19190 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19191 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19192 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19193 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19194 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19195 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19198 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19200 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19201 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19203 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19204 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19205 (length display-time-string)))))
19208 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19209 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19210 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19211 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19212 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19215 @node Highlighting and Menus
19216 @section Highlighting and Menus
19218 @cindex highlighting
19221 @vindex gnus-visual
19222 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19223 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19224 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19227 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19228 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19231 @item group-highlight
19232 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19233 @item summary-highlight
19234 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19235 @item article-highlight
19236 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19238 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19240 Create menus in the group buffer.
19242 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19244 Create menus in the article buffer.
19246 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19248 Create menus in the server buffer.
19250 Create menus in the score buffers.
19252 Create menus in all buffers.
19255 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19256 buffers, you could say something like:
19259 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19262 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19265 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19268 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19269 in all Gnus buffers.
19271 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19274 @item gnus-mouse-face
19275 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19276 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19277 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19281 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19285 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19286 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19287 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19289 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19290 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19291 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19293 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19294 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19295 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19297 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19298 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19299 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19301 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19302 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19303 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19305 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19306 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19307 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19318 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19319 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19320 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19321 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19322 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19326 @vindex gnus-carpal
19327 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19328 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19329 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19334 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19335 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19336 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19338 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19339 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19340 Face used on buttons.
19342 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19343 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19344 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19346 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19347 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19348 Buttons in the group buffer.
19350 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19351 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19352 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19354 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19355 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19356 Buttons in the server buffer.
19358 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19359 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19360 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19363 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19364 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19365 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19373 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19374 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19375 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19376 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19377 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19379 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19380 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19381 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19383 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19384 been idle for thirty minutes:
19387 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19390 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19394 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19397 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19398 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19399 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19401 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19402 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19403 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19404 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19406 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19407 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19408 @var{idle} minutes.
19410 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19411 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19414 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19415 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19416 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19418 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19419 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19420 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19421 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19423 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19424 your @file{.gnus} file:
19426 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19428 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19431 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19432 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19433 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19434 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19435 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19436 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19437 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19438 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19439 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19440 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19441 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19443 @findex gnus-demon-init
19444 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19445 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19446 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19447 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19448 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19450 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19451 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19452 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19461 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19462 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19464 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19465 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19466 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19467 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19470 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19471 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19472 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19473 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19475 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19476 this will make spam disappear.
19478 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19481 @item gnus-use-nocem
19482 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19483 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19486 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19487 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19488 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19489 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19490 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19492 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19493 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19494 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19495 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19496 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19497 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19499 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19500 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19502 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19503 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19504 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19505 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19506 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19507 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19508 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19509 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19510 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19511 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19513 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19514 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19517 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19520 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19521 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19524 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19527 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19530 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19531 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19533 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19534 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19535 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19536 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19538 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19539 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19542 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19544 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19552 This might be dangerous, though.
19554 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19555 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19556 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19557 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19559 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19560 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19561 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19562 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19563 might then see old spam.
19565 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19566 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19567 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19568 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19569 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19572 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19573 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19574 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19575 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19579 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19580 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19581 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19582 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19589 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19590 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19591 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19593 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19594 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19595 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19596 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19597 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19598 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19599 @code{undo} function.
19601 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19602 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19603 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19604 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19605 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19606 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19607 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19608 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19609 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19610 never be totally undoable.
19612 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19613 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19615 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19616 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19617 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19618 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19622 @node Predicate Specifiers
19623 @section Predicate Specifiers
19624 @cindex predicate specifiers
19626 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
19627 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
19628 to type all that much.
19630 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
19635 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
19636 gnus-article-unread-p)
19639 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
19640 functions all take one parameter.
19642 @findex gnus-make-predicate
19643 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
19644 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
19645 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
19650 @section Moderation
19653 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19654 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19655 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19658 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19662 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19665 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19667 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19672 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19673 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19674 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19677 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19678 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19681 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19682 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19686 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19689 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19690 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19694 @node Image Enhancements
19695 @section Image Enhancements
19697 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
19698 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
19701 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
19702 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19703 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
19704 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19705 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19718 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19719 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19720 over your shoulder as you read news.
19723 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19724 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19725 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19726 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19727 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19732 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19734 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19743 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19744 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19745 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19746 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19747 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19748 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19749 @code{GIF} formats.
19752 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19753 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19754 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19755 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19756 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19758 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19759 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19760 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19761 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19762 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19763 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19765 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
19766 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
19769 @node Picon Requirements
19770 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19772 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19773 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19774 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19775 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19777 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19778 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19779 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19780 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19781 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19782 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19785 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19787 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19788 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19791 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19792 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19795 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19796 containing the Picons databases.
19798 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19801 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19802 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19807 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19815 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19816 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19817 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19818 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19819 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19824 @item gnus-picons-database
19825 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19826 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19827 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19828 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19829 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19830 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19832 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19833 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19834 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19835 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19836 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19837 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19838 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19840 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19841 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19842 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19843 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19844 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19845 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19846 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19847 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19849 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19850 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19851 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19856 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19857 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19859 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19860 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19863 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19865 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19866 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19867 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19868 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19870 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19871 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19872 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19873 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
19879 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19880 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19888 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19889 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19890 don't need to worry about.
19894 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19895 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19896 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19897 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19899 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19900 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19901 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19902 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19904 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19905 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19906 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19907 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19908 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19910 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19911 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19912 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19913 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19914 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19915 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19916 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19917 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19919 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19920 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19921 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19922 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19923 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19925 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19926 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19927 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19928 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19929 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19930 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19931 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19933 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19934 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19935 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19936 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19938 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19939 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19940 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19941 Defaults to @code{t}.
19943 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19944 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19945 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19946 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19948 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19949 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19950 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19952 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19953 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19954 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19955 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19957 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19958 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19960 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19961 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19962 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19963 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19964 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19965 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19966 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19967 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19978 @subsection Smileys
19983 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
19988 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
19989 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
19991 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
19992 @file{.gnus.el} file:
19995 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
19998 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
19999 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20000 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20001 text and maps that to file names.
20003 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20004 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20005 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20006 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20007 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20008 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20010 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20011 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20013 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20014 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20015 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20017 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20018 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20022 @item smiley-data-directory
20023 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20024 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20026 @item smiley-flesh-color
20027 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20028 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20030 @item smiley-features-color
20031 @vindex smiley-features-color
20032 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20034 @item smiley-tongue-color
20035 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20036 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20038 @item smiley-circle-color
20039 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20040 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20042 @item smiley-mouse-face
20043 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20044 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20053 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20054 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20055 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20059 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20060 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20061 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20062 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20070 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20071 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20072 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20073 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20075 The variable that controls this is the
20076 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20077 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20078 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20079 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20080 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20082 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20083 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20084 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20085 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20088 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20089 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20090 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20091 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20092 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20093 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20094 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20095 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20097 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20100 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20101 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20103 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20104 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20105 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20106 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20107 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20108 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20110 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a file as the parameter, and then
20111 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20112 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20114 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20115 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20118 (setq message-required-news-headers
20119 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20120 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20123 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20126 (setq message-required-news-headers
20127 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20128 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20129 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20130 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20135 @subsection Toolbar
20145 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20146 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20147 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20148 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20149 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20151 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20152 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20153 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20155 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20156 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20157 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20159 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20160 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20161 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20167 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20170 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20171 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20172 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20173 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20174 unusual directory structure.
20176 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20177 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20178 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20179 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20181 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20182 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20183 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20184 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20185 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20186 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20188 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20189 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20190 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20204 @node Fuzzy Matching
20205 @section Fuzzy Matching
20206 @cindex fuzzy matching
20208 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20209 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20211 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20212 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20213 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20215 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20216 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20217 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20218 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20219 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20222 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20223 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20227 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20229 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20230 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20231 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20232 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20233 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20234 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20235 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20236 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20239 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20240 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20241 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20242 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
20243 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
20244 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20248 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20249 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20251 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20252 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20253 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20254 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20255 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20256 part of the mail address.)
20259 (setq message-default-news-headers
20260 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20263 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20264 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20269 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20270 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20271 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20277 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20278 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20279 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20280 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20282 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
20283 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20284 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20285 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20286 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20287 your fancy split rule in this way:
20292 (to "larsi" "misc")
20296 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20297 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20298 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20299 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20300 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20302 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20303 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20304 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20305 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20306 cosmic balance somewhat.
20308 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20309 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20310 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20311 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20314 @node Various Various
20315 @section Various Various
20321 @item gnus-home-directory
20322 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
20323 defaults to @file{~/}.
20325 @item gnus-directory
20326 @vindex gnus-directory
20327 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
20328 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
20329 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
20331 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
20332 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
20333 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
20334 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
20336 @item gnus-default-directory
20337 @vindex gnus-default-directory
20338 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
20339 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
20340 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
20341 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
20342 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
20343 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
20346 @vindex gnus-verbose
20347 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
20348 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
20349 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
20350 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
20351 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
20353 @item gnus-verbose-backends
20354 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
20355 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
20356 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
20358 @item nnheader-max-head-length
20359 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
20360 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
20361 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
20362 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
20363 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
20364 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
20365 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
20366 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
20367 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
20369 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
20370 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
20371 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
20372 read when doing the operation described above.
20374 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20375 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20377 @cindex invalid characters in file names
20378 @cindex characters in file names
20379 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
20380 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
20381 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
20384 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20388 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
20389 Windows (phooey) systems.
20391 @item gnus-hidden-properties
20392 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
20393 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
20394 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
20395 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
20397 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
20398 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
20399 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
20400 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
20401 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
20403 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
20404 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
20405 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
20407 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20408 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20410 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
20411 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
20412 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
20413 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
20416 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
20424 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
20425 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
20427 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
20429 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
20435 Not because of victories @*
20438 but for the common sunshine,@*
20440 the largess of the spring.
20444 but for the day's work done@*
20445 as well as I was able;@*
20446 not for a seat upon the dais@*
20447 but at the common table.@*
20452 @chapter Appendices
20455 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
20456 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
20457 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
20458 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
20459 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20460 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20461 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20462 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20463 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20470 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
20472 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
20473 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
20474 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
20475 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
20476 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
20483 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20484 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20486 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20487 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20488 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20489 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20490 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20492 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20493 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20494 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20495 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20496 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20497 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20499 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20500 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20501 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20502 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20505 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20506 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20507 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20508 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20509 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20510 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20511 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20512 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20513 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20517 @node Gnus Versions
20518 @subsection Gnus Versions
20520 @cindex September Gnus
20522 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20523 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20527 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20528 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20529 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20531 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20532 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20534 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20535 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20537 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20538 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20540 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20541 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20544 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20546 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20547 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20548 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20549 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20550 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20551 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20554 @node Other Gnus Versions
20555 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20558 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20559 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20560 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20561 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20563 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20564 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20565 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20566 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20573 What's the point of Gnus?
20575 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20576 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20577 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20578 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20579 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20580 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20581 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20582 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20583 keep track of millions of people who post?
20585 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20586 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20587 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20588 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20589 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20590 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20591 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20592 every one of you to explore and invent.
20594 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20595 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20598 @node Compatibility
20599 @subsection Compatibility
20601 @cindex compatibility
20602 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20603 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20604 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20609 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20613 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20616 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20619 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20620 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20621 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20622 important variables have their values copied into their global
20623 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20624 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20626 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20627 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20628 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20629 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20630 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20634 @cindex highlighting
20635 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20636 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20637 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20638 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20639 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20640 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20643 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20644 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20645 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20646 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20648 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20649 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20650 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20651 to stop doing it the old way.
20653 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20655 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20657 @cindex reporting bugs
20659 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20660 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20661 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20663 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20664 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20665 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20666 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20671 @subsection Conformity
20673 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20674 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20682 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20686 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20688 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20689 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20690 We do have some breaches to this one.
20696 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20697 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20698 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20699 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20700 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20705 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20706 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20707 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20708 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20710 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
20712 All the various MIME RFCs are supported.
20714 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2289
20715 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
20717 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
20720 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
20721 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
20722 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-MIME aware PGP
20723 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
20724 decoding (verification and decryption).
20726 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
20727 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
20728 1991) describes the MIME-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
20729 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
20731 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
20732 RFC 2633 describes the S/MIME format.
20734 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
20735 RFC 1730 is IMAP version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (IMAP 4
20736 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for IMAP. RFC
20737 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for IMAP. RFC 2359
20738 describes a IMAP protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
20739 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with IMAP. RFC 1731 describes the
20740 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for IMAP.
20744 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20745 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20750 @subsection Emacsen
20756 Gnus should work on :
20764 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
20768 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20769 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20772 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20773 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20774 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20778 @node Gnus Development
20779 @subsection Gnus Development
20781 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20782 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20783 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20784 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20785 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20786 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20787 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20788 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20790 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20791 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20792 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20793 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20794 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20797 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20798 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20799 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20800 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20801 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20803 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20804 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20805 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20806 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20807 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20808 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20809 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20810 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20811 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20812 can't be assumed to do so.
20817 @subsection Contributors
20818 @cindex contributors
20820 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20821 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20822 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20823 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20824 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20825 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20826 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20827 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20828 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20829 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20831 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20837 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20840 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20841 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20842 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20843 functionality and stuff.
20846 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20847 well as numerous other things).
20850 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20853 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20856 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20859 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20862 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20863 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20866 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20869 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20870 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20873 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20876 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20879 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20882 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20885 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20886 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20889 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20892 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20895 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20898 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20902 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20905 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20908 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20911 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20912 well as autoconf support.
20916 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20917 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20919 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20928 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20932 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20942 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20957 Massimo Campostrini,
20962 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20963 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20967 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20970 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20976 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20981 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
20985 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
20993 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
20995 Michelangelo Grigni,
20999 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
21001 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
21003 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
21010 François Felix Ingrand,
21011 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
21012 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
21014 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
21025 Peter Skov Knudsen,
21026 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
21028 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
21029 Thor Kristoffersen,
21032 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
21050 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
21051 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
21058 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
21063 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
21067 John McClary Prevost,
21073 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
21078 Christian von Roques,
21081 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
21088 Philippe Schnoebelen,
21090 Randal L. Schwartz,
21104 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
21109 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
21125 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
21130 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
21131 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
21132 (550kB and counting).
21134 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
21137 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
21138 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
21142 @subsection New Features
21143 @cindex new features
21146 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
21147 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
21148 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
21149 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
21150 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
21153 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
21154 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
21155 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
21158 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
21160 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
21165 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
21166 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
21169 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
21170 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
21173 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
21176 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
21177 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
21178 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
21181 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
21182 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
21183 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
21184 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21187 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
21188 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21191 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
21192 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
21193 (@pxref{The Active File}).
21196 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
21197 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
21200 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
21201 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
21202 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21205 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
21206 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
21207 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
21210 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
21211 the @file{.emacs} file.
21214 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
21215 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
21218 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
21219 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
21222 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
21223 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21226 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
21227 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
21230 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
21231 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21234 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
21237 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
21238 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
21241 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
21242 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
21245 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
21246 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
21249 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
21252 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
21253 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21256 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
21260 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
21264 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
21265 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
21268 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
21274 @node September Gnus
21275 @subsubsection September Gnus
21279 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
21283 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
21288 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
21289 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
21293 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
21294 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
21298 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
21302 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
21303 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
21306 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
21310 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21313 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
21316 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
21319 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
21323 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
21324 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
21327 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
21331 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
21335 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
21339 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
21343 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
21346 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
21347 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
21350 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
21354 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
21355 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
21358 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
21361 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
21362 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
21363 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21366 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
21370 The Gnus cache is much faster.
21373 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
21377 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
21378 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
21381 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
21382 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
21385 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
21386 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21389 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
21390 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
21391 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
21394 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
21395 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
21398 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
21401 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21404 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
21407 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
21410 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
21411 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
21414 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
21418 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
21421 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
21426 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
21429 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
21433 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21436 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
21440 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
21443 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
21446 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
21447 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21450 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
21451 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
21455 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
21456 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
21459 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
21463 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
21464 buffer to allow easier treatment.
21467 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
21470 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
21474 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
21478 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
21479 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
21482 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
21486 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
21487 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21490 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
21491 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21494 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
21498 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21501 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
21504 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21510 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21512 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21516 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21523 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21526 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21527 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21530 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21531 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21535 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21536 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21539 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21542 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21543 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21546 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21550 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21551 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21555 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21556 Server Internals}).
21559 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21563 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21566 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21567 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21570 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21571 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21572 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21575 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21576 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21579 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21580 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21583 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
21587 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21588 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21591 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21592 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21595 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21599 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21602 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21606 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21607 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21610 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21611 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21614 A new command for reading collections of documents
21615 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
21616 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21619 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21623 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21624 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21627 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21628 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21629 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21632 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21633 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21637 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21641 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21645 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21650 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21654 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21658 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21659 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21662 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21668 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21670 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21675 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21676 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21677 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21680 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21681 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21682 group, which is created automatically.
21685 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21689 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21692 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21693 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21696 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21700 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21703 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21704 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21707 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21710 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21711 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21714 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21715 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21718 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21719 control over simplification.
21722 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21725 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21729 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21732 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21735 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21736 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21737 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21740 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21741 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21744 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21748 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21749 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21752 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21753 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21756 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21760 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21763 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21766 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21767 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21770 A new function for citing in Message has been
21771 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21774 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21777 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21781 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21782 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21785 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21786 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21789 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21792 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21796 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21797 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21799 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21804 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21805 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21807 If you used procmail like in
21810 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21811 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21812 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21813 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21816 this now has changed to
21820 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21824 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21825 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21828 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21829 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21832 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21833 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21836 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21837 called to position point.
21840 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21841 summary buffers and NOV files.
21844 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21845 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21848 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21849 subtly different manner.
21852 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21853 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21854 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21857 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21865 @section The Manual
21869 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21870 either @code{texi2dvi}
21872 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21873 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21875 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21877 The following conventions have been used:
21882 This is a @samp{string}
21885 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21888 This is a @file{file}
21891 This is a @code{symbol}
21895 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21899 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21902 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21905 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21908 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21909 ever get them confused.
21913 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21914 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21915 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21916 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21917 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21918 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21919 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21925 @node On Writing Manuals
21926 @section On Writing Manuals
21928 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21929 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21930 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21931 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21932 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21933 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21936 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21937 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21938 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21941 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21942 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21947 @section Terminology
21949 @cindex terminology
21954 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21955 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21956 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21957 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21958 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21962 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21963 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21964 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21965 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21969 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21973 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21978 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21979 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21980 is all done by the back ends.
21984 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
21985 default, way of getting news.
21989 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21990 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
21995 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21996 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
22000 A message that has been posted as news.
22003 @cindex mail message
22004 A message that has been mailed.
22008 A mail message or news article
22012 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
22017 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
22022 A line from the head of an article.
22026 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
22027 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
22031 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
22032 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
22033 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
22034 normal @sc{head} format.
22038 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
22039 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
22040 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
22041 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
22042 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
22043 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
22045 @item killed groups
22046 @cindex killed groups
22047 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
22048 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
22050 @item zombie groups
22051 @cindex zombie groups
22052 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
22055 @cindex active file
22056 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
22057 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
22058 is rather large, as you might surmise.
22061 @cindex bogus groups
22062 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
22063 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
22064 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
22067 @cindex activating groups
22068 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
22069 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
22070 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
22074 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
22076 @item select method
22077 @cindex select method
22078 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
22081 @item virtual server
22082 @cindex virtual server
22083 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
22084 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
22085 whole is a virtual server.
22089 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
22090 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
22093 @item ephemeral groups
22094 @cindex ephemeral groups
22095 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
22096 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
22097 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
22100 @cindex solid groups
22101 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
22102 group buffer are solid groups.
22104 @item sparse articles
22105 @cindex sparse articles
22106 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
22107 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
22111 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
22112 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
22116 @cindex thread root
22117 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
22118 articles in the thread.
22122 An article that has responses.
22126 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
22130 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
22131 specified by RFC 1153.
22137 @node Customization
22138 @section Customization
22139 @cindex general customization
22141 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
22142 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
22143 for some quite common situations.
22146 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
22147 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
22148 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
22149 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
22153 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
22154 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
22156 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
22157 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
22158 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
22162 @item gnus-read-active-file
22163 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
22164 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
22165 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22166 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
22167 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
22169 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
22170 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
22171 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
22172 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
22176 @node Slow Terminal Connection
22177 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
22179 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
22180 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
22181 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
22185 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
22186 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
22187 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
22188 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
22189 horizontal and vertical recentering.
22191 @item gnus-visible-headers
22192 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
22193 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
22194 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
22195 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
22197 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
22199 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
22200 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
22201 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
22204 @item gnus-use-full-window
22205 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
22206 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
22207 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
22208 want to read them anyway.
22210 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22211 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
22214 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
22215 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
22216 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
22221 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22222 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
22223 gnus-article-unseen-p))
22226 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
22227 unread, but you get my drift.)
22230 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
22231 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
22232 lines, which might save some time.
22236 @node Little Disk Space
22237 @subsection Little Disk Space
22240 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
22241 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
22245 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
22246 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
22247 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22248 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22251 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
22252 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
22253 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22254 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22257 @item gnus-save-killed-list
22258 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
22259 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
22260 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
22261 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
22267 @subsection Slow Machine
22268 @cindex slow machine
22270 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
22271 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
22273 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22274 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
22276 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
22277 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
22278 summary buffer faster.
22282 @node Troubleshooting
22283 @section Troubleshooting
22284 @cindex troubleshooting
22286 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
22294 Make sure your computer is switched on.
22297 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
22298 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
22302 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
22303 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
22304 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
22305 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
22308 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
22312 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
22313 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
22314 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
22315 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
22316 something like that.
22319 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
22322 @cindex reporting bugs
22324 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22326 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
22327 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
22328 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
22329 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
22331 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
22332 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
22333 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
22334 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
22337 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
22338 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
22339 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
22340 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
22341 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
22342 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
22344 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
22345 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
22346 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
22350 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
22351 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
22353 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
22354 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
22356 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
22357 @cindex ding mailing list
22358 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
22359 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
22363 @node Gnus Reference Guide
22364 @section Gnus Reference Guide
22366 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
22367 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
22368 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
22369 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
22372 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
22373 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
22374 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
22375 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
22376 and general methods of operation.
22379 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
22380 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
22381 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
22382 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
22383 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
22384 * Group Info:: The group info format.
22385 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
22386 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
22387 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
22391 @node Gnus Utility Functions
22392 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
22393 @cindex Gnus utility functions
22394 @cindex utility functions
22396 @cindex internal variables
22398 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
22399 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
22400 Below is a list of the most common ones.
22404 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
22405 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
22406 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
22408 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
22409 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
22410 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
22412 @item gnus-group-real-name
22413 @findex gnus-group-real-name
22414 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
22417 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
22418 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
22419 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
22420 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
22422 @item gnus-get-info
22423 @findex gnus-get-info
22424 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
22426 @item gnus-group-unread
22427 @findex gnus-group-unread
22428 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
22432 @findex gnus-active
22433 The active entry for @var{group}.
22435 @item gnus-set-active
22436 @findex gnus-set-active
22437 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
22439 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22440 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22441 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
22444 @item gnus-continuum-version
22445 @findex gnus-continuum-version
22446 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
22447 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
22450 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
22451 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
22452 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
22454 @item gnus-news-group-p
22455 @findex gnus-news-group-p
22456 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
22458 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22459 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22460 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
22462 @item gnus-server-to-method
22463 @findex gnus-server-to-method
22464 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
22466 @item gnus-server-equal
22467 @findex gnus-server-equal
22468 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
22470 @item gnus-group-native-p
22471 @findex gnus-group-native-p
22472 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
22474 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
22475 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
22476 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
22478 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
22479 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
22480 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
22482 @item group-group-find-parameter
22483 @findex group-group-find-parameter
22484 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
22485 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
22487 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
22488 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
22489 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
22491 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
22492 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
22493 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
22495 @item gnus-check-backend-function
22496 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
22497 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
22498 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
22501 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
22505 @item gnus-read-method
22506 @findex gnus-read-method
22507 Prompts the user for a select method.
22512 @node Back End Interface
22513 @subsection Back End Interface
22515 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
22516 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
22517 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
22518 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
22519 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
22520 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22522 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22523 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22524 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22525 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22526 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22527 been opened, the function should fail.
22529 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22530 name. Take this example:
22534 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22535 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22538 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22539 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22541 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22542 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22543 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22545 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22546 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22547 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22549 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22550 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22551 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22552 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22553 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22554 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22557 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22558 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22559 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22560 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22563 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22564 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22565 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22566 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22567 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22568 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22569 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22570 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22571 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22572 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22574 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22575 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22576 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22577 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22578 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22579 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22580 of numbers as long as possible.
22582 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22585 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22588 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22589 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22590 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22591 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22592 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22593 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22597 @node Required Back End Functions
22598 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22602 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22604 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22605 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22606 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22607 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22609 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22610 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22611 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22612 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22614 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22615 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22616 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22617 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22618 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22619 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22620 number, do maximum fetches.
22622 Here's an example HEAD:
22625 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22626 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22627 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22628 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22629 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22630 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22631 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22633 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22634 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22635 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22639 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22640 these in the data buffer.
22642 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22646 head = error / valid-head
22647 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22648 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22649 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22650 header = <text> eol
22653 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22654 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22658 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22659 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22660 field = <text except TAB>
22663 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22667 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22669 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22670 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22672 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22673 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22674 server. In fact, it should do so.
22676 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22677 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22680 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22682 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22683 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22686 There should be no data returned.
22689 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22691 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22692 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22693 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22694 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22696 There should be no data returned.
22699 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22701 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22702 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22703 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22704 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22706 There should be no data returned.
22709 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22711 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22713 There should be no data returned.
22716 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22718 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22719 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22720 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22721 it would be nice if that were possible.
22723 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22724 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22725 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22726 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22727 into its article buffer.
22729 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22730 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22731 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22732 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22733 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22734 on successful article retrieval.
22737 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22739 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22740 making @var{group} the current group.
22742 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22745 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22748 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22751 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22752 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22753 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22754 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22755 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22756 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22757 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22758 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22761 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22762 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22763 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22767 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22769 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22770 a no-op on most back ends.
22772 There should be no data returned.
22775 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22777 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22780 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22783 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22784 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22787 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22788 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22791 active-file = *active-line
22792 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22794 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22797 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22798 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22799 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22802 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22804 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22805 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22806 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22807 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22808 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22809 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22811 There should be no result data from this function.
22816 @node Optional Back End Functions
22817 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22821 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22823 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22824 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22825 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22827 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22828 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22829 former is in the same format as the data from
22830 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22831 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22834 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22838 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22840 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22841 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22842 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22843 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22844 should return the (altered) group info.
22846 There should be no result data from this function.
22849 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22851 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22852 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22853 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22854 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22855 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22856 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22857 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22858 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22860 There should be no result data from this function.
22863 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22865 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22866 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22867 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22868 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22869 propagate the mark information to the server.
22871 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22874 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22877 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22878 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22879 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22880 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22881 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22882 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22883 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22884 possible, not limit itself to these.
22886 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22887 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22888 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22889 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22891 An example action list:
22894 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22895 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22896 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22899 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22900 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22902 There should be no result data from this function.
22904 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22906 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22907 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22908 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22909 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22910 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22912 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22913 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22914 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22917 There should be no result data from this function.
22920 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22922 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22923 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22924 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22925 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22926 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22927 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22928 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22930 There should be no result data from this function.
22933 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22935 The result data from this function should be a description of
22939 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22941 description = <text>
22944 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22946 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22947 groups available on the server.
22950 description-buffer = *description-line
22954 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22956 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22957 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22958 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22959 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22960 in the active buffer format.
22962 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22963 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22964 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22965 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22966 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22967 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22968 likely that there can be many groups.
22971 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22973 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22975 There should be no return data.
22978 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22980 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22981 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22982 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22983 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22984 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22987 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22990 There should be no result data returned.
22993 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22996 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22997 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22999 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
23000 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
23001 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
23002 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
23003 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
23004 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
23006 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
23007 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
23010 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23011 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23013 There should be no data returned.
23016 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
23018 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
23019 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
23020 this function in short order.
23022 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23023 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23025 There should be no data returned.
23028 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
23030 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
23031 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
23033 There should be no data returned.
23036 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
23038 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
23039 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
23040 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
23042 There should be no data returned.
23045 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
23047 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
23048 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
23050 There should be no data returned.
23055 @node Error Messaging
23056 @subsubsection Error Messaging
23058 @findex nnheader-report
23059 @findex nnheader-get-report
23060 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
23061 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
23062 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
23063 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
23064 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
23065 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
23068 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
23070 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
23073 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
23074 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
23075 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
23076 takes one argument---the server symbol.
23078 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
23079 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
23080 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
23083 @node Writing New Back Ends
23084 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
23086 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
23087 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
23088 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
23089 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
23090 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
23093 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
23094 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
23095 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
23097 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
23098 package called @code{nnoo}.
23100 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
23101 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
23107 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
23108 parameters. For instance:
23111 (nnoo-declare nndir
23115 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
23116 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
23119 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
23120 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
23121 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
23123 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
23124 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
23125 a function in those back ends.
23128 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23129 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23130 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23133 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
23134 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
23135 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
23137 @item nnoo-define-basics
23138 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
23142 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23146 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
23147 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
23148 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
23150 @item nnoo-map-functions
23151 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
23152 functions from the parent back ends.
23155 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23156 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23157 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
23160 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
23161 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
23162 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
23163 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
23166 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
23167 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
23168 haven't already been defined.
23174 nnmh-request-newgroups)
23178 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
23179 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
23180 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
23185 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
23188 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
23189 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23193 (require 'nnheader)
23197 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
23199 (nnoo-declare nndir
23202 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23203 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23204 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23206 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
23207 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
23210 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
23212 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
23213 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
23214 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
23216 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
23217 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
23219 ;;; Interface functions.
23221 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23223 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
23224 (setq nndir-directory
23225 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
23227 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
23228 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
23229 (push `(nndir-current-group
23230 ,(file-name-nondirectory
23231 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23233 (push `(nndir-top-directory
23234 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23236 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
23238 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23239 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23240 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23241 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
23242 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
23246 nnmh-status-message
23248 nnmh-request-newgroups))
23254 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23255 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23257 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
23258 @findex gnus-declare-backend
23259 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
23260 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
23261 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
23263 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
23264 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
23269 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
23272 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
23274 The abilities can be:
23278 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
23280 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
23282 This back end supports both mail and news.
23284 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
23287 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
23288 articles and groups.
23290 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
23291 true for almost all back ends.
23292 @item prompt-address
23293 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
23294 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
23295 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
23299 @node Mail-like Back Ends
23300 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
23302 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
23303 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
23304 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
23305 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
23308 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
23309 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
23310 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
23313 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
23314 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
23317 This function takes four parameters.
23321 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
23324 @item exit-function
23325 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
23327 @item temp-directory
23328 Where the temporary files should be stored.
23331 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
23332 performed for one group only.
23335 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
23336 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
23337 find the article number assigned to this article.
23339 The function also uses the following variables:
23340 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
23341 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
23342 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
23343 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
23347 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
23348 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
23352 @node Score File Syntax
23353 @subsection Score File Syntax
23355 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
23356 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
23357 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
23359 Here's a typical score file:
23363 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
23370 BNF definition of a score file:
23373 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
23374 element = rule / atom
23375 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
23376 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
23377 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
23378 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
23380 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
23381 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
23382 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
23383 date-header = "date"
23384 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23385 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23386 score = "nil" / <integer>
23387 date = "nil" / <natural number>
23388 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
23389 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
23390 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
23391 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
23392 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23393 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23394 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
23395 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23396 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
23397 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
23398 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
23399 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
23400 exclude-files / read-only / touched
23401 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
23402 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
23403 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
23404 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
23405 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
23406 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
23407 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
23408 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
23409 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
23410 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
23411 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
23412 eval = "eval" space <form>
23413 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
23416 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
23419 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
23420 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
23421 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
23422 one looong line, then that's ok.
23424 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
23425 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23429 @subsection Headers
23431 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
23432 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
23433 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
23434 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
23436 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
23437 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
23438 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
23439 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
23440 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
23441 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
23442 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
23444 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
23445 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
23446 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
23447 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
23448 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
23450 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
23451 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
23457 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
23458 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
23460 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
23461 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
23462 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
23463 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
23465 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
23469 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
23472 is transformed into
23475 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
23478 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
23479 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
23482 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
23485 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
23486 is slightly tricky:
23489 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
23495 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
23498 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
23504 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
23511 and is equal to the previous range.
23513 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
23514 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
23515 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
23519 range = simple-range / normal-range
23520 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23521 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23522 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23523 number *[ " " contents ]
23526 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23527 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23528 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23529 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23530 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23535 @subsection Group Info
23537 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23538 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23539 describes the group.
23541 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23542 second is a more complex one:
23545 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23547 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23548 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23550 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23553 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23554 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23555 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23556 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23557 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23558 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23559 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23560 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23561 this section is about.
23563 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23564 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23565 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23567 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23570 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23571 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23572 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23573 group = quote <string> quote
23574 ralevel = rank / level
23575 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23576 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23577 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23579 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23580 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23581 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23582 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23585 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23586 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23589 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23590 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23593 @item gnus-info-group
23594 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23595 @findex gnus-info-group
23596 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23597 Get/set the group name.
23599 @item gnus-info-rank
23600 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23601 @findex gnus-info-rank
23602 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23603 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23605 @item gnus-info-level
23606 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23607 @findex gnus-info-level
23608 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23609 Get/set the group level.
23611 @item gnus-info-score
23612 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23613 @findex gnus-info-score
23614 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23615 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23617 @item gnus-info-read
23618 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23619 @findex gnus-info-read
23620 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23621 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23623 @item gnus-info-marks
23624 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23625 @findex gnus-info-marks
23626 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23627 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23629 @item gnus-info-method
23630 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23631 @findex gnus-info-method
23632 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23633 Get/set the group select method.
23635 @item gnus-info-params
23636 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23637 @findex gnus-info-params
23638 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23639 Get/set the group parameters.
23642 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23643 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23645 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23646 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23647 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23648 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23651 @node Extended Interactive
23652 @subsection Extended Interactive
23653 @cindex interactive
23654 @findex gnus-interactive
23656 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23657 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23658 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23661 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23662 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23667 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23668 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23669 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23670 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23671 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23672 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23673 @code{interactive}.
23675 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23680 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23681 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23685 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23686 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23687 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23690 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23694 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23698 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23704 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23705 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23709 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23710 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23711 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23713 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23714 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23715 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23716 Gnus, that's very useful.
23718 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23719 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23720 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23721 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23722 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23723 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23724 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23725 following function:
23728 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23732 (,function ,@@args))
23736 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23737 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23738 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23741 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23742 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23743 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23745 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23746 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23747 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23750 @node Various File Formats
23751 @subsection Various File Formats
23754 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23755 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23759 @node Active File Format
23760 @subsubsection Active File Format
23762 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23763 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23766 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23769 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23770 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23771 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23772 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23773 no.general 1000 900 y
23776 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23779 active = *group-line
23780 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23781 group = <non-white-space string>
23783 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23784 low-number = <positive integer>
23785 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23788 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23789 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23792 @node Newsgroups File Format
23793 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23795 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23796 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23797 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23800 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23801 Here's the definition:
23805 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23806 group = <non-white-space string>
23808 description = <string>
23813 @node Emacs for Heathens
23814 @section Emacs for Heathens
23816 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23817 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23818 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
23819 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23820 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23821 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23822 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23826 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23827 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23832 @subsection Keystrokes
23836 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23839 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23842 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23843 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23844 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23845 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23846 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23847 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23849 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23850 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23851 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23852 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23853 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23854 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23855 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23857 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23858 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
23859 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23860 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23861 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23862 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23863 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23865 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23866 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23867 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23868 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23869 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23875 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23877 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23878 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23879 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23880 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23882 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23883 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23884 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23885 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23886 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23887 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23888 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23891 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23892 write the following:
23895 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23898 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23899 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23900 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23903 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23904 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23905 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23906 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23907 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23909 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23910 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23911 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23915 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23919 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23922 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23923 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23926 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23929 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23930 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23933 @include gnus-faq.texi
23953 @c Local Variables:
23955 @c coding: iso-8859-1
23957 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23958 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23959 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23960 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23961 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref