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308 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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325 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
337 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
345 @top The Gnus Newsreader
349 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
350 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
351 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
354 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
355 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
633 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
699 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
703 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
704 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
705 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
706 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
707 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
708 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
712 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
713 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
714 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
715 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
719 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
723 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
724 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
728 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
729 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
730 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
734 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
735 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
736 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
738 The Gnus Diary Library
740 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
741 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
742 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
743 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
747 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
748 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
749 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
750 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
751 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
752 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
753 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
754 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
755 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
756 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
757 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
758 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
759 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
760 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
764 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
765 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
766 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
770 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
771 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
772 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
776 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
777 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
778 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
779 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
780 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
781 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
782 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
783 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
784 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
785 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
786 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
787 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
788 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
789 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
790 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
791 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
795 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
796 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
797 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
801 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
802 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
803 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
804 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
805 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
806 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
807 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
808 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
809 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
810 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
811 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
812 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
813 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
814 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
815 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
816 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
817 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
818 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
819 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
820 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
821 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
822 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
826 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
827 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
828 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
829 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
830 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
831 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
832 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
833 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
837 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
838 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
839 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
841 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
842 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
846 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
847 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
848 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
849 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
853 * Spam Package Introduction::
854 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
855 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
856 * Spam and Ham Processors::
857 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
859 * Extending the Spam package::
860 * Spam Statistics Package::
862 Spam Statistics Package
864 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
865 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
866 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
870 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
871 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
872 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
873 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
874 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
875 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
876 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
877 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
878 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
882 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
883 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
884 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
885 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
886 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
887 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
888 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
889 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
890 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
894 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
895 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
896 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
897 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
898 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
899 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
900 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
904 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
905 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
906 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
907 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
911 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
912 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
913 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
914 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
915 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
916 * Group Info:: The group info format.
917 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
918 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
919 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
923 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
924 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
925 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
926 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
927 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
928 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
932 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
933 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
937 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
938 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
944 @chapter Starting Gnus
947 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
952 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
953 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
954 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
955 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
956 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
957 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
959 @findex gnus-other-frame
960 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
961 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
962 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
964 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
965 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
966 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
968 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
969 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
972 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
973 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
974 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
975 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
976 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
977 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
978 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
979 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
980 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
981 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
985 @node Finding the News
986 @section Finding the News
989 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
990 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
991 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
992 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
993 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
994 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
995 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
996 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
998 @vindex gnus-select-method
1000 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1001 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1002 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1003 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1006 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1007 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1010 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1013 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1016 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1019 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1020 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1021 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1022 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1024 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1026 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1027 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1028 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1029 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1030 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1031 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1032 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1035 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1036 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1037 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1039 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1040 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1041 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1042 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1043 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1044 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1045 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1046 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1047 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1050 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1052 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1053 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1054 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1055 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1056 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1057 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1059 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1061 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1062 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1063 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1064 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1065 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1066 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1069 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1070 you would typically set this variable to
1073 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1076 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1077 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1078 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1079 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1082 @node The First Time
1083 @section The First Time
1084 @cindex first time usage
1086 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1087 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1089 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1090 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1091 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1092 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1095 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1096 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1097 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1099 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1100 help you with most common problems.
1102 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1103 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1107 @node The Server is Down
1108 @section The Server is Down
1109 @cindex server errors
1111 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1112 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1113 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1115 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1116 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1117 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1118 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1119 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1120 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1121 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1123 @findex gnus-no-server
1124 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1126 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1127 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1128 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1129 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1130 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1131 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1132 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1136 @section Slave Gnusae
1139 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1140 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1141 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1142 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1144 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1145 @file{.newsrc} file.
1147 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1148 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1149 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1150 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1151 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1152 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1153 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1156 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1157 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1158 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1159 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1160 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1161 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1162 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1163 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1165 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1166 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1168 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1169 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1170 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1171 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1172 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1179 @cindex subscription
1181 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1182 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1183 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1184 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1185 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1186 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1187 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1188 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1189 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1192 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1193 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1194 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1198 @node Checking New Groups
1199 @subsection Checking New Groups
1201 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1202 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1203 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1204 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1205 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1206 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1207 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1208 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1209 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1210 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1212 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1213 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1214 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1215 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1216 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1217 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1218 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1219 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1220 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1221 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1222 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1224 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1225 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1226 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1227 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1228 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1229 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1232 @node Subscription Methods
1233 @subsection Subscription Methods
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1236 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1237 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1239 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1240 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1242 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1248 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1249 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1250 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1254 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1255 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1259 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1263 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1264 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1265 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1266 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1267 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1268 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1269 up. Or something like that.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1273 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1274 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1275 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1279 Kill all new groups.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1283 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1284 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1285 topic parameter that looks like
1291 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1294 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1300 A closely related variable is
1301 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1302 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1303 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1304 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1307 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1308 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1309 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1310 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1313 @node Filtering New Groups
1314 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1316 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1317 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1318 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1321 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1324 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1325 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1326 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1327 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1328 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1329 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1330 subscribing these groups.
1331 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1332 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1334 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1335 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1336 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1337 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1338 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1339 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1340 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1341 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1343 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1344 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1345 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1346 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1347 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1348 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1349 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1350 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1351 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1352 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1355 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1356 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1359 @node Changing Servers
1360 @section Changing Servers
1361 @cindex changing servers
1363 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1364 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1365 very flaky and you want to use another.
1367 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1368 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1372 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1373 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1374 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1375 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1378 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1379 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1381 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1384 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1385 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1386 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1387 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1389 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1390 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1391 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1392 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1393 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1394 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1395 cache for all groups).
1399 @section Startup Files
1400 @cindex startup files
1405 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1406 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1407 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1410 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1411 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1412 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1414 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1415 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1416 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1418 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1419 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1420 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1421 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1422 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1423 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1425 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1426 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1427 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1428 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1429 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1430 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1431 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1432 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1433 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1434 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1435 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1438 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1439 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1440 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1441 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1442 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1443 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1444 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1445 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1446 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1447 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1448 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1449 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1451 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1452 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1453 @vindex version-control
1454 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1455 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1456 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1457 If you want version control for this file, set
1458 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1459 @code{version-control} variable.
1461 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1462 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1463 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1464 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1465 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1466 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1467 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1468 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1469 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1470 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1473 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1474 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1476 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1477 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1480 @vindex gnus-init-file
1481 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1482 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1483 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1484 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1485 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1486 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1487 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1488 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1489 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1490 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1491 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1492 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1493 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1498 @cindex dribble file
1501 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1502 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1503 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1504 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1505 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1508 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1509 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1512 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1513 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1514 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1516 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1517 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1518 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1519 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1520 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1521 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1523 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1525 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1528 @node The Active File
1529 @section The Active File
1531 @cindex ignored groups
1533 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1534 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1535 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1537 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1538 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1539 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1540 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1541 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1542 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1543 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1546 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1547 @c if you set it to anything else.
1549 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1551 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1552 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1553 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1555 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1556 you actually subscribe to.
1558 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1559 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1560 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1561 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1563 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1564 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1565 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1566 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1567 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1568 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1570 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1571 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1572 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1575 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1576 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1577 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1578 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1579 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1580 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1582 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1583 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1585 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1586 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1588 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1589 secondary select methods.
1592 @node Startup Variables
1593 @section Startup Variables
1597 @item gnus-load-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1599 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1600 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1601 times you start Gnus.
1603 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1607 @item gnus-startup-hook
1608 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1609 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1611 @item gnus-started-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1613 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1616 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1619 generating the group buffer.
1621 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1624 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1625 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1626 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1627 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1628 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1630 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1633 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1634 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1635 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1637 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1638 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1639 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1641 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1645 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1646 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1647 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1648 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1654 @chapter Group Buffer
1655 @cindex group buffer
1657 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1659 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1660 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1661 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1662 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1663 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1664 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1665 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1666 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1667 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1668 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1669 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1670 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1671 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1672 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1673 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1674 @c human rights at 9...
1677 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1678 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1679 long as Gnus is active.
1683 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1684 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1685 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1686 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1687 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1688 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1689 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1690 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1696 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1697 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1698 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1699 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1700 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1701 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1702 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1703 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1704 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1705 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1706 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1707 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1708 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1709 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1710 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1711 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1712 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1713 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1714 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1718 @node Group Buffer Format
1719 @section Group Buffer Format
1722 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1723 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1724 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1727 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1728 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1731 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1732 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1733 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1734 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1737 @node Group Line Specification
1738 @subsection Group Line Specification
1739 @cindex group buffer format
1741 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1742 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1744 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1747 25: news.announce.newusers
1748 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1753 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1754 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1755 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1756 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1758 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1759 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1760 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1761 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1762 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1763 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1765 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1767 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1768 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1769 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1770 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1771 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1773 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1774 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1775 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1777 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1782 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1785 Whether the group is subscribed.
1788 Level of subscribedness.
1791 Number of unread articles.
1794 Number of dormant articles.
1797 Number of ticked articles.
1800 Number of read articles.
1803 Number of unseen articles.
1806 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1807 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1809 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1810 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1811 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1812 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1813 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1814 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1815 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1817 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1818 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1819 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1820 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1821 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1822 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1823 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1826 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1829 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1838 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1839 comment element in the group parameters.
1842 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1843 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1844 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1848 @samp{m} if moderated.
1851 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1857 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1863 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1867 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1870 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1871 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1872 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1873 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1874 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1877 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1879 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1883 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1886 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1890 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1891 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1892 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1893 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1896 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1897 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1898 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1899 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1900 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1901 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1906 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1907 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1908 group, or a bogus native group.
1911 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1912 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1913 @cindex group mode line
1915 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1916 The mode line can be changed by setting
1917 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1918 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1922 The native news server.
1924 The native select method.
1928 @node Group Highlighting
1929 @subsection Group Highlighting
1930 @cindex highlighting
1931 @cindex group highlighting
1933 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1934 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1935 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1936 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1937 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1939 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1943 (cond (window-system
1944 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1945 (defface my-group-face-1
1946 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1947 (defface my-group-face-2
1948 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1949 "Second group face")
1950 (defface my-group-face-3
1951 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1952 (defface my-group-face-4
1953 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1954 (defface my-group-face-5
1955 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1957 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1958 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1959 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1960 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1961 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1962 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1965 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1967 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1974 The number of unread articles in the group.
1978 Whether the group is a mail group.
1980 The level of the group.
1982 The score of the group.
1984 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1986 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1987 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1989 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1990 topic being inserted.
1993 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1994 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1995 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1997 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1998 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1999 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2000 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2001 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2004 @node Group Maneuvering
2005 @section Group Maneuvering
2006 @cindex group movement
2008 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2009 expected, hopefully.
2015 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2016 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2017 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2023 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2024 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2025 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2029 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2030 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2035 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2040 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2041 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2045 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2046 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2047 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2050 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2056 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2057 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2058 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2063 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2064 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2065 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2070 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2071 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2074 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2075 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2076 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2077 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2080 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2081 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2082 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2083 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2086 @node Selecting a Group
2087 @section Selecting a Group
2088 @cindex group selection
2093 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2094 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2095 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2096 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2097 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2098 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2099 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2100 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2101 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2102 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2104 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2105 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2106 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2108 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2109 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2115 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2116 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2117 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2118 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2122 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2123 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2124 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2125 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2126 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2127 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2128 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2129 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2130 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2131 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2134 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2135 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2136 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2137 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2138 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2141 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2142 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2143 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2144 doing any processing of its contents
2145 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2146 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2147 manner will have no permanent effects.
2151 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2152 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2153 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2154 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2155 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2156 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2157 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2158 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2159 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2160 most recently will be fetched.
2162 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2163 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2164 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2167 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2168 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2169 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2170 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2171 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2172 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2173 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2174 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2175 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2176 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2177 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2178 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2179 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2180 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2181 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2182 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2183 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2185 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2186 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2187 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2188 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2189 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2190 Which article this is controlled by the
2191 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2197 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2200 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2203 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2205 @item unseen-or-unread
2206 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2207 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2211 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2215 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2216 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2218 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2219 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2220 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2221 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2225 @node Subscription Commands
2226 @section Subscription Commands
2227 @cindex subscription
2235 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2236 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2237 Toggle subscription to the current group
2238 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2244 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2245 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2246 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2247 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2253 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2254 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2255 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2261 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2262 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2265 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2266 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2267 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2268 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2269 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2275 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2276 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2280 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2281 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2284 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2285 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2286 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2287 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2288 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2289 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2290 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2291 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2292 @file{.newsrc} file.
2296 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2306 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2307 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2308 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2309 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2310 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2311 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2316 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2317 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2318 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2322 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2323 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2324 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2326 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2327 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2328 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2329 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2330 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2331 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2338 @section Group Levels
2342 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2343 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2344 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2345 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2346 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2348 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2354 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2355 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2356 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2357 prompted for a level.
2360 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2361 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2362 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2363 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2364 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2365 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2366 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2367 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2368 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2369 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2370 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2371 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2372 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2373 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2374 reasons of efficiency.
2376 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2377 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2379 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2380 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2381 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2382 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2383 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2384 groups are hidden, in a way.
2386 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2387 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2388 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2389 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2390 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2391 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2393 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2394 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2395 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2396 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2397 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2398 list of killed groups.)
2400 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2401 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2402 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2404 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2405 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2406 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2407 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2408 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2409 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2410 relevant valid ranges.
2412 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2413 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2414 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2415 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2416 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2417 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2420 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2421 one with the best level.
2423 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2424 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2425 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2428 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2429 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2430 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2431 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2434 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2435 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2436 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2437 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2439 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2440 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2441 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2442 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2443 to 5. The default is 6.
2447 @section Group Score
2452 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2453 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2454 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2457 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2458 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2459 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2460 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2461 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2462 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2463 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2464 least significant part.))
2466 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2467 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2468 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2469 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2470 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2471 action after each summary exit, you can add
2472 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2473 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2474 slow things down somewhat.
2477 @node Marking Groups
2478 @section Marking Groups
2479 @cindex marking groups
2481 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2482 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2483 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2484 bidding on those groups.
2486 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2487 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2488 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2496 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2497 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2503 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2504 Remove the mark from the current group
2505 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2509 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2510 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2515 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2520 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2524 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2525 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2526 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2529 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2531 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2532 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2533 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2534 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2535 the command to be executed.
2538 @node Foreign Groups
2539 @section Foreign Groups
2540 @cindex foreign groups
2542 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2543 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2544 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2545 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2548 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2549 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2550 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2556 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2557 @cindex making groups
2558 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2559 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2560 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2564 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2565 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2566 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2570 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2571 @cindex renaming groups
2572 Rename the current group to something else
2573 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2574 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2580 @findex gnus-group-customize
2581 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2586 @cindex renaming groups
2587 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2588 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2592 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2593 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2594 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2598 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2599 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2600 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2604 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2606 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2607 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2613 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2617 @cindex (ding) archive
2618 @cindex archive group
2619 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2620 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2621 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2622 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2623 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2624 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2625 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2631 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2632 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2633 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2634 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2638 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2640 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2641 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2642 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2646 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2647 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2649 Make a group based on some file or other
2650 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2651 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2652 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2653 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2654 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2655 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2656 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2657 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2658 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2662 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2663 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2664 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2665 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2673 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2674 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2675 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2676 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2677 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2678 @xref{Web Searches}.
2680 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2681 to a particular group by using a match string like
2682 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2686 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2687 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2688 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2692 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2693 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2694 This function will delete the current group
2695 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2696 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2697 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2698 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2699 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2703 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2704 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2705 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2709 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2710 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2711 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2714 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2717 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2718 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2719 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2720 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2721 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2722 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2726 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2727 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2730 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2731 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2732 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2733 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2734 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2735 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2738 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2739 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2740 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2741 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2742 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2743 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2744 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2745 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2746 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2747 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2749 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2750 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2751 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2752 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2753 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2755 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2756 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2757 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2758 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2761 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2769 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2770 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2771 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2775 @node Group Parameters
2776 @section Group Parameters
2777 @cindex group parameters
2779 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2781 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2782 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2783 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2784 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2785 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2786 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2787 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2789 Here's an example group parameter list:
2792 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2796 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2797 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2798 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2799 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2801 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2802 is an alist of regexps and values.
2804 The following group parameters can be used:
2809 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2812 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2815 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2816 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2817 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2818 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2819 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2821 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2822 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2823 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2824 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2825 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2826 list address instead.
2828 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2832 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2835 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2838 It is totally ignored
2839 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2840 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2842 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2843 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2844 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2845 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2846 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2848 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2849 @cindex mail list groups
2850 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2851 entering summary buffer.
2853 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2858 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2859 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2860 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2861 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2862 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2863 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2864 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2865 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2868 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2869 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2872 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2873 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2877 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2878 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2879 of whether it has any unread articles.
2881 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2882 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2884 @item broken-reply-to
2885 @cindex broken-reply-to
2886 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2887 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2888 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2889 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2890 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2891 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2895 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2896 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2900 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2901 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2902 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2907 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2908 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2909 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2910 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2911 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2912 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2913 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2915 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2916 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2917 doesn't accept articles.
2921 @cindex expiring mail
2922 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2923 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2924 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2926 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2929 @cindex total-expire
2930 @cindex expiring mail
2931 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2932 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2933 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2934 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2937 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2941 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2942 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2943 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2944 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2945 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2946 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2947 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2950 @cindex expiry-target
2951 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2952 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2955 @cindex score file group parameter
2956 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2957 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2958 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2961 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2962 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2963 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2964 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2967 @cindex admin-address
2968 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2969 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2970 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2971 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2975 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2976 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2980 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2983 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2984 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2987 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2991 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2993 Here are some examples:
2997 Display only unread articles.
3000 Display everything except expirable articles.
3002 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
3003 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
3007 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
3008 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
3009 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
3010 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
3011 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
3015 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
3016 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
3017 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3021 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3022 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3023 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3027 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3028 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3029 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3031 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3033 @item ignored-charsets
3034 @cindex ignored-charset
3035 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3036 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3037 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3039 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3042 @cindex posting-style
3043 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3044 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3045 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3046 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3047 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3049 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3050 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3051 like this in the group parameters:
3056 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3057 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3060 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3061 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3062 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3063 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3064 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3065 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3071 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3072 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3076 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3077 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3078 mail source for this group.
3082 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3083 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3084 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3085 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3086 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3090 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3091 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3092 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3093 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3095 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3096 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3097 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3098 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3101 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3102 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3106 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3107 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3108 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3109 like the following is generated:
3112 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3113 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3117 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3118 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3120 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3121 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3123 @item (agent parameters)
3124 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3125 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3126 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3127 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3128 minimize the configuration effort.
3130 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3131 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3132 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3133 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3134 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3135 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3136 @code{eval}ed there.
3138 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3139 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3140 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3141 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3142 form needs to be set to it.
3144 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3145 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3146 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3147 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3148 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3149 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3150 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3153 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3156 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3157 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3158 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3161 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3164 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3165 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3166 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3167 into the group parameters for the group.
3169 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3170 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3171 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3172 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3173 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3175 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3176 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3177 following is added to a group parameter
3180 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3181 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3184 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3189 @vindex gnus-parameters
3190 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3191 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3192 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3196 (setq gnus-parameters
3198 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3199 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3200 (gnus-summary-line-format
3201 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3205 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3209 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3213 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3216 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3217 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3219 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3220 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3221 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3222 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3223 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3224 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3225 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3226 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3227 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3228 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3229 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3230 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3232 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3233 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3234 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3235 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3236 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3237 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3238 weekly news RSS feed
3239 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3245 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3246 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3247 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3248 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3249 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3251 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3252 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3253 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3254 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3255 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3256 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3260 @node Listing Groups
3261 @section Listing Groups
3262 @cindex group listing
3264 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3272 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3273 List all groups that have unread articles
3274 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3275 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3276 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3277 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3284 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3285 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3286 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3287 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3288 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3289 unsubscribed groups).
3293 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3294 List all unread groups on a specific level
3295 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3296 with no unread articles.
3300 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3301 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3302 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3303 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3308 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3309 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3313 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3314 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3315 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3320 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3324 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3325 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3326 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3327 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3328 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3329 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3330 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3331 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3335 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3336 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3337 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3341 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3342 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3343 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3347 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3348 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3352 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3353 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3357 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3358 List groups limited within the current selection
3359 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3363 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3364 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3368 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3369 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3373 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3374 @cindex visible group parameter
3375 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3376 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3377 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3378 get the same effect.
3380 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3381 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3382 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3383 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3384 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3387 @node Sorting Groups
3388 @section Sorting Groups
3389 @cindex sorting groups
3391 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3392 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3393 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3394 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3395 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3396 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3401 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3402 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3403 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3405 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3406 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3407 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3409 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3410 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3411 Sort by group level.
3413 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3414 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3415 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3417 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3418 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3419 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3420 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3422 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3423 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3424 Sort by number of unread articles.
3426 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3427 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3428 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3430 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3431 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3432 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3437 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3438 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3442 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3443 some sorting criteria:
3447 @kindex G S a (Group)
3448 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3449 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3450 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3453 @kindex G S u (Group)
3454 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3455 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3456 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3459 @kindex G S l (Group)
3460 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3461 Sort the group buffer by group level
3462 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3465 @kindex G S v (Group)
3466 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3467 Sort the group buffer by group score
3468 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3471 @kindex G S r (Group)
3472 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3473 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3474 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3477 @kindex G S m (Group)
3478 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3479 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3480 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3483 @kindex G S n (Group)
3484 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3485 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3486 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3490 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3491 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3493 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3494 commands will sort in reverse order.
3496 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3500 @kindex G P a (Group)
3501 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3502 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3503 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3506 @kindex G P u (Group)
3507 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3508 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3509 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3512 @kindex G P l (Group)
3513 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3514 Sort the groups by group level
3515 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3518 @kindex G P v (Group)
3519 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3520 Sort the groups by group score
3521 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3524 @kindex G P r (Group)
3525 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3526 Sort the groups by group rank
3527 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3530 @kindex G P m (Group)
3531 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3532 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3533 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3536 @kindex G P n (Group)
3537 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3538 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3539 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3542 @kindex G P s (Group)
3543 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3544 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3548 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3552 @node Group Maintenance
3553 @section Group Maintenance
3554 @cindex bogus groups
3559 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3560 Find bogus groups and delete them
3561 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3565 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3566 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3567 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3568 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3569 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3573 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3574 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3575 @cindex expiring mail
3576 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3577 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3578 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3579 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3582 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3583 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3584 @cindex expiring mail
3585 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3586 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3591 @node Browse Foreign Server
3592 @section Browse Foreign Server
3593 @cindex foreign servers
3594 @cindex browsing servers
3599 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3600 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3601 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3602 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3605 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3606 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3607 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3608 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3610 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3615 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3616 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3620 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3621 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3624 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3625 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3626 Enter the current group and display the first article
3627 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3630 @kindex RET (Browse)
3631 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3632 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3636 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3637 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3638 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3644 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3645 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3649 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3650 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3654 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3655 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3656 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3661 @section Exiting Gnus
3662 @cindex exiting Gnus
3664 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3669 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3670 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3671 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3672 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3676 @findex gnus-group-exit
3677 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3678 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3682 @findex gnus-group-quit
3683 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3684 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3687 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3688 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3689 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3690 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3691 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3692 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3698 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3699 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3700 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3706 @section Group Topics
3709 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3710 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3711 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3712 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3713 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3714 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3718 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3719 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3730 2: alt.religion.emacs
3733 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3735 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3736 13: comp.sources.unix
3739 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3741 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3742 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3743 is a toggling command.)
3745 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3746 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3747 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3748 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3751 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3752 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3753 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3756 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3760 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3761 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3762 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3763 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3764 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3768 @node Topic Commands
3769 @subsection Topic Commands
3770 @cindex topic commands
3772 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3773 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3774 definitions slightly.
3776 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3777 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3778 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3779 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3780 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3781 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3783 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3790 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3791 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3792 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3796 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3798 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3799 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3800 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3801 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3804 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3805 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3806 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3807 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3811 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3812 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3813 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3814 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3820 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3821 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3822 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3826 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3827 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3828 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3831 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3832 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3833 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3834 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3835 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3837 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3838 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3842 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3843 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3850 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3852 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3853 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3854 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3855 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3856 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3857 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3861 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3867 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3868 Move the current group to some other topic
3869 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3870 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3874 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3875 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3879 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3880 Copy the current group to some other topic
3881 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3882 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3886 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3887 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3888 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3892 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3893 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3894 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3898 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3899 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3900 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3901 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3902 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3903 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3904 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3907 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3908 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3912 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3913 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3914 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3918 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3919 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3920 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3924 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3925 Toggle hiding empty topics
3926 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3930 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3931 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3932 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3933 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3936 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3937 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3938 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3939 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3940 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3943 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3944 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3945 @cindex expiring mail
3946 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3947 expiry process (if any)
3948 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3952 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3953 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3956 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3957 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3958 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3962 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3963 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3964 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3967 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3968 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3969 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3972 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3973 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3974 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3978 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3979 @cindex group parameters
3980 @cindex topic parameters
3982 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3983 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3988 @node Topic Variables
3989 @subsection Topic Variables
3990 @cindex topic variables
3992 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3993 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3995 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3996 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3997 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4010 Number of groups in the topic.
4012 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4014 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4017 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4018 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4019 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4022 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4023 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4025 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4026 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4027 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4031 @subsection Topic Sorting
4032 @cindex topic sorting
4034 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4040 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4041 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4042 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4043 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4046 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4047 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4048 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4049 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4052 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4053 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4054 Sort the current topic by group level
4055 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4058 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4059 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4060 Sort the current topic by group score
4061 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4064 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4065 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4066 Sort the current topic by group rank
4067 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4070 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4071 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4072 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4073 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4076 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4077 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4078 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4079 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4082 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4083 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4084 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4085 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4086 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4090 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4091 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4095 @node Topic Topology
4096 @subsection Topic Topology
4097 @cindex topic topology
4100 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4107 2: alt.religion.emacs
4110 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4112 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4113 13: comp.sources.unix
4117 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4118 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4119 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4124 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4125 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4129 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4130 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4131 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4132 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4133 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4134 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4136 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4137 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4138 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4141 @node Topic Parameters
4142 @subsection Topic Parameters
4143 @cindex topic parameters
4145 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4146 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4147 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4148 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4149 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4151 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4156 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4157 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4158 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4161 @item subscribe-level
4162 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4163 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4164 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4168 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4169 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4170 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4171 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4178 2: alt.religion.emacs
4182 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4184 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4185 13: comp.sources.unix
4190 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4191 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4192 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4193 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4194 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4195 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4197 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4198 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4199 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4200 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4201 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4203 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4204 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4205 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4206 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4207 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4208 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4209 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4210 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4213 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4214 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4215 @cindex non-ascii group names
4217 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4218 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4219 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4220 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4221 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4222 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4223 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4226 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4227 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4228 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4229 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4230 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4231 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4232 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4233 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4236 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4237 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4238 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4239 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4240 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4243 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4244 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4247 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4248 ones specified for the same groups with the
4249 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4251 A select method can be very long, like:
4255 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4256 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4257 (nntp-open-connection-function
4258 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4259 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4260 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4261 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4262 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4265 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4266 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4269 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4270 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4271 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4272 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4273 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4274 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4277 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4278 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4282 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4283 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4286 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4287 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4288 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4289 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4290 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4291 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4293 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4297 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4298 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4299 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4300 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4301 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4302 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4304 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the @acronym{NNTP}
4305 marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent, and the cache use
4306 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and directories. This
4307 variable overrides the value of @code{file-name-coding-system} which
4308 specifies the coding system used when encoding and decoding those file
4309 names and directory names.
4311 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4312 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4313 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4314 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4315 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4316 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4318 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4319 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4320 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4321 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4323 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4324 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4325 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4326 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4328 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4329 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1} for example, although you
4330 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4331 typical case where you have to customize
4332 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8} coding system is
4333 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4334 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4335 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4338 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4339 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4340 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4341 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4348 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4349 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4354 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4356 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4357 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4360 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4366 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4370 @subsection nnmairix
4374 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4375 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4376 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4377 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4380 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4381 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4382 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4383 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4384 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4385 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4386 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4387 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4388 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4391 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4392 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4393 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4396 @subsubsection About mairix
4398 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4399 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4400 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4401 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4403 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4405 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4406 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4407 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4408 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4409 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4410 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4411 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4412 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4415 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4416 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4417 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4418 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4419 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4420 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4421 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4422 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4423 searches. This is similar to a Kiboze group (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}),
4426 @node nnmairix requirements
4427 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4429 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4430 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4431 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4432 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4434 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4435 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4436 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4437 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4439 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4440 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4441 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4442 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
4443 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
4444 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
4446 @node What nnmairix does
4447 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4449 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4450 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4451 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4452 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4453 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4454 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4455 mails are in different folders.
4457 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4458 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4459 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4460 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4461 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4462 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4464 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4465 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4466 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4467 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4468 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4469 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4470 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4471 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4472 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4473 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4474 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4476 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
4477 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
4478 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
4479 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
4480 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
4481 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
4482 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4483 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
4484 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
4485 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
4486 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4487 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
4488 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
4489 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
4490 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
4491 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4493 @node Setting up mairix
4494 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4496 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4498 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4499 (at least) the following entries:
4502 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4506 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4507 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4508 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4509 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4512 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4513 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4514 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4517 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
4518 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
4519 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
4520 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
4521 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
4527 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4528 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4529 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4530 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4533 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4534 database= ... location of database file ...
4537 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4538 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4539 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4541 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4545 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4546 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4547 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4550 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4553 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4554 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4555 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4556 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4557 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4558 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4559 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4560 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4561 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4562 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4563 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4564 The other lines should be obvious.
4566 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4567 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4568 than you are used to.
4570 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4571 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4572 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4574 @node Configuring nnmairix
4575 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4577 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4578 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4579 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4580 server. You will have to specify the following:
4585 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4589 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
4590 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
4591 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
4592 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
4593 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
4594 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
4595 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
4596 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
4597 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
4598 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
4599 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might loose mail
4600 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
4601 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
4602 @code{nnimap} server here.
4605 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4606 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4607 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4608 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4609 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4610 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4611 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4614 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4615 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4616 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4620 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4621 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4622 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4623 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4624 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4628 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4629 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4636 @kindex G b c (Group)
4637 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4638 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4639 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4640 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4643 @kindex G b s (Group)
4644 @findex nnmairix-search
4645 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4646 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4647 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4650 @kindex G b m (Group)
4651 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4652 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4653 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4654 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4657 @kindex G b i (Group)
4658 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4659 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4660 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4663 @kindex G b g (Group)
4664 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4665 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4666 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4667 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4671 @kindex G b q (Group)
4672 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4673 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4674 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4677 @kindex G b t (Group)
4678 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4679 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4680 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4681 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4684 @kindex G b u (Group)
4685 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4686 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4687 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4688 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4689 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4690 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4694 @kindex G b r (Group)
4695 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4696 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4697 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4700 @kindex G b d (Group)
4701 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4702 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4703 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4704 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4707 @kindex G b a (Group)
4708 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4709 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4710 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4711 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4712 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4713 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4714 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4715 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4716 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4719 @kindex G b p (Group)
4720 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4721 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4722 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4726 @kindex G b o (Group)
4727 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4728 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4729 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4738 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4739 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4740 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4741 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4742 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4745 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4746 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4747 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4748 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4749 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4752 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4753 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4754 Searches thread for the current article
4755 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4756 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4757 current article and enabled threads.
4760 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4761 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4762 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4763 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4764 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4767 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4768 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4769 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4770 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4771 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4772 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4773 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4774 article file name as a fallback method.
4777 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4778 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4779 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4780 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4785 @node Propagating marks
4786 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4788 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4789 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4790 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4792 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4794 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4795 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4796 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4797 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4800 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4801 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4802 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4803 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4804 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4805 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4806 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4807 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4808 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4809 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4811 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4812 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4813 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4814 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4815 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4816 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4817 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4819 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4820 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4821 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4822 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4823 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4824 even more cumbersome.
4826 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4827 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4828 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4830 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4831 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4832 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4833 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4834 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4835 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4836 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4838 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4839 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4840 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4841 magically be set for the original article, too.
4843 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4845 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4846 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4847 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4848 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4849 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4850 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4853 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4854 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4855 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4856 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4857 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4858 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4859 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4861 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4862 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4863 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4864 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4865 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4866 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4867 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4869 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4870 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4871 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4872 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4873 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4874 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4875 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4876 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4877 maildir as its file format.
4879 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4880 If you work with this setup, just set
4881 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4882 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4883 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4884 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4885 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4886 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4888 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4889 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4895 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4896 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4897 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4900 I use the following to check for mails:
4903 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4905 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4906 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4907 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4908 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4910 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4913 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4914 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4918 Example: search group for ticked articles
4920 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4921 articles always stay unread:
4923 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4924 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4926 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4927 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4929 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4930 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4931 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4932 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4933 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4934 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4935 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4936 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4938 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4939 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4940 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4941 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4942 snippet and the doc string for details.
4945 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4947 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4948 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4949 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4950 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4951 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4952 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4953 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4954 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4955 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4956 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4957 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4958 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4961 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4962 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4967 @node nnmairix caveats
4968 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4972 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
4973 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
4974 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
4975 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
4976 an example server definition:
4979 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
4982 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variabe
4983 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
4984 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
4988 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4989 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4990 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4991 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4992 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4993 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4996 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4997 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
5000 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
5001 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
5004 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
5007 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
5008 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
5009 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
5010 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
5011 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
5012 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
5016 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
5017 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
5018 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
5019 it is gone for good.
5022 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
5023 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
5024 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
5025 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
5026 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
5027 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
5028 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
5029 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
5030 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5033 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5034 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5036 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5037 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5038 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5039 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5040 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5041 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5042 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5043 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5044 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5045 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5046 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5047 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5051 @node Misc Group Stuff
5052 @section Misc Group Stuff
5055 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5056 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5057 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5058 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5059 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5066 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5067 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5068 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5071 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5074 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5077 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5078 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5082 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5083 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5084 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5088 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5089 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5090 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5091 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5092 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5093 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5094 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5098 @findex gnus-group-mail
5099 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5100 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5101 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5102 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5106 @findex gnus-group-news
5107 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5108 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5109 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5111 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5112 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5113 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5114 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5115 for this to work though.
5119 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5121 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5122 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5123 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5128 Variables for the group buffer:
5132 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5133 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5134 is called after the group buffer has been
5137 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5138 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5139 is called after the group buffer is
5140 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5143 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5144 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5145 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5146 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5148 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5149 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5150 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5151 whether they are empty or not.
5155 @node Scanning New Messages
5156 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5157 @cindex new messages
5158 @cindex scanning new news
5164 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5165 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5166 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5167 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5168 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5169 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5174 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5175 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5176 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5177 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5178 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5179 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5180 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5182 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5183 @cindex activating groups
5185 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5186 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5191 @findex gnus-group-restart
5192 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5193 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5194 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5198 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5199 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5201 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5202 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5206 @node Group Information
5207 @subsection Group Information
5208 @cindex group information
5209 @cindex information on groups
5216 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5217 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5220 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5221 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5222 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5223 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5224 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5225 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5226 used for fetching the file.
5228 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5229 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5233 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
5234 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
5236 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
5237 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
5240 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
5241 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
5242 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
5246 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
5247 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
5248 @cindex control message
5249 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
5250 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
5251 group if given a prefix argument.
5253 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
5254 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
5255 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
5256 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
5258 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
5259 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
5260 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
5264 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5266 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5267 @cindex describing groups
5268 @cindex group description
5269 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5270 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5271 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5275 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5276 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5277 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5284 @findex gnus-version
5285 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5289 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5290 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5293 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5296 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5297 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5301 @node Group Timestamp
5302 @subsection Group Timestamp
5304 @cindex group timestamps
5306 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5307 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5308 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5311 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5314 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5316 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5317 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5320 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5321 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5324 This will result in lines looking like:
5327 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5328 0: custom 19961002T012713
5331 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5332 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5336 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5337 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5340 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5341 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5345 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5346 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5347 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5348 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5350 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5356 @subsection File Commands
5357 @cindex file commands
5363 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5364 @vindex gnus-init-file
5365 @cindex reading init file
5366 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5367 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5371 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5372 @cindex saving .newsrc
5373 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5374 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5375 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5378 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5379 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5380 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5385 @node Sieve Commands
5386 @subsection Sieve Commands
5387 @cindex group sieve commands
5389 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5390 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5391 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5392 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5393 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5395 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5396 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5397 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5398 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5399 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5400 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5401 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5402 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5403 regenerate the Sieve script.
5405 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5406 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5407 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5408 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5409 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5410 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5411 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5412 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5413 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5414 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5417 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5418 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5423 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5429 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5430 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5431 @cindex generating sieve script
5432 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5433 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5437 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5438 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5439 @cindex updating sieve script
5440 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5441 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5442 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5447 @node Summary Buffer
5448 @chapter Summary Buffer
5449 @cindex summary buffer
5451 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5452 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5454 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5455 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5457 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5459 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5460 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5464 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5465 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5466 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5468 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5472 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5473 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5474 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5475 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5476 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5477 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5478 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5479 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5480 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5481 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5482 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5483 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5484 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5485 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5486 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5487 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5488 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5489 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5490 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5491 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5492 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5493 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5494 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5495 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5496 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5497 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5498 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5499 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5500 or reselecting the current group.
5501 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5502 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5503 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5504 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5508 @node Summary Buffer Format
5509 @section Summary Buffer Format
5510 @cindex summary buffer format
5514 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5515 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5516 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5522 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5523 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5524 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5525 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5528 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5529 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5530 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5531 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5532 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5533 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5534 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5535 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5536 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5537 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5538 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5541 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5542 'mail-extract-address-components)
5545 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5546 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5547 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5548 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5551 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5552 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5554 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5555 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5556 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5557 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5558 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5560 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5561 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5562 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5563 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5564 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5565 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5567 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5569 The following format specification characters and extended format
5570 specification(s) are understood:
5576 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5577 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5579 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5580 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5581 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5583 Full @code{From} header.
5585 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5587 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5590 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5591 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5592 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5593 may be more thorough.
5595 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5598 Number of lines in the article.
5600 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5601 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5603 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5604 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5606 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5608 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5609 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5622 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5623 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5624 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5625 line-drawing glyphs.
5627 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5628 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5629 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5630 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5632 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5633 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5634 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5635 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5637 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5638 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5639 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5640 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5642 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5643 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5644 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5646 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5647 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5648 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5650 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5651 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5652 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5654 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5655 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5656 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5661 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5662 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5664 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5665 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5667 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5668 for adopted articles.
5670 One space for each thread level.
5672 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5674 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5677 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5678 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5679 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5682 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5684 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5685 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5686 default level. If the difference between
5687 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5688 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5696 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5698 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5704 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5705 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5707 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5708 article has any children.
5714 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5716 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5717 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5719 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5720 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5721 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5722 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5723 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5724 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5727 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5728 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5729 There can only be one such area.
5731 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5732 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5733 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5734 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5735 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5736 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5738 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5739 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5741 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5744 @node To From Newsgroups
5745 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5749 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5750 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5751 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5752 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5753 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5757 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5758 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5759 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5763 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5764 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5767 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5768 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5771 @findex gnus-extra-header
5772 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5773 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5774 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5777 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5781 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5782 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5783 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5784 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5785 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5786 headers are used instead.
5788 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5789 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5790 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5791 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5792 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5793 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5797 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5798 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5799 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5800 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5801 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5802 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5805 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5806 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5807 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5808 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5810 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5814 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5816 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5817 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5818 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5819 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5823 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5826 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5827 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5830 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5831 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5832 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5838 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5839 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5842 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5843 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5845 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5846 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5847 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5848 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5850 Here are the elements you can play with:
5856 Unprefixed group name.
5858 Current article number.
5860 Current article score.
5864 Number of unread articles in this group.
5866 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5869 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5870 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5871 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5872 and no unselected ones.
5874 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5875 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5877 Subject of the current article.
5879 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5881 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5883 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5885 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5887 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5889 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5893 @node Summary Highlighting
5894 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5898 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5899 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5900 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5901 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5902 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5904 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5905 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5906 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5907 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5909 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5910 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5911 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5912 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5914 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5915 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5916 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5917 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5918 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5919 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5922 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5923 ((> score default) . bold))
5925 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5926 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5930 @node Summary Maneuvering
5931 @section Summary Maneuvering
5932 @cindex summary movement
5934 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5935 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5937 None of these commands select articles.
5942 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5943 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5945 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5950 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5951 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5953 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5954 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5957 @kindex G g (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5959 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5960 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5963 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5964 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5965 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5966 to the group buffer.
5968 Variables related to summary movement:
5972 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5973 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5974 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5975 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5976 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5977 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5978 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5979 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5980 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5981 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5982 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5983 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5984 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5985 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5987 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5988 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5989 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5990 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5991 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5992 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5993 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5995 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5997 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5998 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5999 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
6000 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
6001 Instead, they will choose the current article.
6003 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
6004 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
6005 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
6006 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
6007 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
6008 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
6009 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
6010 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
6013 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
6014 the given number of lines from the top.
6016 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6017 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6018 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
6019 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
6024 @node Choosing Articles
6025 @section Choosing Articles
6026 @cindex selecting articles
6029 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
6030 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
6034 @node Choosing Commands
6035 @subsection Choosing Commands
6037 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
6038 and they all select and display an article.
6040 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
6041 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
6045 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6046 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6047 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
6048 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6050 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
6051 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
6052 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
6057 @kindex G n (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
6059 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
6060 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6065 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6066 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6067 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6072 @kindex G N (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6074 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6079 @kindex G P (Summary)
6080 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6081 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6084 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6086 Go to the next article with the same subject
6087 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6090 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6091 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6092 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6093 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6097 @kindex G f (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6100 Go to the first unread article
6101 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6105 @kindex G b (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6108 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6110 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6115 @kindex G l (Summary)
6116 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6117 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6120 @kindex G o (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6123 @cindex article history
6124 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6126 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6127 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6128 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6129 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6134 @kindex G j (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6136 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6137 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6142 @node Choosing Variables
6143 @subsection Choosing Variables
6145 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6148 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6149 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6150 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6151 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6152 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6153 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6155 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6156 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6157 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6158 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6159 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6162 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6163 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6164 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6165 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6166 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6167 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6168 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6169 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6170 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6171 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6172 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6173 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6174 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6175 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6180 @node Paging the Article
6181 @section Scrolling the Article
6182 @cindex article scrolling
6187 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6188 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6189 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6190 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6191 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6193 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6194 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6195 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6196 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6197 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6198 what is considered uninteresting with
6199 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6200 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6203 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6205 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6208 @kindex RET (Summary)
6209 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6210 Scroll the current article one line forward
6211 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6214 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6216 Scroll the current article one line backward
6217 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6221 @kindex A g (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6224 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6225 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6226 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
6227 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
6228 the way it came from the server.
6230 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
6231 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6232 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6233 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6236 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6241 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6246 @kindex A < (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6248 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6254 @kindex A > (Summary)
6255 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6256 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6260 @kindex A s (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6263 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6268 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6269 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6274 @node Reply Followup and Post
6275 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6278 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6279 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6280 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6281 * Canceling and Superseding::
6285 @node Summary Mail Commands
6286 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6288 @cindex composing mail
6290 Commands for composing a mail message:
6296 @kindex S r (Summary)
6298 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6299 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6300 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6301 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6302 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6307 @kindex S R (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6309 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6310 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6311 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6312 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6315 @kindex S w (Summary)
6316 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6317 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6318 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6319 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6320 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6321 present, that's used instead.
6324 @kindex S W (Summary)
6325 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6326 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6327 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6328 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
6329 first article to determine the recipients.
6332 @kindex S v (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6334 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6336 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6337 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6338 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6341 @kindex S V (Summary)
6342 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6343 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6344 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6345 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6348 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6350 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6351 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6352 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6353 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6354 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6355 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6358 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6359 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6360 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6361 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6362 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6366 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6367 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6369 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6370 Forward the current article to some other person
6371 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6372 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6373 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6374 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6375 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6376 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6377 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6378 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6379 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6385 @kindex S m (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6387 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6388 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6389 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6390 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6393 @kindex S i (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6395 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6396 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6397 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6399 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6400 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6401 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6402 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6403 for this to work though.
6406 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6408 @cindex bouncing mail
6409 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6410 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6411 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6412 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6413 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6414 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6415 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6416 very well fail, though.
6419 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6420 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6421 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6422 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6423 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6424 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6425 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6426 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6427 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6428 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6430 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6431 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6432 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6433 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6434 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6436 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6437 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6440 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6441 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6443 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6444 if it were a new message before resending.
6447 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6448 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6449 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6450 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6451 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6454 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6456 @cindex crossposting
6457 @cindex excessive crossposting
6458 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6459 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6461 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6462 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6463 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6464 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6465 command understands the process/prefix convention
6466 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6470 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6471 Manual}, for more information.
6474 @node Summary Post Commands
6475 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6477 @cindex composing news
6479 Commands for posting a news article:
6485 @kindex S p (Summary)
6486 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6487 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6488 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6489 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6490 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6495 @kindex S f (Summary)
6496 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6497 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6498 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6502 @kindex S F (Summary)
6504 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6505 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6506 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6507 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6508 process/prefix convention.
6511 @kindex S n (Summary)
6512 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6513 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6514 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6517 @kindex S N (Summary)
6518 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6519 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6520 message through mail and include the original message
6521 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6522 the process/prefix convention.
6525 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6526 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6527 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6528 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6529 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6530 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6531 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6532 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6533 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6534 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6535 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6536 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6537 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6540 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6541 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6543 @cindex making digests
6544 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6545 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6546 process/prefix convention.
6549 @kindex S u (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6551 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6552 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6553 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6556 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6557 Manual}, for more information.
6560 @node Summary Message Commands
6561 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6565 @kindex S y (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6567 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6568 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6569 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6570 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6575 @node Canceling and Superseding
6576 @subsection Canceling Articles
6577 @cindex canceling articles
6578 @cindex superseding articles
6580 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6581 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6583 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6585 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6588 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6589 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6590 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6591 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6592 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6594 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6595 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6598 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6599 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6600 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6602 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6603 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6604 message, Message Manual}).
6606 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6607 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6608 your original article.
6610 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6612 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6613 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6614 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6617 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6618 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6619 have posted almost the same article twice.
6621 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6622 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6623 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6624 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6625 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6626 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6627 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6628 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6629 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6630 canceled/superseded.
6632 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6634 @node Delayed Articles
6635 @section Delayed Articles
6636 @cindex delayed sending
6637 @cindex send delayed
6639 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6640 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6641 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6642 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6645 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6648 @findex gnus-delay-article
6649 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6650 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6651 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6652 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6656 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6657 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6658 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6659 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6662 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6663 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6664 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6667 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6668 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6669 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6670 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6671 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6672 that means a time tomorrow.
6675 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6676 couple of variables:
6679 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6680 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6681 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6682 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6684 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6685 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6686 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6687 formats described above.
6689 @item gnus-delay-group
6690 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6691 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6692 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6693 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6695 @item gnus-delay-header
6696 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6697 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6698 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6699 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6702 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6703 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6704 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6705 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6706 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6708 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6709 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6710 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6711 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6712 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6713 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6714 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6717 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6718 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6719 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6720 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6721 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6722 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6723 argument is ignored.
6725 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6726 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6727 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6730 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
6731 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
6732 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
6733 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
6734 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
6737 @node Marking Articles
6738 @section Marking Articles
6739 @cindex article marking
6740 @cindex article ticking
6743 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6745 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6746 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6747 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6749 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6752 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6756 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6757 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6758 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6759 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6760 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6761 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6765 @node Unread Articles
6766 @subsection Unread Articles
6768 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6773 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6774 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6776 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6777 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6778 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6779 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6780 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6781 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6782 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6785 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6786 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6788 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6789 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6790 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6791 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6795 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6796 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6798 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6803 @subsection Read Articles
6804 @cindex expirable mark
6806 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6811 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6812 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6813 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6816 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6817 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6820 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6821 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6822 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6825 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6826 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6829 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6830 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6833 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6834 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6837 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6838 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6841 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6842 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6845 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6846 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6850 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6851 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6852 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6856 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6857 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6859 One more special mark, though:
6863 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6864 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6866 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6867 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6868 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6869 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6875 @subsection Other Marks
6876 @cindex process mark
6879 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6885 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6886 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6887 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6888 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6889 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6892 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6893 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6894 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6895 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6898 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6899 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6900 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6903 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6904 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6905 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6908 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6909 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6910 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6911 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6914 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6915 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6916 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6917 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6918 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6919 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6922 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6923 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6924 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6925 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6928 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6929 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6930 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6931 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6932 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6936 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6937 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6938 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6939 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6940 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6941 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6944 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6945 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6946 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6947 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6948 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6949 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6953 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6954 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6955 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6956 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6957 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6960 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6961 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6962 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6963 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6964 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6965 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6969 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6970 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6971 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6973 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6974 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6975 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6979 @subsection Setting Marks
6980 @cindex setting marks
6982 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6987 @kindex M c (Summary)
6988 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6989 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6990 @cindex mark as unread
6991 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6992 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6998 @kindex M t (Summary)
6999 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
7000 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
7001 @xref{Article Caching}.
7006 @kindex M ? (Summary)
7007 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
7008 Mark the current article as dormant
7009 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
7013 @kindex M d (Summary)
7015 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
7016 Mark the current article as read
7017 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
7021 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
7022 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
7023 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
7028 @kindex M k (Summary)
7029 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
7030 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
7031 and then select the next unread article
7032 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
7036 @kindex M K (Summary)
7037 @kindex C-k (Summary)
7038 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
7039 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
7040 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
7043 @kindex M C (Summary)
7044 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
7045 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
7046 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
7049 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
7050 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
7051 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
7052 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
7055 @kindex M H (Summary)
7056 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
7057 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
7058 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
7061 @kindex M h (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7063 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7064 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7067 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7068 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7069 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7070 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7073 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7074 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7075 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7076 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7080 @kindex M e (Summary)
7082 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7083 Mark the current article as expirable
7084 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7087 @kindex M b (Summary)
7088 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7089 Set a bookmark in the current article
7090 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7093 @kindex M B (Summary)
7094 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7095 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7096 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7099 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7100 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7101 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7102 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7105 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7106 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7107 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7108 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7111 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7112 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7113 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7114 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7118 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7119 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7120 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7121 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7122 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7123 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7124 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7125 The default is @code{t}.
7128 @node Generic Marking Commands
7129 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7131 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7132 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7133 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7134 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7135 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7138 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7139 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7142 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7143 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7144 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7145 to list in this manual.
7147 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7148 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7149 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7150 article, you could say something like:
7154 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7155 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7156 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7164 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7165 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7169 @node Setting Process Marks
7170 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7171 @cindex setting process marks
7173 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7174 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7175 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7176 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7177 articles into the cache. For more information,
7178 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7185 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7186 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7187 Mark the current article with the process mark
7188 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7189 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7193 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7194 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7195 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7196 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7199 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7200 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7201 Remove the process mark from all articles
7202 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7205 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7206 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7207 Invert the list of process marked articles
7208 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7211 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7212 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7213 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7214 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7217 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7219 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7220 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7223 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7225 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7228 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7229 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7230 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7233 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7235 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7236 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7239 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7241 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7242 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7245 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7247 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7248 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7251 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7253 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7256 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7257 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7258 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7259 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7262 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7263 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7264 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7267 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7269 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7270 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7273 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7274 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7275 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7276 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7279 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7281 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7282 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7285 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7287 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7288 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7292 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7293 set process marks based on article body contents.
7300 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7301 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7302 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7305 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
7306 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
7313 @kindex / / (Summary)
7314 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7315 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7316 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7320 @kindex / a (Summary)
7321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7322 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7323 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7327 @kindex / R (Summary)
7328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7329 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7330 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7334 @kindex / A (Summary)
7335 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7336 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7337 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7338 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7341 @kindex / S (Summary)
7342 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7343 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7344 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7345 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7348 @kindex / x (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7350 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7351 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7352 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7357 @kindex / u (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7360 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7361 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7362 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7363 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7366 @kindex / m (Summary)
7367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7368 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7369 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7372 @kindex / t (Summary)
7373 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7374 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7375 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7376 articles younger than that number of days.
7379 @kindex / n (Summary)
7380 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7381 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7382 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7383 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7386 @kindex / w (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7388 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7393 @kindex / . (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7395 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7399 @kindex / v (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7401 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7402 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7405 @kindex / p (Summary)
7406 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7407 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7408 group parameter predicate
7409 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7410 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7413 @kindex / r (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7415 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7416 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7421 @kindex M S (Summary)
7422 @kindex / E (Summary)
7423 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7424 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7425 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7428 @kindex / D (Summary)
7429 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7430 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7431 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7434 @kindex / * (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7436 Include all cached articles in the limit
7437 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7440 @kindex / d (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7442 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7443 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7446 @kindex / M (Summary)
7447 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7448 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7451 @kindex / T (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7453 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7456 @kindex / c (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7458 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7462 @kindex / C (Summary)
7463 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7464 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7465 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7466 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7469 @kindex / b (Summary)
7470 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7471 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7472 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7473 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7474 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7477 @kindex / h (Summary)
7478 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7479 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7480 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7485 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
7490 @kindex / N (Summary)
7491 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7492 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7493 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7496 @kindex / o (Summary)
7497 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7498 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7499 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7507 @cindex article threading
7509 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7510 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7511 hierarchical fashion.
7513 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7514 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7515 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7516 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7517 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7518 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7519 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7521 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7525 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7528 A tree-like article structure.
7531 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7534 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7535 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7536 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7537 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7538 called loose threads.
7540 @item thread gathering
7541 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7543 @item sparse threads
7544 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7545 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7551 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7552 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7556 @node Customizing Threading
7557 @subsection Customizing Threading
7558 @cindex customizing threading
7561 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7562 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7563 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7564 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7569 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7572 @cindex loose threads
7575 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7576 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7577 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7578 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7579 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7580 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7582 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7583 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7584 There are four possible values:
7588 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7589 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7590 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7591 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7592 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7597 @cindex adopting articles
7602 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7603 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7604 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7605 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7608 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7609 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7610 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7611 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7612 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7613 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7614 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7615 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7616 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7617 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7620 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7621 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7622 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7626 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7627 display them after one another.
7630 Don't gather loose threads.
7633 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7634 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7635 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7636 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7637 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7638 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7639 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7640 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7641 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7642 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7643 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7645 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7646 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7647 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7650 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7651 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7652 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7653 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7654 simplification is used.
7656 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7657 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7658 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7659 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7661 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7663 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7669 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7670 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7671 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7672 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7677 (mapconcat 'identity
7678 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7680 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7683 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7686 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7687 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7688 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7689 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7690 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7691 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7693 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7696 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7697 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7698 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7700 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7701 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7704 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7705 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7706 Remove excessive whitespace.
7708 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7709 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7710 Remove all whitespace.
7713 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7716 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7717 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7718 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7719 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7720 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7721 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7722 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7723 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7725 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7726 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7727 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7728 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7729 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7730 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7731 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7732 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7733 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7737 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7738 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7739 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7740 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7742 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7743 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7744 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7747 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7751 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7752 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7758 @node Filling In Threads
7759 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7762 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7763 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7764 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7765 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7766 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7767 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7768 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7769 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7770 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7771 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7772 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7773 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7776 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7777 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7778 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7780 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7782 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7783 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7784 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7785 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7786 slow summary generation.
7788 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7789 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7790 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7793 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7794 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7795 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7796 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7797 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7798 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7799 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7800 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7801 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7802 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7803 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7804 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7805 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7806 @code{nil} by default.
7808 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7809 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7810 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7811 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7812 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7813 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7816 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7817 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7818 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7823 @node More Threading
7824 @subsubsection More Threading
7827 @item gnus-show-threads
7828 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7829 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7830 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7831 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7832 slower and more awkward.
7834 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7835 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7836 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7839 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7840 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7841 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7846 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7847 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7848 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7851 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7852 unread, but you get my drift.)
7855 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7856 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7857 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7858 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7859 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7860 threads are expunged.
7862 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7863 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7864 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7867 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7868 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7869 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7870 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7871 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7872 result in a new thread.
7874 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7875 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7876 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7879 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7880 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7881 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7882 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7883 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7884 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7885 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7886 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7887 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7888 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7889 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7894 @node Low-Level Threading
7895 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7899 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7900 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7901 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7903 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7904 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7905 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7906 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7907 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7908 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7909 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7910 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7911 meaningful. Here's one example:
7914 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7916 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7917 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7919 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7921 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7928 @node Thread Commands
7929 @subsection Thread Commands
7930 @cindex thread commands
7936 @kindex T k (Summary)
7937 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7938 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7939 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7940 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7941 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7946 @kindex T l (Summary)
7947 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7949 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7950 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7953 @kindex T i (Summary)
7954 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7955 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7956 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7959 @kindex T # (Summary)
7960 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7961 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7962 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7965 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7966 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7967 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7968 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7971 @kindex T T (Summary)
7972 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7973 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7976 @kindex T s (Summary)
7977 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7978 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7979 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7982 @kindex T h (Summary)
7983 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7984 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7987 @kindex T S (Summary)
7988 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7989 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7992 @kindex T H (Summary)
7993 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7994 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7997 @kindex T t (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7999 Re-thread the current article's thread
8000 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
8001 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
8004 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
8005 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
8006 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
8007 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
8010 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
8012 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
8013 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
8017 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
8018 understand the numeric prefix.
8023 @kindex T n (Summary)
8025 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
8027 @kindex M-down (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
8029 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
8032 @kindex T p (Summary)
8034 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
8036 @kindex M-up (Summary)
8037 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
8038 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
8041 @kindex T d (Summary)
8042 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
8043 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
8046 @kindex T u (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
8048 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
8051 @kindex T o (Summary)
8052 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
8053 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
8056 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
8057 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
8058 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
8059 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
8060 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
8061 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
8062 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8063 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8064 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8065 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8066 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8067 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8071 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8072 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8074 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8075 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8076 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8077 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8078 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8079 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8080 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8081 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8082 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8083 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8084 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8085 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8086 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8087 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8088 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8090 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8091 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8092 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8093 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8094 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8095 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8096 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8097 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8098 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8099 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8101 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8102 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8103 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8105 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8106 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8107 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8108 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8109 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8110 ascending article order.
8112 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8113 by number, you could do something like:
8116 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8117 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8118 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8119 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8122 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8123 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8124 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8125 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8126 which the articles arrived.
8128 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8132 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8133 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8134 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8137 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8138 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8139 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8140 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8143 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8144 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8145 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8146 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8147 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8148 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8149 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8150 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8151 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8152 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8153 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8154 variable. It is very similar to the
8155 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8156 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8157 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8158 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8159 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8160 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8161 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8163 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8167 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8168 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8169 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8172 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8173 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8176 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8177 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8178 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8179 @cindex article pre-fetch
8182 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8183 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8184 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8185 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8186 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8188 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8189 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8191 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8192 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8193 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8194 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8195 connection is blocked.
8197 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8198 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8199 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8200 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8202 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8203 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8204 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8205 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8208 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8211 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8212 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8213 happen automatically.
8215 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8216 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8217 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8218 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8219 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8220 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8221 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8223 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8224 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8225 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8226 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8227 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8228 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8229 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8230 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8231 article data structure as the only parameter.
8233 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8234 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8237 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8238 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8239 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8240 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8243 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8246 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8247 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8248 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8250 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
8251 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
8252 After an article has been prefetched, this
8253 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
8254 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
8255 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
8256 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
8257 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
8258 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
8260 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8261 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8262 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8263 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8267 Remove articles when they are read.
8270 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8273 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8275 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8276 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8277 @c from the next group.
8280 @node Article Caching
8281 @section Article Caching
8282 @cindex article caching
8285 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8286 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8287 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8288 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8289 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8291 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8293 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8294 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8295 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8296 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8297 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8298 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8299 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8300 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8302 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8303 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8304 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8305 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8306 as dormant, and don't worry.
8308 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8310 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8311 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8312 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8313 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8314 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8315 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8316 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8317 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8318 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8319 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8321 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8322 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8323 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8324 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8325 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8326 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8327 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8328 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8329 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8330 not then be downloaded by this command.
8332 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8333 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8334 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8335 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8336 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8337 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8339 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8340 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8341 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8342 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8343 variables, the group is not cached.
8345 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8346 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8347 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8348 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8349 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8350 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8351 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8352 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8353 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8356 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8357 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8358 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8359 where, isn't that cool?
8361 @node Persistent Articles
8362 @section Persistent Articles
8363 @cindex persistent articles
8365 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8366 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8367 useful in my opinion.
8369 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8370 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8371 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8372 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8373 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8374 the expiry going on at the news server.
8376 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8377 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8378 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8384 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8385 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8388 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8389 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8390 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8391 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8395 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8397 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8398 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8399 interested in persistent articles:
8402 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8405 @node Sticky Articles
8406 @section Sticky Articles
8407 @cindex sticky articles
8409 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8410 according to the value of the variable
8411 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8412 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8413 has its own article buffer.
8415 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8416 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8417 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8418 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8420 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8421 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8422 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8426 @kindex A S (Summary)
8427 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8428 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8429 name for this sticky article buffer.
8432 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8438 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8442 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8443 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8446 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8448 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8449 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8450 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8453 @node Article Backlog
8454 @section Article Backlog
8456 @cindex article backlog
8458 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8459 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8460 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8461 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8462 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8463 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8464 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8465 increase memory usage some.
8467 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8468 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8469 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8470 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8471 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8472 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8473 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8475 The default value is 20.
8478 @node Saving Articles
8479 @section Saving Articles
8480 @cindex saving articles
8482 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8483 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8484 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8485 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8486 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8488 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8489 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8490 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8492 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8493 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8494 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8496 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8497 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8498 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8499 deleted before saving.
8505 @kindex O o (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8508 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8509 Save the current article using the default article saver
8510 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8513 @kindex O m (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8515 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8519 @kindex O r (Summary)
8520 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8521 Save the current article in Rmail format
8522 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
8523 Babyl in older versions.
8526 @kindex O f (Summary)
8527 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8528 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8529 Save the current article in plain file format
8530 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8533 @kindex O F (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8535 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8536 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8539 @kindex O b (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8541 Save the current article body in plain file format
8542 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8545 @kindex O h (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8547 Save the current article in mh folder format
8548 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8551 @kindex O v (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8553 Save the current article in a VM folder
8554 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8558 @kindex O p (Summary)
8560 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8561 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8562 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8563 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8564 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8565 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8566 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8567 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8568 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8572 @kindex O P (Summary)
8573 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8574 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8575 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8576 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8577 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8578 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8579 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8583 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8584 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8585 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8586 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8587 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8588 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8589 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8590 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8591 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8592 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8593 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8594 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8598 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8599 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8600 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8601 functions below, or you can create your own.
8605 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8606 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8607 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8608 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8609 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
8610 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
8611 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
8612 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
8613 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
8614 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8615 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8617 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8618 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8619 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8620 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8621 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8622 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8624 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8625 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8626 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8627 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8628 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8629 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8630 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8632 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8633 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8634 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8635 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8636 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8637 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8639 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8640 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8641 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8642 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8643 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8645 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8646 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8647 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8648 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8649 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8650 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8652 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8653 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8654 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8655 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8656 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8659 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8660 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8661 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8662 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8663 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8665 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8666 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8667 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8668 reader to use this setting.
8670 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8671 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8672 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8673 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8677 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8679 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8680 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8681 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8682 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8683 last used for saving.
8686 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8687 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8688 headers will be piped.
8691 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8695 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8696 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8697 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8698 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8699 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8700 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8703 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8704 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8705 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8706 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8707 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8708 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8711 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8712 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8713 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8714 headers should be saved.
8717 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8718 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8719 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8720 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8723 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8724 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8725 available functions that generate names:
8729 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8730 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8731 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8733 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8734 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8735 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8737 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8738 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8739 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8741 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8742 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8743 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8745 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8746 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8747 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8750 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8751 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8752 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8753 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8754 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8758 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8759 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8760 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8761 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8764 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8765 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8766 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8767 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8768 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8769 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8770 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8771 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8772 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8774 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8775 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8776 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8777 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8779 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8780 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8781 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8784 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8785 lots of mail groups called things like
8786 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8787 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8788 following will do just that:
8791 (defun my-save-name (group)
8792 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8793 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8795 (setq gnus-split-methods
8796 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8801 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8802 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8803 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8804 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8805 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8806 all the files in the top level directory
8807 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8808 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8809 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8810 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8812 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8813 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8814 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8815 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8816 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8819 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8823 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8824 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8825 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8828 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8829 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8830 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8831 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8834 @node Decoding Articles
8835 @section Decoding Articles
8836 @cindex decoding articles
8838 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8839 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8842 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8843 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8844 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8845 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8846 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8847 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8851 @cindex article series
8852 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8853 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8854 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8855 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8856 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8858 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8859 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8860 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8862 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8863 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8864 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8866 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8867 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8868 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8871 @node Uuencoded Articles
8872 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8874 @cindex uuencoded articles
8879 @kindex X u (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8881 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8882 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8885 @kindex X U (Summary)
8886 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8887 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8888 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8891 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8892 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8893 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8896 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8897 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8898 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8899 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8903 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8904 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8905 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8906 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8907 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8909 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8910 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8911 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8912 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8915 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8916 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8917 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8918 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8919 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8920 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8924 @node Shell Archives
8925 @subsection Shell Archives
8927 @cindex shell archives
8928 @cindex shared articles
8930 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8931 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8932 some commands to deal with these:
8937 @kindex X s (Summary)
8938 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8939 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8942 @kindex X S (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8944 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8947 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8948 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8949 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8952 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8953 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8954 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8955 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8959 @node PostScript Files
8960 @subsection PostScript Files
8966 @kindex X p (Summary)
8967 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8968 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8971 @kindex X P (Summary)
8972 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8973 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8974 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8977 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8979 View the current PostScript series
8980 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8983 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8984 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8985 View and save the current PostScript series
8986 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8991 @subsection Other Files
8995 @kindex X o (Summary)
8996 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8997 Save the current series
8998 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
9001 @kindex X b (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
9003 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
9004 doesn't really work yet.
9007 @kindex X Y (Summary)
9008 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
9009 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
9013 @node Decoding Variables
9014 @subsection Decoding Variables
9016 Adjective, not verb.
9019 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
9020 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
9021 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
9025 @node Rule Variables
9026 @subsubsection Rule Variables
9027 @cindex rule variables
9029 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
9030 variables are of the form
9033 (list '(regexp1 command2)
9040 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9041 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9043 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
9044 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
9047 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9048 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
9051 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9052 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9053 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
9054 user and default view rules.
9056 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9057 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9058 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9063 @node Other Decode Variables
9064 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9067 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9069 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9070 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9071 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9072 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9073 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9077 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9078 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9081 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9082 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9083 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9086 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9087 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9088 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9089 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9090 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9093 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9094 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9095 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9097 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9098 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9099 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9100 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9101 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9104 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9105 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9106 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9108 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9109 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9110 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9111 looking for files to display.
9113 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9114 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9115 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9118 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9119 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9120 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9123 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9124 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9125 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9128 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9129 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9130 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9133 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9134 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9135 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9136 decoded articles as unread.
9138 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9139 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9140 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9141 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9143 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9144 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9145 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9147 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9148 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9150 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9151 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9152 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9153 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9155 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9156 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9157 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9158 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9159 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9160 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9161 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9162 simply dropped them.
9167 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9168 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9172 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9173 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9174 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9175 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9176 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9177 for you when you post the article.
9179 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9180 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9181 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9182 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9184 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9185 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9186 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9187 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9188 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9189 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9190 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9192 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9193 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9194 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9195 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9196 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9197 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9198 Default is @code{t}.
9204 @subsection Viewing Files
9205 @cindex viewing files
9206 @cindex pseudo-articles
9208 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9209 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9210 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9211 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9212 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9213 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9214 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9216 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9217 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9218 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9219 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9221 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9222 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9223 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9225 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9226 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9227 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9228 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9229 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9231 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9232 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9233 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9234 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9235 a list of parameters to that command.
9237 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9238 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9239 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9241 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9242 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9243 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9246 @node Article Treatment
9247 @section Article Treatment
9249 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9250 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9251 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9252 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9253 these articles easier.
9256 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9257 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9258 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9259 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9260 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9261 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9262 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9263 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9264 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
9265 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9266 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9270 @node Article Highlighting
9271 @subsection Article Highlighting
9272 @cindex highlighting
9274 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9275 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9280 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9281 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9282 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9283 Do much highlighting of the current article
9284 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9285 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9288 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9289 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9290 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9291 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9292 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9293 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9294 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9295 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9296 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9297 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9298 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9299 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9302 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9303 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9304 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9306 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9309 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9311 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9312 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9313 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9315 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9316 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9317 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9319 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9320 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9321 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9322 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9323 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9324 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9326 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9327 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9328 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9330 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9331 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9332 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9334 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9335 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9336 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9337 that it's a citation.
9339 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9340 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9341 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9343 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9344 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9345 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9347 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9348 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9349 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9350 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9352 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9353 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9354 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9355 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9356 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9363 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9364 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9365 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9366 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9367 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9368 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9369 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9370 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9375 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9378 @node Article Fontisizing
9379 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9381 @cindex article emphasis
9383 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9384 @kindex W e (Summary)
9385 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9386 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9387 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9388 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9390 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9391 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9392 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9393 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9394 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9395 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9396 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9397 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9401 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9402 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9403 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9412 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9413 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9414 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9415 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9416 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9417 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9418 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9419 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9420 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9421 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9422 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9423 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9424 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9426 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9427 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9428 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9432 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9435 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9437 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9438 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9439 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9440 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9442 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9445 @node Article Hiding
9446 @subsection Article Hiding
9447 @cindex article hiding
9449 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9450 too much cruft in most articles.
9455 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9456 @findex gnus-article-hide
9457 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9458 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9459 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9462 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9463 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9464 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9468 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9469 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9470 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9471 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9474 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9476 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9480 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9481 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9482 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9483 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9484 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9485 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9486 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9487 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9491 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9492 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9493 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9494 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9499 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9500 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9501 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9502 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9505 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9506 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9507 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9508 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9511 @cindex stripping advertisements
9512 @cindex advertisements
9513 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9514 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9515 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9516 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9517 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9518 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9519 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9520 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9521 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9522 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9525 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9526 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9527 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9531 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9532 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9533 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9534 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9535 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9536 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9537 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9538 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9539 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9540 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9541 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9544 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9545 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
9551 @kindex W W c (Summary)
9552 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
9553 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
9554 customizing the hiding:
9558 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9559 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9560 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9561 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9562 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
9563 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
9564 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
9569 Starting point of the hidden text.
9571 Ending point of the hidden text.
9573 Number of characters in the hidden region.
9575 Number of lines of hidden text.
9578 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
9579 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
9580 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
9581 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
9582 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
9587 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
9588 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
9590 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
9591 following two variables:
9594 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9595 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9596 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
9597 50), hide the cited text.
9599 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9600 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9601 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
9606 @kindex W W C (Summary)
9607 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
9608 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
9609 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
9610 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
9611 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9615 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
9616 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
9617 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
9619 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
9620 citation customization.
9622 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
9626 @node Article Washing
9627 @subsection Article Washing
9629 @cindex article washing
9631 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
9632 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
9634 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
9635 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
9638 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
9639 articles by default.
9644 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
9645 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
9649 Force redisplaying of the current article
9650 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
9651 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
9652 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
9653 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9656 @kindex W l (Summary)
9657 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
9658 Remove page breaks from the current article
9659 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
9663 @kindex W r (Summary)
9664 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
9665 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
9666 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
9667 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
9668 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
9669 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
9671 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
9672 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
9673 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
9674 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
9677 @kindex W m (Summary)
9678 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
9679 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
9682 @kindex W i (Summary)
9683 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
9684 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
9685 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
9686 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
9687 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
9688 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
9693 @kindex W t (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
9696 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
9697 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
9700 @kindex W v (Summary)
9701 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
9702 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
9703 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
9706 @kindex W o (Summary)
9707 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
9708 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
9711 @kindex W d (Summary)
9712 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
9713 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9715 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9717 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9718 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9719 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9720 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9723 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9724 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9725 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9726 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9729 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9730 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9731 @cindex Outlook Express
9732 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9733 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9734 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9737 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9738 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9739 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9740 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9741 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9742 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9743 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9744 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9745 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9746 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9749 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9750 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9751 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9752 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9755 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9756 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9757 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9758 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9761 @kindex W w (Summary)
9762 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9763 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9765 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9769 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9770 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9771 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9774 @kindex W C (Summary)
9775 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9776 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9777 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9780 @kindex W c (Summary)
9781 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9782 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9783 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9784 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9785 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9788 @kindex W q (Summary)
9789 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9790 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9791 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9792 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9793 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9794 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9795 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9796 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9797 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9800 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9801 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9802 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9803 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9804 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9805 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9806 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9807 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9810 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9811 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9812 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9813 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9814 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9817 @kindex W A (Summary)
9818 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9819 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9820 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9821 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9822 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9825 @kindex W u (Summary)
9826 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9827 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9828 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9829 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9830 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9833 @kindex W h (Summary)
9834 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9835 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9836 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9837 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9839 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9840 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9841 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9843 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
9844 The default is to use the function specified by
9845 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9846 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9847 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
9848 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
9856 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9858 @item w3m-standalone
9859 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9862 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9865 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9868 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9873 @kindex W b (Summary)
9874 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9875 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9876 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9879 @kindex W B (Summary)
9880 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9881 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9882 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9885 @kindex W p (Summary)
9886 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9887 Verify a signed control message
9888 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9889 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9890 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9891 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9892 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9893 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9896 @kindex W s (Summary)
9897 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9898 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9899 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9900 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9903 @kindex W a (Summary)
9904 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9905 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9906 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9909 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9910 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9911 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9912 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9915 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9916 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9917 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9918 lines with a single empty line.
9919 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9922 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9923 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9924 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9925 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9928 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9929 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9930 Do all the three commands above
9931 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9934 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9935 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9936 Remove all blank lines
9937 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9940 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9941 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9942 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9943 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9946 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9947 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9948 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9949 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9953 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9956 @node Article Header
9957 @subsection Article Header
9959 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9964 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9965 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9966 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9969 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9970 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9971 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9972 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9975 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9976 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9977 Fold all the message headers
9978 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9981 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9982 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9983 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9984 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9989 @node Article Buttons
9990 @subsection Article Buttons
9993 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9994 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9995 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9996 button on these references.
9998 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9999 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
10000 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
10001 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
10002 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
10006 @item gnus-button-alist
10007 @vindex gnus-button-alist
10008 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
10011 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10017 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
10018 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
10019 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
10020 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
10021 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
10024 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
10025 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
10026 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
10029 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
10030 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
10031 avoid false matches. Often variables named
10032 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
10033 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
10035 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
10038 This function will be called when you click on this button.
10041 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
10042 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
10046 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
10049 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
10052 @item gnus-header-button-alist
10053 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
10054 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
10055 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
10056 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
10059 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10062 @var{header} is a regular expression.
10065 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
10068 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
10069 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
10071 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
10073 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
10074 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
10075 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
10076 default values of the variables above.
10078 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
10080 @item gnus-button-man-handler
10081 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
10082 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
10083 argument with a string naming the man page.
10085 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
10087 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10088 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10089 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
10091 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10092 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10093 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
10094 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
10095 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
10096 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
10097 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
10098 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
10099 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
10100 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
10101 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
10102 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10104 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10105 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10106 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
10107 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
10108 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
10111 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10112 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10113 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
10114 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10116 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
10118 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
10119 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
10120 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
10121 argument, the string naming the URL.
10123 @item gnus-ctan-url
10124 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
10125 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
10126 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
10130 @item gnus-article-button-face
10131 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
10132 Face used on buttons.
10134 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
10135 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
10136 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
10140 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
10143 @node Article Button Levels
10144 @subsection Article button levels
10145 @cindex button levels
10146 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
10147 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
10148 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
10149 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
10150 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
10151 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
10152 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
10153 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
10156 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
10157 (setq gnus-parameters
10158 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
10159 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
10160 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
10165 @item gnus-button-browse-level
10166 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
10167 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
10168 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
10169 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
10170 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
10172 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
10173 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
10174 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
10175 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
10176 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
10177 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
10178 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
10179 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
10180 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
10181 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
10182 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
10183 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
10184 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
10186 @item gnus-button-man-level
10187 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
10188 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
10189 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
10191 @item gnus-button-message-level
10192 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
10193 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
10194 Related variables and functions include
10195 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
10196 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
10197 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
10198 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
10200 @item gnus-button-tex-level
10201 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
10202 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
10203 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
10204 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
10205 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
10206 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
10212 @subsection Article Date
10214 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
10215 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
10216 when the article was sent.
10221 @kindex W T u (Summary)
10222 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
10223 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
10224 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
10227 @kindex W T i (Summary)
10228 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
10230 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
10231 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
10234 @kindex W T l (Summary)
10235 @findex gnus-article-date-local
10236 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
10239 @kindex W T p (Summary)
10240 @findex gnus-article-date-english
10241 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
10242 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
10245 @kindex W T s (Summary)
10246 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
10247 @findex gnus-article-date-user
10248 @findex format-time-string
10249 Display the date using a user-defined format
10250 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
10251 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
10252 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
10253 for a list of possible format specs.
10256 @kindex W T e (Summary)
10257 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
10258 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
10259 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
10260 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
10261 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
10264 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
10267 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
10268 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
10269 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
10272 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
10273 into wonderful absurdities.
10275 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
10278 (gnus-start-date-timer)
10281 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
10282 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
10286 @kindex W T o (Summary)
10287 @findex gnus-article-date-original
10288 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
10289 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
10290 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
10291 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
10292 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
10296 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
10297 preferred format automatically.
10300 @node Article Display
10301 @subsection Article Display
10306 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
10307 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
10309 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
10310 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
10312 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
10313 headers (@pxref{Face}).
10315 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
10316 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
10318 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
10319 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
10321 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
10322 they'll be removed.
10326 @kindex W D x (Summary)
10327 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
10328 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
10329 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
10332 @kindex W D d (Summary)
10333 @findex gnus-article-display-face
10334 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
10335 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
10338 @kindex W D s (Summary)
10339 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
10340 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
10343 @kindex W D f (Summary)
10344 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
10345 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
10348 @kindex W D m (Summary)
10349 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
10350 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10351 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
10354 @kindex W D n (Summary)
10355 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
10356 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
10357 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
10360 @kindex W D D (Summary)
10361 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
10362 Remove all images from the article buffer
10363 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
10369 @node Article Signature
10370 @subsection Article Signature
10372 @cindex article signature
10374 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
10375 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
10376 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
10377 that says what is to be considered a signature is
10378 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
10379 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
10380 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
10381 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
10382 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
10385 (setq gnus-signature-separator
10386 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
10387 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
10388 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
10389 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
10390 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
10391 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
10392 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
10395 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
10398 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
10399 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
10400 signature when displaying articles.
10404 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
10407 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
10410 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
10411 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
10413 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
10414 in question is not a signature.
10417 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
10418 listed above. Here's an example:
10421 (setq gnus-signature-limit
10422 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
10425 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
10426 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
10427 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
10428 signature after all.
10431 @node Article Miscellanea
10432 @subsection Article Miscellanea
10436 @kindex A t (Summary)
10437 @findex gnus-article-babel
10438 Translate the article from one language to another
10439 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
10444 @node MIME Commands
10445 @section MIME Commands
10446 @cindex MIME decoding
10447 @cindex attachments
10448 @cindex viewing attachments
10450 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
10451 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
10456 @kindex b (Summary)
10457 @kindex K v (Summary)
10458 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
10461 @kindex K o (Summary)
10462 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
10465 @kindex K O (Summary)
10466 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
10467 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
10468 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10471 @kindex K r (Summary)
10472 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
10475 @kindex K d (Summary)
10476 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
10480 @kindex K c (Summary)
10481 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
10484 @kindex K e (Summary)
10485 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
10488 @kindex K i (Summary)
10489 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
10492 @kindex K | (Summary)
10493 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
10496 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
10501 @kindex K H (Summary)
10502 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
10503 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
10504 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
10505 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
10506 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
10507 unless the prefix argument is given.
10509 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
10510 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
10511 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
10512 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
10515 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
10516 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
10518 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
10519 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
10520 the group (if you want).
10523 @kindex K b (Summary)
10524 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
10525 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
10529 @kindex K m (Summary)
10530 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
10531 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
10532 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
10533 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
10534 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
10537 @kindex X m (Summary)
10538 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
10539 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
10540 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
10541 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10544 @kindex M-t (Summary)
10545 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
10546 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
10547 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
10550 @kindex W M w (Summary)
10551 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
10552 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
10553 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
10556 @kindex W M c (Summary)
10557 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
10558 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
10559 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
10561 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
10562 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
10563 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
10564 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
10565 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
10566 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10569 @kindex W M v (Summary)
10570 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
10571 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
10572 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
10576 Relevant variables:
10579 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
10580 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
10581 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10582 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
10585 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
10588 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
10592 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
10593 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
10594 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
10595 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
10596 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
10597 default is @code{t}.
10599 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
10600 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
10603 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
10604 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
10605 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
10606 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
10607 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
10608 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
10609 for encoding in Gnus.
10611 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10612 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10613 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10614 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10615 displayed or this variable is overridden by
10616 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
10617 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
10618 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
10620 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10621 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10622 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10623 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10624 displayed. This variable overrides
10625 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
10626 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
10629 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
10630 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
10631 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
10633 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
10634 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
10635 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
10636 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
10637 Emacs MIME Manual}).
10639 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10640 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10641 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
10642 default value is @code{nil}.
10644 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
10645 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
10646 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
10647 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
10648 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
10649 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
10650 save all jpegs into some directory).
10652 Here's an example function the does the latter:
10655 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
10656 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
10658 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
10659 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
10660 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
10661 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
10662 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
10665 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10666 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10667 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
10669 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10670 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10671 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10673 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10674 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10675 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10677 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
10678 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
10679 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
10680 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
10681 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
10683 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10684 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10685 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
10686 overrides @code{nil} values of
10687 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
10688 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
10690 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10691 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10692 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
10693 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
10695 Ready-made functions include@*
10696 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
10697 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
10698 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
10699 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
10700 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
10701 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10702 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10703 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10704 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10705 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10706 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10707 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10709 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10710 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10712 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10713 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10714 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10717 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10718 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10719 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10720 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10724 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10733 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10734 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10735 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10736 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10737 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10738 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10739 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10741 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10742 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10743 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10744 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10746 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10747 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10748 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10749 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10750 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10751 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10752 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10753 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10754 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10756 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10757 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10758 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10759 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10760 quoted-printable header encoding.
10762 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10763 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10764 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10768 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10771 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10772 means encode all charsets),
10774 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10775 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10776 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10783 @cindex coding system aliases
10784 @cindex preferred charset
10786 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10787 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10788 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10790 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10792 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10793 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10796 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10797 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10800 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10801 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10803 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10806 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10809 This will almost do the right thing.
10811 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10815 (codepage-setup 1251)
10816 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10820 @node Article Commands
10821 @section Article Commands
10828 @kindex A P (Summary)
10829 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10830 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10831 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10832 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10833 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10834 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10839 @node Summary Sorting
10840 @section Summary Sorting
10841 @cindex summary sorting
10843 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10844 can't really see why you'd want that.
10849 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10850 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10851 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10853 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10854 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10855 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10856 Sort by most recent article number
10857 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10860 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10861 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10862 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10865 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10866 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10867 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10870 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10872 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10875 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10876 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10877 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10879 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10880 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10881 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10882 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10885 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10886 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10887 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10890 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10891 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10892 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10895 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10896 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10897 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10900 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10901 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10902 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10905 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10906 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10907 Sort using the default sorting method
10908 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10911 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10912 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10913 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10914 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10915 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10918 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10921 @node Finding the Parent
10922 @section Finding the Parent
10923 @cindex parent articles
10924 @cindex referring articles
10928 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10929 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10930 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10931 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10932 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10933 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10934 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10935 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10936 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10937 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10939 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10940 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10941 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10942 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10943 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10946 @item A R (Summary)
10947 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10948 @kindex A R (Summary)
10949 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10950 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10952 @item A T (Summary)
10953 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10954 @kindex A T (Summary)
10955 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10956 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10957 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10958 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10959 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10960 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10961 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10963 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10964 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10965 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10966 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10967 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10968 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10970 @item M-^ (Summary)
10971 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10972 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10974 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10975 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10976 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10977 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10978 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10979 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10981 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10982 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10983 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10986 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10987 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10988 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10989 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10990 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10991 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10994 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10995 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10996 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10999 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
11000 then ask Google if that fails:
11003 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
11005 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
11008 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
11009 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
11010 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
11011 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
11012 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
11013 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
11014 not support this at all.
11017 @node Alternative Approaches
11018 @section Alternative Approaches
11020 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
11021 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
11024 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
11025 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
11029 @node Pick and Read
11030 @subsection Pick and Read
11031 @cindex pick and read
11033 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
11034 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
11035 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
11036 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
11038 @findex gnus-pick-mode
11039 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
11040 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
11041 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
11042 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
11043 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
11045 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
11050 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
11051 Pick the article or thread on the current line
11052 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11053 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
11054 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
11055 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
11056 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
11057 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
11060 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
11061 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
11062 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
11063 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
11067 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
11068 Unpick the thread or article
11069 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11070 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
11071 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
11072 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
11073 the thread or article at that line.
11077 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
11078 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
11079 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
11080 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
11081 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
11082 will still be visible when you are reading.
11086 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
11087 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
11088 which is mapped to the same function
11089 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
11091 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
11094 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
11097 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
11098 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
11100 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
11101 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
11102 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
11104 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
11105 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
11106 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
11107 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
11108 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
11109 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
11110 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
11113 @node Binary Groups
11114 @subsection Binary Groups
11115 @cindex binary groups
11117 @findex gnus-binary-mode
11118 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
11119 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
11120 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
11121 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
11122 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
11123 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
11126 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
11127 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
11128 command, when you have turned on this mode
11129 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
11131 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
11132 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
11136 @section Tree Display
11139 @vindex gnus-use-trees
11140 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
11141 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
11142 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
11143 in the tree buffer.
11145 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
11148 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
11149 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
11150 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
11152 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11153 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11154 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
11155 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
11156 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
11158 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
11159 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
11160 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
11161 default is @code{modeline}.
11163 @item gnus-tree-line-format
11164 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
11165 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
11166 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
11167 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
11168 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
11169 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
11175 The name of the poster.
11177 The @code{From} header.
11179 The number of the article.
11181 The opening bracket.
11183 The closing bracket.
11188 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
11190 Variables related to the display are:
11193 @item gnus-tree-brackets
11194 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
11195 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
11196 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
11198 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
11199 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
11200 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
11202 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
11204 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11205 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11206 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
11207 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
11211 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
11212 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
11213 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
11214 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
11215 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
11216 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
11217 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
11218 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
11219 other windows displayed next to it.
11221 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
11225 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
11226 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
11229 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
11230 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
11231 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11232 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
11233 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
11234 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
11235 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
11239 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
11242 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
11252 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
11257 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
11258 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
11260 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
11262 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
11268 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
11269 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
11270 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11273 (setq gnus-use-trees t
11274 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11275 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
11276 (gnus-add-configuration
11280 (summary 0.75 point)
11285 @xref{Window Layout}.
11288 @node Mail Group Commands
11289 @section Mail Group Commands
11290 @cindex mail group commands
11292 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
11293 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
11295 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
11296 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11301 @kindex B e (Summary)
11302 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
11303 @cindex expiring mail
11304 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
11305 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
11306 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
11307 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11310 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
11311 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
11312 @cindex expiring mail
11313 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
11314 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
11315 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
11316 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
11319 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
11320 @cindex deleting mail
11321 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
11322 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
11323 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
11324 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
11325 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
11328 @kindex B m (Summary)
11330 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
11331 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
11332 Move the article from one mail group to another
11333 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11334 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11337 @kindex B c (Summary)
11339 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
11340 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
11341 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
11342 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11343 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11346 @kindex B B (Summary)
11347 @cindex crosspost mail
11348 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
11349 Crosspost the current article to some other group
11350 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
11351 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
11352 be properly updated.
11355 @kindex B i (Summary)
11356 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
11357 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
11358 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
11359 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11362 @kindex B I (Summary)
11363 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
11364 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
11365 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
11366 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11369 @kindex B r (Summary)
11370 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
11371 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
11372 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
11373 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
11374 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
11375 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
11376 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
11377 (which is the default).
11381 @kindex B w (Summary)
11382 @kindex e (Summary)
11383 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
11384 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
11385 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
11386 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
11387 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
11388 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
11389 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
11392 @kindex B q (Summary)
11393 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
11394 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
11395 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
11396 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
11399 @kindex B t (Summary)
11400 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
11401 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
11402 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
11405 @kindex B p (Summary)
11406 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
11407 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
11408 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
11409 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
11410 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
11411 article from your news server (or rather, from
11412 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
11413 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
11414 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
11415 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
11416 just not have arrived yet.
11419 @kindex K E (Summary)
11420 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
11421 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
11422 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
11423 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
11424 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
11428 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
11429 @cindex moving articles
11430 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
11431 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
11432 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
11433 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
11434 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
11435 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
11436 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
11439 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
11440 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
11441 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
11442 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
11446 @node Various Summary Stuff
11447 @section Various Summary Stuff
11450 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
11451 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
11452 * Summary Generation Commands::
11453 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
11457 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
11458 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
11459 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
11460 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
11461 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
11462 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
11464 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
11465 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
11466 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
11469 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
11470 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
11471 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
11473 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
11474 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
11475 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
11476 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
11477 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
11478 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
11481 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11482 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11483 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
11484 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
11485 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
11487 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11488 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11489 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
11492 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11493 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11494 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
11495 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
11496 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
11497 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
11498 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
11499 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
11500 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
11501 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
11503 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11504 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11505 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
11506 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
11507 list of articles to be selected.
11509 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
11510 the list in one particular group:
11513 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
11514 (if (string= group "some.group")
11515 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
11519 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
11520 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
11521 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
11522 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
11523 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
11526 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
11527 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
11528 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
11529 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
11530 variable will be used instead.
11532 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
11533 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
11534 buffers. For example:
11537 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
11538 '(message-use-followup-to
11539 (gnus-visible-headers .
11540 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
11543 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
11545 @vindex gnus-propagate-marks
11546 @item gnus-propagate-marks
11547 If non-@code{nil}, propagate marks to the backends for possible
11548 storing. @xref{NNTP marks}, and friends, for a more fine-grained
11554 @node Summary Group Information
11555 @subsection Summary Group Information
11560 @kindex H f (Summary)
11561 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
11562 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
11563 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
11564 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
11565 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
11566 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
11567 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
11568 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
11569 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
11572 @kindex H d (Summary)
11573 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
11574 Give a brief description of the current group
11575 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
11576 rereading the description from the server.
11579 @kindex H h (Summary)
11580 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
11581 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
11582 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
11585 @kindex H i (Summary)
11586 @findex gnus-info-find-node
11587 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
11591 @node Searching for Articles
11592 @subsection Searching for Articles
11597 @kindex M-s (Summary)
11598 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
11599 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
11600 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
11603 @kindex M-r (Summary)
11604 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
11605 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
11606 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
11609 @kindex M-S (Summary)
11610 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
11611 Repeat the previous search forwards
11612 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
11615 @kindex M-R (Summary)
11616 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
11617 Repeat the previous search backwards
11618 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
11621 @kindex & (Summary)
11622 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
11623 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
11624 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
11625 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
11626 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
11627 search backward instead.
11629 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
11630 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
11633 @kindex M-& (Summary)
11634 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
11635 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
11636 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
11639 @node Summary Generation Commands
11640 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
11645 @kindex Y g (Summary)
11646 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
11647 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
11650 @kindex Y c (Summary)
11651 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
11652 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11653 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
11656 @kindex Y d (Summary)
11657 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
11658 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11659 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
11662 @kindex Y t (Summary)
11663 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
11664 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11665 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
11670 @node Really Various Summary Commands
11671 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
11677 @kindex C-d (Summary)
11678 @kindex A D (Summary)
11679 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
11680 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
11681 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
11682 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
11683 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
11684 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
11685 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
11686 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
11689 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
11690 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
11691 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
11696 Select the next article.
11699 Select the next unread article.
11701 @item next-noselect
11702 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11704 @item next-unread-noselect
11705 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11708 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11709 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11712 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11713 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11714 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11715 several documents into one biiig group
11716 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11717 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11718 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11719 command understands the process/prefix convention
11720 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11723 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11724 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11725 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11726 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11727 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11728 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11731 @kindex = (Summary)
11732 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11733 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11734 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11737 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11738 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11739 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11740 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11743 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11744 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11745 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11746 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11751 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11752 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11753 @cindex summary exit
11754 @cindex exiting groups
11756 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11757 group and return you to the group buffer.
11764 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11765 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11766 @kindex q (Summary)
11767 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11768 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11769 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11770 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11771 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11772 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11773 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11774 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11775 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11776 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11777 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11778 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11782 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11783 @kindex Q (Summary)
11784 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11785 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11786 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11790 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11791 @kindex c (Summary)
11792 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11793 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11794 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11795 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11798 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11799 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11800 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11801 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11804 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11805 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11806 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11807 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11810 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11811 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11812 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11813 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11817 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11818 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11819 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11820 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11821 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11822 all articles, both read and unread.
11826 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11827 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11828 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11829 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11830 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11831 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11832 articles, both read and unread.
11835 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11836 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11837 Exit the group and go to the next group
11838 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11841 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11842 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11843 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11844 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11847 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11848 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11849 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11850 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11851 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11852 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11855 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11856 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11857 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11858 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11860 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11861 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11862 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11863 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11864 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11865 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11866 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11867 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11868 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11869 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11870 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11871 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11873 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11875 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11876 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11877 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11878 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11879 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11880 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11881 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11882 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11883 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11886 @node Crosspost Handling
11887 @section Crosspost Handling
11891 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11892 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11893 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11894 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11895 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11896 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
11899 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11900 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11901 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11902 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11903 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11905 @cindex cross-posting
11907 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11908 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11909 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11910 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11911 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11912 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11913 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11914 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11915 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11916 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11917 the cross reference mechanism.
11919 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11920 @cindex overview.fmt
11921 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11922 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11923 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11924 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11925 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11926 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11929 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11930 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11931 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11935 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11938 @node Duplicate Suppression
11939 @section Duplicate Suppression
11941 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11942 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11943 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11944 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11949 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11950 is evil and not very common.
11953 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11954 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11957 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11958 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11961 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11964 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11965 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11967 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11968 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11969 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11970 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11971 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11972 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11973 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11976 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11977 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11978 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11979 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11980 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11981 saw the article in.
11984 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11985 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11986 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11988 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11989 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11990 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11991 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11992 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11993 session are suppressed.
11995 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11996 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11997 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11998 suppression list. The default is 10000.
12000 @item gnus-duplicate-file
12001 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
12002 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
12003 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
12006 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
12007 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
12008 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
12009 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
12010 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
12011 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
12012 to you to figure out, I think.
12017 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
12018 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
12019 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
12024 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
12025 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
12026 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
12027 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
12028 PGG Manual}), Mailcrypt, and gpg.el are also supported.
12031 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
12032 or newer is recommended.
12036 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
12040 @item mm-verify-option
12041 @vindex mm-verify-option
12042 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
12043 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
12044 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12046 @item mm-decrypt-option
12047 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
12048 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
12049 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
12050 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12052 @item mm-sign-option
12053 @vindex mm-sign-option
12054 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
12055 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
12057 @item mm-encrypt-option
12058 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
12059 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
12060 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
12061 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
12064 @vindex mml1991-use
12065 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12066 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
12067 @code{mailcrypt}, and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12068 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
12072 @vindex mml2015-use
12073 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12074 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
12075 @code{pgg}, @code{mailcrypt}, and @code{gpg} are also supported
12076 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
12077 interface in this order.
12081 By default the buttons that display security information are not
12082 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
12083 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
12084 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
12085 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
12086 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
12087 how to customize these variables to always display security
12090 @cindex snarfing keys
12091 @cindex importing PGP keys
12092 @cindex PGP key ring import
12093 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
12094 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
12095 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
12096 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
12097 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
12098 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
12099 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
12100 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
12101 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
12104 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
12107 This happens to also be the default action defined in
12108 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
12110 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
12111 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
12112 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
12115 @section Mailing List
12116 @cindex mailing list
12119 @kindex A M (summary)
12120 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
12121 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
12122 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
12123 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
12126 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
12131 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
12132 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
12133 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
12136 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
12137 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
12138 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
12141 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
12142 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
12143 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
12147 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
12148 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
12149 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
12152 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
12153 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
12154 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
12157 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
12158 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
12159 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
12164 @node Article Buffer
12165 @chapter Article Buffer
12166 @cindex article buffer
12168 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
12169 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
12170 tell Gnus otherwise.
12173 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
12174 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
12175 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
12176 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
12177 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
12178 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
12182 @node Hiding Headers
12183 @section Hiding Headers
12184 @cindex hiding headers
12185 @cindex deleting headers
12187 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
12188 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
12190 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
12191 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
12192 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
12193 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
12194 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
12195 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
12196 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
12197 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
12198 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
12200 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
12204 @item gnus-visible-headers
12205 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
12206 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
12207 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
12208 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
12210 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
12211 the article and the subject, you'd say:
12214 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
12217 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12220 @item gnus-ignored-headers
12221 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
12222 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
12223 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
12224 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
12225 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
12227 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
12228 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
12231 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
12234 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12237 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
12238 variable will have no effect.
12242 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
12243 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
12244 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
12245 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
12246 the headers are to be displayed.
12248 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
12249 and then the subject, you might say something like:
12252 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
12255 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
12256 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
12258 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
12259 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
12260 You can hide further boring headers by setting
12261 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
12262 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
12263 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
12264 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
12267 These conditions are:
12270 Remove all empty headers.
12272 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
12273 @code{Newsgroups} header.
12275 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
12276 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
12279 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
12282 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12283 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
12285 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12286 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12288 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
12289 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12291 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
12294 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
12296 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
12299 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
12302 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
12303 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
12306 This is also the default value for this variable.
12310 @section Using MIME
12311 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12313 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
12314 while people stand around yawning.
12316 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
12317 while all newsreaders die of fear.
12319 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
12320 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
12321 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
12323 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
12324 @findex gnus-display-mime
12325 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
12326 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
12327 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
12328 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
12330 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
12331 @acronym{MIME} button:
12334 @findex gnus-article-press-button
12335 @item RET (Article)
12336 @kindex RET (Article)
12337 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
12338 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
12339 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
12340 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
12341 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
12342 object is displayed inline.
12344 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
12345 @item M-RET (Article)
12346 @kindex M-RET (Article)
12348 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12349 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
12351 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
12353 @kindex t (Article)
12354 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
12355 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
12357 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
12359 @kindex C (Article)
12360 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12361 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
12363 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
12365 @kindex o (Article)
12366 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
12367 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
12369 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
12370 @item C-o (Article)
12371 @kindex C-o (Article)
12372 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
12373 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
12374 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
12375 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
12376 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
12377 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
12379 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
12381 @kindex r (Article)
12382 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
12383 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
12384 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
12386 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
12388 @kindex d (Article)
12389 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
12390 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
12391 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
12393 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
12395 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
12397 @kindex c (Article)
12398 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
12399 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
12400 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
12401 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
12402 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
12403 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
12404 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
12405 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12407 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
12409 @kindex p (Article)
12410 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
12411 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
12412 @file{.mailcap} file.
12414 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
12416 @kindex i (Article)
12417 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
12418 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
12419 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
12420 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
12421 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
12422 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
12423 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
12424 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
12425 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12427 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
12429 @kindex E (Article)
12430 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
12431 viewer is available, use an external viewer
12432 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
12434 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
12436 @kindex e (Article)
12437 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
12438 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
12440 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
12442 @kindex | (Article)
12443 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
12445 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
12447 @kindex . (Article)
12448 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
12449 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
12453 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
12454 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
12455 @acronym{MIME} manual.
12457 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
12458 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
12459 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
12460 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
12461 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
12462 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
12463 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
12464 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
12465 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
12467 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
12469 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
12473 @section @acronym{HTML}
12474 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
12476 If you have @code{w3m} installed on your system, Gnus can display
12477 @acronym{HTML} articles in the article buffer. There are many Gnus
12478 add-ons for doing this, using various approaches, but there's one
12479 (sort of) built-in method that's used by default.
12481 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization,
12482 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This
12483 section only describes the default method.
12486 @item mm-text-html-renderer
12487 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
12488 If set to @code{gnus-article-html}, Gnus will use the built-in method,
12489 that's based on @code{curl} and @code{w3m}.
12491 @item gnus-blocked-images
12492 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
12493 Images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't be
12494 fetched and displayed. For instance, do block all @acronym{URL}s that
12495 have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
12498 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
12501 The default is to block all external images.
12503 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
12504 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
12505 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
12506 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
12509 @item gnus-html-cache-size
12510 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
12511 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
12512 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
12514 @item gnus-html-frame-width
12515 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
12516 The width to use when rendering HTML. The default is 70.
12520 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
12521 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
12526 @node Customizing Articles
12527 @section Customizing Articles
12528 @cindex article customization
12530 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
12531 exist. You can call these functions interactively
12532 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
12533 called automatically when you select the articles.
12535 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
12536 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
12537 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
12538 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
12540 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
12541 for sensible values.
12545 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
12548 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
12551 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
12554 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
12557 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
12560 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
12564 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
12565 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
12566 regexps in the list.
12569 A list where the first element is not a string:
12571 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
12572 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
12573 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
12577 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
12582 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
12583 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
12584 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
12585 considered to contain just a single part.
12587 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
12588 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
12589 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
12590 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
12591 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
12592 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
12593 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
12596 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
12597 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
12599 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
12600 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
12601 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
12602 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
12603 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
12604 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
12605 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
12606 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
12607 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
12608 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
12609 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
12610 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
12611 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
12612 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
12613 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
12614 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
12615 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
12616 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
12617 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
12618 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
12619 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
12620 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
12621 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
12622 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
12623 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12624 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12625 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12626 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12627 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12628 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12629 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12630 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12631 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12632 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12633 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12634 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12635 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12636 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12637 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12638 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12639 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12640 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12641 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12642 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12643 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12644 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12647 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
12648 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
12649 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
12650 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
12653 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
12654 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
12656 @xref{Article Buttons}.
12658 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
12659 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
12660 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
12661 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
12662 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
12663 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
12664 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
12665 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
12666 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
12667 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
12669 @xref{Article Washing}.
12671 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
12672 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
12673 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
12674 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
12675 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
12676 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
12677 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
12679 @xref{Article Date}.
12681 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12682 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12683 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12687 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12689 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12691 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12692 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12693 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12697 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12698 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12702 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12703 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12707 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12708 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12709 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12710 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12711 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12712 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12713 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12714 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12715 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12716 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12717 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12718 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12719 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12720 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12721 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12722 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12723 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12724 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12725 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12726 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12728 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12730 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12731 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12732 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12733 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12734 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12735 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12737 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12739 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12740 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12741 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12742 @item gnus-treat-translate
12743 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12744 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12745 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12747 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12748 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12749 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12750 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12751 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12752 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12753 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12754 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12756 @xref{Article Header}.
12761 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12762 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12763 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12764 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12765 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12769 @node Article Keymap
12770 @section Article Keymap
12772 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12773 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12774 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12775 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12778 @kindex v (Article)
12779 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12780 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12781 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12783 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12788 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12789 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12790 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12791 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12794 @kindex DEL (Article)
12795 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12796 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12797 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12800 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12801 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12802 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12803 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12804 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12807 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12808 @findex gnus-article-mail
12809 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12810 given a prefix, include the mail.
12813 @kindex s (Article)
12814 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12815 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12816 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12819 @kindex ? (Article)
12820 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12821 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12822 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12825 @kindex TAB (Article)
12826 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12827 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12828 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12831 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12832 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12833 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12836 @kindex R (Article)
12837 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12838 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12839 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12840 only yank the text in the region.
12843 @kindex S W (Article)
12844 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12845 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12846 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12847 active, only yank the text in the region.
12850 @kindex F (Article)
12851 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12852 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12853 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12854 only yank the text in the region.
12861 @section Misc Article
12865 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12866 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12867 @cindex article buffers, several
12868 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12869 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12872 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12873 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12874 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12875 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12876 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12878 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12879 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12880 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12881 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12882 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12883 the contents of the article buffer.
12885 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12886 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12887 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12889 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12890 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12891 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12892 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12894 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12895 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12896 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12897 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12899 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12900 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12901 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12902 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12903 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12904 with two extensions:
12909 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12910 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12911 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12916 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12919 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12922 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12923 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12924 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12927 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12930 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12933 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12938 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12942 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12944 @item gnus-break-pages
12945 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12946 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12947 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12948 paging will not be done.
12950 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12951 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12952 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12956 @cindex internationalized domain names
12957 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12958 @item gnus-use-idna
12959 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12960 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12961 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12962 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12963 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12964 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12969 @node Composing Messages
12970 @chapter Composing Messages
12971 @cindex composing messages
12974 @cindex sending mail
12979 @cindex using s/mime
12980 @cindex using smime
12982 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12983 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12984 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12985 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12986 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12987 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12990 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12991 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12992 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12993 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12994 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12995 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12996 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12997 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12998 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
13001 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
13002 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
13008 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
13011 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
13012 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
13013 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
13014 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
13015 @code{nil} include all headers.
13017 @item gnus-add-to-list
13018 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
13019 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
13020 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
13022 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13023 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13024 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
13025 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
13026 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
13027 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
13028 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
13029 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
13031 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
13032 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
13034 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13035 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13036 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
13037 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
13038 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
13043 @node Posting Server
13044 @section Posting Server
13046 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
13047 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
13049 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
13051 It can be quite complicated.
13053 @vindex gnus-post-method
13054 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
13055 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
13056 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
13057 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
13058 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
13059 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
13060 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
13061 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
13062 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
13065 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
13068 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
13069 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
13070 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
13071 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
13073 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
13074 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
13076 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
13077 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
13080 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
13081 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
13083 @vindex message-send-mail-function
13084 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
13085 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
13086 value suitable for your system.
13087 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
13090 @node POP before SMTP
13091 @section POP before SMTP
13092 @cindex pop before smtp
13093 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
13094 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
13096 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
13097 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
13098 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
13099 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
13100 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13103 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
13104 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
13108 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
13109 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
13110 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
13111 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
13112 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
13113 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
13114 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
13115 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13117 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
13118 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
13119 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
13120 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
13121 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
13122 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
13125 (setq mail-source-primary-source
13126 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13127 :password "secret"))
13131 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
13132 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
13135 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
13137 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
13138 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13139 :password "secret")))
13140 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
13143 @node Mail and Post
13144 @section Mail and Post
13146 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
13150 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
13151 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
13152 @cindex mailing lists
13154 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
13155 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
13156 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
13157 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
13158 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
13159 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
13160 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
13161 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
13162 still a pain, though.
13164 @item gnus-user-agent
13165 @vindex gnus-user-agent
13168 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
13169 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
13170 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
13171 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
13172 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
13173 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
13174 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
13178 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
13179 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
13180 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
13183 @findex ispell-message
13185 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
13188 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
13189 you're in, you could say something like the following:
13192 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
13196 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
13197 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
13199 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
13202 Modify to suit your needs.
13204 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
13205 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
13206 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
13209 @node Archived Messages
13210 @section Archived Messages
13211 @cindex archived messages
13212 @cindex sent messages
13214 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
13215 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
13216 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
13217 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
13220 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
13221 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
13224 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
13225 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
13226 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
13227 actually being used it is expanded into:
13230 (nnfolder "archive"
13231 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
13232 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
13233 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
13234 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
13238 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
13239 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
13240 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
13241 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
13242 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
13243 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
13244 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13245 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
13246 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
13247 saved method to reflect always the value of
13248 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
13249 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
13250 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
13253 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
13254 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
13255 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
13256 directory chosen, you could say something like:
13259 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
13260 '(nnfolder "archive"
13261 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
13262 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
13263 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
13266 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
13268 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
13269 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
13270 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
13272 This variable can be used to do the following:
13276 Messages will be saved in that group.
13278 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
13279 message will not be stored in the select method given by
13280 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
13281 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13282 has the default value shown above. Then setting
13283 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
13284 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
13285 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
13288 @item a list of strings
13289 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
13291 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
13292 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
13295 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
13300 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
13302 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
13305 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
13307 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
13310 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
13312 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13313 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
13314 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
13315 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
13318 More complex stuff:
13320 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13321 '((if (message-news-p)
13326 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
13327 messages in one file per month:
13330 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13331 '((if (message-news-p)
13333 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
13336 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
13337 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
13339 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
13340 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
13341 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
13342 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
13343 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
13344 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
13345 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
13346 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
13347 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
13348 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
13350 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
13351 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
13352 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
13353 this will disable archiving.
13356 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
13357 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
13358 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
13359 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
13360 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
13363 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
13364 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
13365 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
13368 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
13369 but the latter is the preferred method.
13371 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13372 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13373 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
13375 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13376 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13377 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
13378 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
13379 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
13380 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
13381 changed in the future.
13386 @node Posting Styles
13387 @section Posting Styles
13388 @cindex posting styles
13391 All them variables, they make my head swim.
13393 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
13394 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
13395 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
13398 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
13399 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
13400 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
13401 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
13402 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
13407 (signature "Peace and happiness")
13408 (organization "What me?"))
13410 (signature "Death to everybody"))
13411 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
13412 (organization "Emacs is it")))
13415 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
13416 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
13417 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
13418 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
13419 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
13420 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
13421 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
13422 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
13424 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
13425 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
13426 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
13427 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
13428 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
13429 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
13430 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
13431 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
13432 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
13433 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
13434 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
13435 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
13436 said to @dfn{match}.
13438 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
13439 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
13440 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
13441 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
13442 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
13443 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
13444 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
13445 name can be one of:
13448 @item @code{signature}
13449 @item @code{signature-file}
13450 @item @code{x-face-file}
13451 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
13452 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
13456 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
13457 @code{message-signature-directory}.
13459 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
13460 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
13461 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
13462 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
13463 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
13465 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
13466 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
13467 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
13468 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
13469 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
13470 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
13471 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
13472 references chars lines xref extra.
13474 @vindex message-reply-headers
13476 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
13477 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
13478 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
13480 @findex message-mail-p
13481 @findex message-news-p
13483 So here's a new example:
13486 (setq gnus-posting-styles
13488 (signature-file "~/.signature")
13490 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
13491 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
13492 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
13494 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
13495 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
13496 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
13497 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
13498 (signature my-news-signature))
13499 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
13500 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
13501 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
13502 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
13503 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
13504 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
13505 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
13506 (address "user@@bar.foo")
13507 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
13508 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
13510 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
13511 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
13513 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
13516 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
13517 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
13518 if you fill many roles.
13519 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
13520 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
13526 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
13527 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
13528 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
13529 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
13530 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
13532 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
13533 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
13534 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
13535 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
13536 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
13540 @vindex nndraft-directory
13541 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
13542 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
13543 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
13544 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
13545 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
13546 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
13548 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
13549 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
13550 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
13551 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
13552 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
13553 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
13554 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
13555 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
13556 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
13558 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
13559 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
13560 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
13561 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
13562 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
13563 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
13564 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
13565 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
13566 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
13567 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
13568 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
13569 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
13570 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
13571 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
13573 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
13574 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
13575 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
13577 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
13578 @kindex D e (Draft)
13579 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
13580 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
13581 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
13583 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
13586 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
13587 @kindex D s (Draft)
13588 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
13589 @kindex D S (Draft)
13590 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
13591 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
13592 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
13593 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
13594 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
13597 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
13598 @kindex D t (Draft)
13599 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
13600 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
13601 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
13603 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
13604 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13607 @node Rejected Articles
13608 @section Rejected Articles
13609 @cindex rejected articles
13611 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13612 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13613 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13614 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13616 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13617 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13618 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13619 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13620 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13622 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13623 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13624 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13626 @node Signing and encrypting
13627 @section Signing and encrypting
13629 @cindex using s/mime
13630 @cindex using smime
13632 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13633 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13634 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13635 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13637 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13638 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13639 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13640 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13641 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13642 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13643 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13644 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13645 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13646 automatically encrypted messages.
13648 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13649 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13650 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13655 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13656 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13658 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13661 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13662 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13664 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13667 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13668 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13670 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13673 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13674 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13676 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13679 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13680 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13682 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13685 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13686 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13688 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13691 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13692 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13693 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13697 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13699 @node Select Methods
13700 @chapter Select Methods
13701 @cindex foreign groups
13702 @cindex select methods
13704 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13705 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13706 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13707 personal mail group.
13709 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13710 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13711 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13712 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13713 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13714 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13716 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13717 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13719 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13722 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13723 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13724 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13725 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13726 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13728 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13731 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13732 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13733 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13734 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13735 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
13736 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13737 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13738 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13739 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13743 @node Server Buffer
13744 @section Server Buffer
13746 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13747 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13748 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13749 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13750 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13751 back end represents a virtual server.
13753 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13754 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13755 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13756 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13758 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13759 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13760 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13761 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13762 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13763 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13764 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13766 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13767 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13770 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13771 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13772 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13773 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13774 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13775 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13776 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13779 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13780 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13783 @node Server Buffer Format
13784 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13785 @cindex server buffer format
13787 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13788 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13789 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13790 variable, with some simple extensions:
13795 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13798 The name of this server.
13801 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13804 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13807 Whether this server is agentized.
13810 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13811 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13812 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13813 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13823 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13826 @node Server Commands
13827 @subsection Server Commands
13828 @cindex server commands
13834 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13835 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13836 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13840 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13841 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13845 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13846 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13849 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13850 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13851 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13855 @findex gnus-server-exit
13856 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13860 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13861 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13865 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13866 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13870 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13871 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13875 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13876 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13880 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13881 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13882 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13887 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13888 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13889 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13890 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13894 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13896 Compact all groups in the server under point
13897 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13898 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13899 hence getting a correct total article count.
13904 @node Example Methods
13905 @subsection Example Methods
13907 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13910 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13913 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13919 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13920 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13923 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13924 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13926 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13927 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13931 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13934 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13935 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13937 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13938 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13939 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13943 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13946 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13949 Here's the method for a public spool:
13953 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13954 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13960 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13961 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13962 on the firewall machine and connect with
13963 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13964 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13965 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13966 should probably look something like this:
13970 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13971 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13972 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13975 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13976 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13977 configuration to the example above:
13980 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13983 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13984 an indirect connection:
13987 (setq gnus-select-method
13989 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13990 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13991 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13992 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13993 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13994 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13997 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13998 provide automatic authorization, of course.
14000 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
14001 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
14002 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
14006 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14007 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14008 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14012 @node Creating a Virtual Server
14013 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
14015 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
14016 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
14018 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
14019 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
14020 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
14022 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
14024 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
14025 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
14026 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
14027 will contain the following:
14037 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
14038 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
14041 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
14042 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
14043 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
14046 @node Server Variables
14047 @subsection Server Variables
14048 @cindex server variables
14049 @cindex server parameters
14051 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
14052 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
14053 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
14054 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
14055 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
14057 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
14058 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
14059 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
14060 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
14061 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
14062 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
14063 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
14064 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
14065 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
14069 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
14070 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
14071 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
14074 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
14076 @node Servers and Methods
14077 @subsection Servers and Methods
14079 Wherever you would normally use a select method
14080 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
14081 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
14082 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
14086 @node Unavailable Servers
14087 @subsection Unavailable Servers
14089 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
14090 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
14091 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
14092 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
14093 actually the case or not.
14095 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
14096 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
14097 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
14098 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
14099 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
14100 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
14101 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
14102 it will regard that server as ``down''.
14104 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
14105 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
14107 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
14108 with the following commands:
14114 @findex gnus-server-open-server
14115 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
14116 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
14120 @findex gnus-server-close-server
14121 Close the connection (if any) to the server
14122 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
14126 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
14127 Mark the current server as unreachable
14128 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
14131 @kindex M-o (Server)
14132 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
14133 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
14134 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
14137 @kindex M-c (Server)
14138 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
14139 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
14140 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
14144 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
14145 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
14146 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
14150 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
14151 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
14157 @section Getting News
14158 @cindex reading news
14159 @cindex news back ends
14161 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
14162 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
14163 or it can read from a local spool.
14166 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14167 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
14175 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
14176 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
14177 server as the, uhm, address.
14179 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
14180 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
14181 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
14182 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14184 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
14185 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
14186 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
14188 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
14193 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
14194 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
14195 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
14197 @cindex authentication
14198 @cindex nntp authentication
14199 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14200 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
14201 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
14202 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
14203 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
14204 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
14205 present in this hook.
14207 @item nntp-authinfo-function
14208 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
14209 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14210 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
14211 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
14212 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
14213 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
14214 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
14215 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
14216 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
14217 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
14218 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
14222 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
14225 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
14227 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
14228 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
14229 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
14230 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
14231 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
14232 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
14233 @samp{force} is explained below.
14237 Here's an example file:
14240 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
14241 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
14244 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
14245 have to be first, for instance.
14247 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
14248 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
14249 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
14250 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
14251 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
14252 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
14253 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
14255 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
14256 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
14262 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
14263 previously mentioned.
14265 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
14267 @item nntp-server-action-alist
14268 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
14269 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
14270 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
14271 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
14274 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
14275 '(("innd" (ding))))
14278 You probably don't want to do that, though.
14280 The default value is
14283 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
14284 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
14285 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
14288 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
14289 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
14291 @item nntp-maximum-request
14292 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
14293 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
14294 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
14295 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
14296 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
14297 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
14298 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
14300 @item nntp-connection-timeout
14301 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
14302 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
14303 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
14304 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
14305 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
14306 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
14307 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
14308 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
14309 no timeouts are done.
14311 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
14312 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
14313 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
14314 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
14317 @item nntp-xover-commands
14318 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
14319 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
14321 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
14322 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
14326 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
14327 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
14328 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
14329 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
14330 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
14331 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
14332 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
14333 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
14334 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
14335 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
14336 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
14338 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14339 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14340 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
14341 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
14342 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
14343 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
14344 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
14345 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
14346 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
14347 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
14348 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
14349 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
14350 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
14351 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
14352 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
14353 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
14354 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
14357 (setq gnus-select-method
14359 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
14360 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
14364 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
14366 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
14367 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
14368 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14370 @item nntp-record-commands
14371 @vindex nntp-record-commands
14372 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
14373 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
14374 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
14375 that doesn't seem to work.
14377 @item nntp-open-connection-function
14378 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
14379 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
14380 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
14381 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
14382 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
14383 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
14384 indirect ones (three pre-made).
14386 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
14387 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
14388 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
14389 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
14390 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
14391 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
14392 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
14393 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
14394 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
14396 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14397 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14398 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
14399 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
14400 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
14401 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
14402 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
14404 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
14405 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
14406 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
14407 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
14408 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
14409 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
14410 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
14413 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
14416 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
14417 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
14422 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
14423 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
14424 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
14425 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
14429 @node Direct Functions
14430 @subsubsection Direct Functions
14431 @cindex direct connection functions
14433 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
14434 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
14435 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
14436 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14439 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
14440 @item nntp-open-network-stream
14441 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
14444 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
14445 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
14446 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14447 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
14448 installed. You then define a server as follows:
14451 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14452 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
14454 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14455 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
14456 (nntp-port-number 563)
14457 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14460 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
14461 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
14462 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14463 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
14464 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
14465 then define a server as follows:
14468 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14469 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
14471 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14472 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
14473 (nntp-port-number 563)
14474 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14477 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
14478 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
14479 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
14480 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
14481 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
14482 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
14483 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
14484 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
14488 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14489 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14490 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14493 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
14494 session, which is not a good idea.
14496 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
14497 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
14498 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
14499 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
14500 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
14501 not available. The previous example would turn into:
14505 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14506 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
14507 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
14508 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
14513 @node Indirect Functions
14514 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
14515 @cindex indirect connection functions
14517 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
14518 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14519 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
14520 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
14521 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
14522 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14525 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14526 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14527 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
14528 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
14529 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
14531 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
14534 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14535 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14536 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14537 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14539 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14540 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14541 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14542 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
14543 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
14544 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
14547 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14548 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14549 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
14550 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
14551 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
14552 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
14554 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14557 @item nntp-telnet-command
14558 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
14559 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
14560 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
14562 @item nntp-telnet-switches
14563 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
14564 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14565 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
14567 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14568 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14569 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14570 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14572 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14573 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14574 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14575 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
14576 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
14577 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
14578 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14581 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14582 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14584 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14585 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14586 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14587 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14589 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14592 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14593 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14594 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14597 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14598 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14599 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14600 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14602 @item nntp-via-user-password
14603 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14604 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14606 @item nntp-via-envuser
14607 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14608 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14609 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14610 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14612 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14613 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14614 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14615 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14619 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14620 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14624 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14629 @item nntp-via-user-name
14630 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14631 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14633 @item nntp-via-address
14634 @vindex nntp-via-address
14635 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14640 @node Common Variables
14641 @subsubsection Common Variables
14643 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14644 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14645 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14646 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14647 variables individually).
14651 @item nntp-pre-command
14652 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14653 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14654 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14655 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14656 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14659 @vindex nntp-address
14660 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14662 @item nntp-port-number
14663 @vindex nntp-port-number
14664 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14665 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14666 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14667 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14668 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14669 not work with named ports.
14671 @item nntp-end-of-line
14672 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14673 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14674 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14675 using a non native telnet connection function.
14677 @item nntp-netcat-command
14678 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14679 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14680 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14681 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14684 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14685 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14686 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14692 @subsubsection NNTP marks
14693 @cindex storing NNTP marks
14695 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
14696 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
14697 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
14698 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
14699 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
14700 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
14701 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
14702 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
14704 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
14705 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
14706 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
14707 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
14708 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14710 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
14711 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
14712 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
14713 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
14714 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
14715 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
14716 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
14718 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
14719 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
14720 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14726 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
14727 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
14728 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
14729 default is @code{nil}.
14731 @item nntp-marks-directory
14732 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
14733 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
14739 @subsection News Spool
14743 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14744 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14745 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14748 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14749 anything else) as the address.
14751 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14752 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14753 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14754 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14758 @item nnspool-inews-program
14759 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14760 Program used to post an article.
14762 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14763 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14764 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14766 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14767 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14768 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14769 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14771 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14772 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14773 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14774 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14776 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14777 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14778 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14780 @item nnspool-active-file
14781 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14782 The name of the active file.
14784 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14785 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14786 The name of the group descriptions file.
14788 @item nnspool-history-file
14789 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14790 The name of the news history file.
14792 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14793 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14794 The name of the active date file.
14796 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14797 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14798 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14801 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14802 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14804 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14805 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14806 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14813 @section Getting Mail
14814 @cindex reading mail
14817 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14821 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14822 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14823 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14824 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14825 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14826 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14827 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14828 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14829 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14830 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14831 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14832 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14833 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14837 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14838 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14840 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14841 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14842 of a culture shock.
14844 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14845 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14847 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14848 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14849 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14850 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14852 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14854 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14855 deleted? How awful!
14857 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14858 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14859 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14860 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14863 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14864 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14865 they want to treat a message.
14867 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14868 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14869 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14870 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14871 archived somewhere else.
14873 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14874 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14875 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14876 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14877 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14879 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14880 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14881 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14883 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14884 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14887 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14888 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14889 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14890 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14891 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14893 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14894 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14895 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14896 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14897 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14898 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14902 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14903 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14905 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14906 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14907 and things will happen automatically.
14909 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14910 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14913 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14916 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14917 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14918 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14919 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14920 like any other group.
14922 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14925 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14926 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14927 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14931 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14932 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14933 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14936 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14937 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14938 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14941 @node Splitting Mail
14942 @subsection Splitting Mail
14943 @cindex splitting mail
14944 @cindex mail splitting
14945 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14947 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14948 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14949 to be split into groups.
14952 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14953 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14954 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14955 ("mail.other" "")))
14958 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14959 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14960 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14961 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14962 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14963 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14964 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14967 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14971 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14972 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14974 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14975 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14976 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14977 mail belongs in that group.
14979 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14980 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14981 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14982 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14983 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14984 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14985 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14986 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14987 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14988 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14990 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14991 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14992 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14993 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14994 thinks should carry this mail message.
14996 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14997 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14998 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14999 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
15001 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
15002 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
15003 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
15004 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
15005 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
15007 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
15010 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
15011 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
15012 links. If that's the case for you, set
15013 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
15014 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
15016 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
15017 @findex nnmail-split-history
15018 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
15019 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
15020 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
15021 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
15024 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
15025 Header lines longer than the value of
15026 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
15029 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
15030 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
15031 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
15032 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
15033 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
15034 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
15035 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
15036 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
15037 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
15038 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
15039 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
15040 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
15042 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15043 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
15044 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
15045 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
15046 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
15047 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
15048 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
15049 other kinds of entries.)
15051 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
15052 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
15053 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
15054 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
15055 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
15056 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
15057 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
15058 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
15059 month's rent money.
15063 @subsection Mail Sources
15065 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
15066 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
15067 maildir, for instance.
15070 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
15071 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
15072 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
15076 @node Mail Source Specifiers
15077 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
15079 @cindex mail server
15082 @cindex mail source
15084 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
15085 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
15090 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
15093 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
15094 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
15095 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
15098 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
15099 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
15100 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
15101 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
15102 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
15103 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
15104 group might look like this:
15107 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
15110 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
15111 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
15113 The following mail source types are available:
15117 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
15123 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
15124 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
15125 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
15129 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15132 An example file mail source:
15135 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
15138 Or using the default file name:
15144 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
15145 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
15146 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
15147 mail spool while moving the mail.
15149 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
15153 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
15156 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
15160 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
15163 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
15165 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
15168 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
15169 file you want to use.
15173 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
15174 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
15175 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
15176 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
15177 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
15178 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
15179 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
15180 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
15181 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
15182 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
15184 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15185 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
15186 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
15187 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
15193 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
15197 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
15201 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
15202 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
15203 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
15204 predicate are considered.
15208 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15212 An example directory mail source:
15215 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
15220 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15226 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
15227 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15230 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
15231 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
15232 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
15233 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
15234 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
15237 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
15241 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
15242 the user is prompted.
15245 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
15246 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
15249 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
15252 The valid format specifier characters are:
15256 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
15257 included in this string.
15260 The name of the server.
15263 The port number of the server.
15266 The user name to use.
15269 The password to use.
15272 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15273 corresponding keywords.
15276 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15277 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15280 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15281 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15284 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
15285 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
15286 mail should be moved to.
15288 @item :authentication
15289 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
15290 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
15295 @vindex pop3-movemail
15296 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
15297 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
15298 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
15299 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
15300 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
15301 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
15302 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
15303 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
15304 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
15306 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15307 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
15308 name, and default fetcher:
15314 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
15317 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
15318 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
15321 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
15324 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
15328 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
15329 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
15330 contains exactly one mail.
15336 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
15337 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
15340 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
15341 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
15343 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
15344 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
15345 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
15348 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
15349 from locking problems).
15353 Two example maildir mail sources:
15356 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
15357 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
15361 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
15366 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
15367 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
15368 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
15369 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
15370 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
15372 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
15373 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
15379 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
15380 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15383 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
15384 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
15387 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
15391 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
15395 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
15396 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
15397 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15398 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15400 @item :authentication
15401 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15402 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15403 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15404 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15407 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
15408 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15409 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15415 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15416 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15417 specifier characters are:
15421 The name of the server.
15424 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15427 The port number of the server.
15430 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15431 corresponding keywords.
15434 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15435 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
15438 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15439 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15440 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15441 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15442 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15443 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15446 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15447 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15448 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15449 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15452 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15453 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15457 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15460 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15462 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15466 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
15467 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
15468 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
15470 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
15471 required for url "4.0pre.46".
15473 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
15479 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
15480 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
15483 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
15487 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
15491 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
15492 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
15496 An example webmail source:
15499 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
15501 :password "secret")
15505 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15506 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15511 @item Common Keywords
15512 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15518 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15519 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15524 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15529 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15530 useful when you use local mail and news.
15535 @subsubsection Function Interface
15537 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15538 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15539 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15540 consider the following mail-source setting:
15543 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15544 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15547 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15548 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15549 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15550 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15551 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15553 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15556 @node Mail Source Customization
15557 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15559 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15560 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15564 @item mail-source-crash-box
15565 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15566 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15567 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15570 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15571 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15572 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15573 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15574 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15575 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15576 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15577 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15578 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15579 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15581 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15582 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15583 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15584 files. This variable only applies when
15585 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15587 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15588 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15589 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15591 @item mail-source-directory
15592 @vindex mail-source-directory
15593 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15594 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15595 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15596 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15598 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15599 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15600 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15601 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15602 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15603 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15606 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15607 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15608 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
15610 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15611 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15612 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15613 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15618 @node Fetching Mail
15619 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15621 @vindex mail-sources
15622 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15623 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15624 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15626 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15627 fetch mail by themselves.
15629 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15630 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15635 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15636 :password "secret")))
15639 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15643 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15644 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15647 :password "secret")))
15651 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15652 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15653 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15654 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15655 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15656 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15660 @node Mail Back End Variables
15661 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15663 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15667 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15668 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15669 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15670 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15672 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15673 @item nnmail-split-hook
15674 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15675 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15676 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15677 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15678 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15679 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15680 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15681 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15682 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15685 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15686 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15687 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15688 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15689 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15690 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15691 starting to handle the new mail) and
15692 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15693 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15694 default file modes the new mail files get:
15697 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15698 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
15700 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15701 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
15704 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15705 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15706 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15707 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15708 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15709 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15710 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15712 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15713 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15714 @findex delete-file
15715 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15717 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15718 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15719 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15720 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15721 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15723 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15724 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15725 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15726 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15727 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15729 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15730 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15731 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15736 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15737 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15738 @cindex mail splitting
15739 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15741 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15742 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15743 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15744 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15745 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15746 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15748 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15751 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15752 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15753 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15754 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15756 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15757 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15758 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15759 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15760 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15761 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15762 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15763 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15764 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15765 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15766 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15767 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15768 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15769 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15770 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15771 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15772 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15776 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15777 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15778 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15783 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15784 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15786 @c Don't fold this line.
15787 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15788 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15789 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15790 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15793 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15794 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15795 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15796 @var{split} is processed.
15798 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15799 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15800 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15801 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15803 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15804 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15805 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15806 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15807 stored in one or more groups.
15809 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15810 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15811 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15814 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15815 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15817 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15818 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15819 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15820 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15823 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15824 body of the messages:
15827 (defun split-on-body ()
15831 (goto-char (point-min))
15832 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15836 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15837 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15838 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15839 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15840 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15841 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15842 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
15844 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15845 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15846 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15847 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15848 should return a split.
15851 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15855 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15857 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15858 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15859 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15860 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15864 (any "joe" "joemail")
15868 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15869 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15870 of the following three ways:
15874 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15875 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15876 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15877 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15878 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15881 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15884 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15885 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15886 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15887 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15888 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15891 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15892 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15893 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15894 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15895 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15896 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15897 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15900 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15901 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15902 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15903 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15904 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15905 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15906 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15910 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15912 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15913 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15915 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15918 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15919 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15920 when all this splitting is performed.
15922 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15923 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15924 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15927 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15930 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15931 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15933 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
15934 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15935 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15936 groupings 1 through 9.
15938 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15939 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15940 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15941 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15942 groups when users send to an address using different case
15943 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15946 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15947 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15948 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15949 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15950 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15951 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15952 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15953 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15954 it once per thread.
15956 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15957 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15958 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15959 using the colon feature, like so:
15961 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15962 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15964 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15965 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15969 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15970 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15971 in the file specified by the variable
15972 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15973 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15974 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15975 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15976 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15977 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15978 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15979 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15980 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15981 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15982 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15983 300 kBytes in size.)
15984 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15985 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15986 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15987 messages goes into the new group.
15989 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15990 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15991 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15992 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15993 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15994 ``outgoing'' group.
15997 @node Group Mail Splitting
15998 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15999 @cindex mail splitting
16000 @cindex group mail splitting
16002 @findex gnus-group-split
16003 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
16004 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
16005 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
16006 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
16007 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
16008 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
16009 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
16010 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
16012 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
16013 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
16014 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
16015 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
16017 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
16018 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
16019 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
16020 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
16021 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
16022 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
16023 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
16025 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
16026 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
16027 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
16028 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
16029 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
16030 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
16031 @code{gnus-group-split}.
16033 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
16034 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
16035 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
16036 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
16037 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
16038 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
16039 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
16040 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
16041 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
16042 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
16043 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
16044 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
16045 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
16047 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
16052 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
16053 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
16055 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
16056 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
16057 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
16058 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
16060 ((split-spec . catch-all))
16063 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
16064 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
16065 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
16068 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
16069 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
16070 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
16074 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
16075 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
16076 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16080 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
16083 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
16084 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
16085 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
16086 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
16087 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
16088 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
16089 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
16090 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
16091 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
16093 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
16094 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
16095 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
16096 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
16097 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
16098 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
16099 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
16100 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
16101 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
16103 @findex gnus-group-split-update
16104 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
16105 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
16106 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
16107 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
16108 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
16111 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
16114 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
16115 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
16116 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
16117 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
16118 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
16121 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
16122 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
16123 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
16124 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
16126 @node Incorporating Old Mail
16127 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
16128 @cindex incorporating old mail
16129 @cindex import old mail
16131 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
16132 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
16133 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
16136 Doing so can be quite easy.
16138 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
16139 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
16140 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
16141 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
16142 your @code{nnml} groups.
16148 Go to the group buffer.
16151 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
16152 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16155 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
16158 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
16159 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16162 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
16163 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
16166 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
16167 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
16168 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
16169 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
16170 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
16172 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
16173 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
16174 using the new mail back end.
16177 @node Expiring Mail
16178 @subsection Expiring Mail
16179 @cindex article expiry
16180 @cindex expiring mail
16182 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
16183 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
16184 different approach to mail reading.
16186 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
16187 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
16188 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
16189 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
16190 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
16191 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
16194 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
16195 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
16196 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
16197 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
16198 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
16199 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
16200 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
16201 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
16202 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
16204 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
16205 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
16206 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
16207 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
16208 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
16209 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
16210 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
16213 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
16214 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
16215 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
16216 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
16217 into its own group.)
16219 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
16220 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
16221 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
16222 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
16223 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
16224 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
16225 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
16226 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
16229 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16230 Groups that match the regular expression
16231 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
16232 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
16233 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
16235 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
16236 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
16237 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
16238 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
16239 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16241 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
16243 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
16244 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
16245 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
16248 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
16249 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
16250 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
16251 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
16252 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
16254 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
16255 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
16258 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16259 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
16262 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
16263 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
16265 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
16266 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
16267 don't really mix very well.
16269 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
16270 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
16271 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
16272 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
16275 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
16276 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
16277 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
16278 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
16281 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16283 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16285 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
16287 ((string= group "mail.junk")
16289 ((string= group "important")
16295 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
16296 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
16298 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
16299 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
16300 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
16303 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
16304 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16306 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
16307 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
16308 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
16309 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
16310 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
16311 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
16312 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
16313 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
16314 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
16315 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
16316 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
16317 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
16318 name or @code{delete}.
16320 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
16322 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
16325 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16326 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16327 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
16328 expire mail to groups according to the variable
16329 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
16332 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16333 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16334 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
16335 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
16336 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
16339 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
16340 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
16341 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
16342 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
16343 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
16344 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
16346 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
16347 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
16348 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
16349 easier for procmail users.
16351 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
16352 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
16353 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
16354 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
16355 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
16356 caution. Even more dangerous is the
16357 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
16358 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
16359 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
16360 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
16361 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
16362 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
16363 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
16366 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
16368 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
16369 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
16370 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
16371 auto-expire turned on.
16373 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
16374 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
16375 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
16376 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
16377 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
16378 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
16379 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
16380 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
16381 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
16382 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
16383 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
16384 into auto-expire groups, you can set
16385 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
16386 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
16387 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
16388 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
16392 @subsection Washing Mail
16393 @cindex mail washing
16394 @cindex list server brain damage
16395 @cindex incoming mail treatment
16397 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
16398 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
16399 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
16400 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
16401 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
16402 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
16404 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
16405 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
16406 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
16409 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
16410 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
16411 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
16412 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
16415 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16416 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16417 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
16418 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
16419 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
16422 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16423 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16424 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
16425 Emacs running on MS machines.
16429 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16430 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16431 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
16432 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16435 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16436 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16437 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16438 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16440 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16441 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16442 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16443 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16444 into a feature by documenting it.)
16446 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16447 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16448 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16449 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16450 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16451 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16452 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16455 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16456 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16459 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16460 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16463 This can also be done non-destructively with
16464 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16466 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16467 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16468 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16470 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16471 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16472 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16475 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16476 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16477 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16478 contain a line matching the regular expression
16479 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16483 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16484 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16485 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16489 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16490 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16491 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16498 @subsection Duplicates
16500 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16501 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16502 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16503 @cindex duplicate mails
16504 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16505 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16506 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16507 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
16508 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16509 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16510 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16511 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16512 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16513 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16514 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16515 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16516 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16518 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16519 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16520 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16521 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16523 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16526 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16527 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16531 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16532 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16533 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16534 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16535 (any mail "mail.misc")
16536 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16542 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16543 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16544 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16548 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16549 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16550 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16551 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16552 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16555 @node Not Reading Mail
16556 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16558 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16559 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16560 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16562 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16563 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16564 mail, which should help.
16566 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16567 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16568 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16569 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16570 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16571 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16572 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16573 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16574 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16575 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16576 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16578 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16579 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16583 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16584 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16586 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16587 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16588 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16590 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16591 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16592 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16596 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16597 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16598 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16599 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16600 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16601 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16602 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16606 @node Unix Mail Box
16607 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16609 @cindex unix mail box
16611 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16612 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16613 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16614 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16615 which group it belongs in.
16617 Virtual server settings:
16620 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16621 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16622 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16625 @item nnmbox-active-file
16626 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16627 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16628 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16630 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16631 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16632 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16633 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16638 @subsubsection Babyl
16641 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16642 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16643 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16644 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16645 group it belongs in.
16647 Virtual server settings:
16650 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16651 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16652 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16654 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16655 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16656 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16657 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16659 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16660 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16661 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16667 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16669 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16671 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16672 format. It should be used with some caution.
16674 @vindex nnml-directory
16675 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16676 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16677 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16678 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16680 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16683 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16684 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16685 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16686 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16687 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16688 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16689 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16690 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16692 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16693 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16694 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16695 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16697 @cindex self contained nnml servers
16699 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
16700 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16701 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16702 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
16703 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
16704 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
16705 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
16706 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
16709 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
16710 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
16711 them next time it starts.
16713 Virtual server settings:
16716 @item nnml-directory
16717 @vindex nnml-directory
16718 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16719 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16722 @item nnml-active-file
16723 @vindex nnml-active-file
16724 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16725 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16727 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16728 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16729 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16730 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16732 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16733 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16734 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16737 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16738 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16739 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16740 default is @code{nil}.
16742 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16743 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16744 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16746 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16747 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16748 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16750 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
16751 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
16752 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16753 default is @code{nil}.
16755 @item nnml-marks-file-name
16756 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
16757 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
16759 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16760 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16761 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16762 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16763 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16764 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16765 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16766 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16767 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16769 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16770 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16771 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16772 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16773 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16777 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16778 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16779 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16780 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16781 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16782 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16783 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16788 @subsubsection MH Spool
16790 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16792 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16793 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16794 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16795 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16798 Virtual server settings:
16801 @item nnmh-directory
16802 @vindex nnmh-directory
16803 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16804 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16807 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16808 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16809 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16813 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16814 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16815 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16816 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16817 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16818 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16819 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16824 @subsubsection Maildir
16828 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16829 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16830 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16831 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16832 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16835 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16836 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16837 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16838 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16839 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16840 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16841 that appear as group in Gnus.
16843 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16844 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16845 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16847 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16848 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16849 another, and you will keep your marks.
16851 Virtual server settings:
16855 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16856 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16857 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16858 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16859 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16860 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16861 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16862 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16863 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16864 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16866 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16867 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16868 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16869 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16870 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16871 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16872 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16873 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16874 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16875 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16878 @item target-prefix
16879 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16880 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16881 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16884 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16885 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16886 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16887 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16888 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16889 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16890 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16891 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16892 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16894 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16895 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16896 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16897 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16898 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16900 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16901 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16902 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16903 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16904 @code{force} argument.
16906 @item directory-files
16907 This should be a function with the same interface as
16908 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16909 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16910 parameter is optional; the default is
16911 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16912 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16913 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16914 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16915 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16916 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16919 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16920 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16921 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16922 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16923 value is @code{nil}.
16925 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16926 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16927 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16928 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16929 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16932 @subsubsection Group parameters
16934 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16935 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16936 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16937 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16938 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16939 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16942 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16943 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16944 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16945 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16946 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16947 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16948 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16949 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16950 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16954 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16955 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16956 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16957 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16958 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16959 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16960 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16961 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16962 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16963 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16964 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16965 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16966 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16969 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16971 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16973 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16974 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16975 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16976 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16977 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16978 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16979 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16980 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16981 article. So that form can refer to
16982 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16983 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16984 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16985 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16988 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16989 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16990 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16991 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16992 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16993 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16994 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16995 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16996 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16997 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16998 contain extra copies of the articles.
17000 @item directory-files
17001 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
17002 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
17003 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
17004 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
17006 @item distrust-Lines:
17007 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
17008 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
17009 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
17012 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
17013 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17014 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
17015 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
17016 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
17017 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17020 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
17021 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17022 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
17023 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
17024 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
17025 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
17026 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17028 @item nov-cache-size
17029 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
17030 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
17031 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
17032 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
17033 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
17034 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
17035 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
17036 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
17037 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
17038 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
17039 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
17042 @subsubsection Article identification
17043 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
17044 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
17045 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
17046 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
17047 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
17048 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
17049 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
17050 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
17051 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
17052 request the article in the summary buffer.
17054 @subsubsection NOV data
17055 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
17056 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
17057 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
17058 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
17059 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
17060 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
17061 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
17062 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
17063 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
17064 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
17065 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
17067 @subsubsection Article marks
17068 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
17069 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
17070 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17071 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
17072 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17073 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
17074 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
17075 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
17077 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
17078 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
17079 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
17080 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
17081 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
17082 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
17083 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
17084 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
17085 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
17089 @subsubsection Mail Folders
17091 @cindex mbox folders
17092 @cindex mail folders
17094 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
17095 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
17096 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
17097 numbers and arrival dates.
17099 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
17101 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
17102 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
17103 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
17104 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
17105 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
17106 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
17107 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
17108 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
17109 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
17110 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
17112 Virtual server settings:
17115 @item nnfolder-directory
17116 @vindex nnfolder-directory
17117 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
17118 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
17119 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
17121 @item nnfolder-active-file
17122 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
17123 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
17125 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17126 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17127 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
17128 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
17130 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
17131 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
17132 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
17133 default is @code{t}
17135 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17136 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17137 @cindex backup files
17138 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
17139 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
17140 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
17141 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
17144 (defun turn-off-backup ()
17145 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
17147 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
17150 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17151 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17152 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
17153 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
17154 extract some information from it before removing it.
17156 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17157 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17158 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
17159 default is @code{nil}.
17161 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17162 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17163 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
17165 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
17166 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
17167 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
17168 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17170 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17171 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17172 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
17173 default is @code{nil}.
17175 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17176 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17177 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
17179 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
17180 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
17181 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
17182 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17187 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
17188 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
17189 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
17190 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
17191 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
17192 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
17195 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
17196 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
17198 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
17199 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
17200 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
17201 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
17202 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
17204 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
17205 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
17206 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
17207 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
17208 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
17209 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
17210 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
17211 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
17214 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
17215 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
17216 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
17217 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
17222 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
17223 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
17224 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
17225 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
17226 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
17227 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
17228 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
17229 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
17230 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
17231 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
17232 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
17233 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
17234 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
17239 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
17240 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
17241 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
17242 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
17243 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
17244 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
17245 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
17246 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
17247 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
17248 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
17249 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
17250 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
17251 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
17252 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
17253 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
17255 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
17256 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
17261 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
17262 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
17263 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
17264 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
17265 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
17266 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
17267 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
17268 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
17269 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
17270 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
17271 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
17272 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
17273 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
17274 provided by the active file and overviews.
17276 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
17277 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
17278 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
17279 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
17280 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
17283 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
17284 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
17289 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
17290 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
17291 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
17292 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
17293 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
17294 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
17295 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
17299 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
17300 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
17301 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
17302 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
17303 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
17304 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
17305 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
17306 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
17307 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
17309 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
17310 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
17311 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
17312 friendly mail back end all over.
17316 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
17317 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
17320 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
17321 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
17322 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
17323 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
17324 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
17325 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
17326 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
17327 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
17330 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
17331 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
17332 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
17333 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
17334 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
17335 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
17336 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
17337 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
17338 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
17339 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
17340 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
17342 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
17343 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
17344 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
17345 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
17346 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
17349 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
17350 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
17351 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
17352 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
17353 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
17354 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
17355 removed in the future.
17357 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
17358 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
17359 on your file system.
17361 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
17362 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
17367 @node Browsing the Web
17368 @section Browsing the Web
17370 @cindex browsing the web
17374 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
17375 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
17376 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
17377 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
17378 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
17379 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
17380 even know what a news group is.
17382 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
17383 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
17384 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
17385 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
17386 you mad in the end.
17388 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
17391 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
17392 interfaces to these sources.
17396 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
17397 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
17398 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
17401 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
17402 alternatives to work.
17404 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
17405 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
17406 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
17407 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
17408 though, you should be ok.
17410 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
17411 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
17412 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
17413 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
17414 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
17416 @node Archiving Mail
17417 @subsection Archiving Mail
17418 @cindex archiving mail
17419 @cindex backup of mail
17421 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
17422 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
17423 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
17424 marks is fairly simple.
17426 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
17427 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
17430 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
17431 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
17432 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
17433 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
17434 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
17435 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
17436 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
17437 before you restore the data.
17439 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
17440 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
17441 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
17442 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
17443 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
17444 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
17445 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
17446 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
17447 is unnecessary in that case.
17450 @subsection Web Searches
17455 @cindex Usenet searches
17456 @cindex searching the Usenet
17458 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
17459 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
17460 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
17461 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
17462 searches without having to use a browser.
17464 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
17465 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
17466 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
17467 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
17468 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
17470 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
17471 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
17472 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
17473 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
17474 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
17475 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
17476 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
17477 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
17478 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
17479 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
17482 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
17483 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
17484 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
17485 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
17486 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
17487 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
17489 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
17490 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
17491 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
17493 Virtual server variables:
17498 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17499 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17500 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17503 @vindex nnweb-search
17504 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17506 @item nnweb-max-hits
17507 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17508 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17511 @item nnweb-type-definition
17512 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17513 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17514 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17519 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17523 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17526 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17529 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17533 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17544 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17545 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17546 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17547 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17548 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
17550 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17551 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17553 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17554 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17555 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17558 @kindex G R (Group)
17559 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17560 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17561 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17562 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17564 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17565 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17566 subscribe to groups.
17568 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17569 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17570 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17571 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17572 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17575 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17576 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17577 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17580 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17581 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17584 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17585 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17589 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17590 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17591 @acronym{OPML} format.
17594 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17597 @item nnrss-directory
17598 @vindex nnrss-directory
17599 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17600 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17602 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17603 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17604 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17605 data files. The default is the value of
17606 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17607 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17609 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17610 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17611 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17612 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17613 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17614 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17615 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17616 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17618 @item nnrss-use-local
17619 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17620 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17621 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17622 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17623 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17624 download script using @command{wget}.
17626 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
17627 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
17628 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
17629 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
17630 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
17631 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
17632 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil} if you prefer to see
17633 @samp{text/html} parts.
17636 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17637 the summary buffer.
17640 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17641 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17643 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17645 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17646 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17649 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17653 (require 'browse-url)
17655 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17657 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17660 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17661 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17664 (browse-url (cdr url))
17665 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17666 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17668 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17669 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17670 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17671 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17674 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17675 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17676 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17677 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17678 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17679 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17680 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17681 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17682 @code{nnrss} groups:
17685 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17686 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17688 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17689 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17690 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17692 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17695 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17699 @node Customizing W3
17700 @subsection Customizing W3
17706 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17707 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17708 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17711 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17712 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17713 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17716 (eval-after-load "w3"
17718 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17719 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17720 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17721 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17723 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17726 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17727 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17734 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
17736 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
17737 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
17738 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
17739 specify the network address of the server.
17741 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
17742 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
17743 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
17744 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
17745 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
17746 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
17748 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
17749 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
17750 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
17751 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
17753 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
17754 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
17755 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
17756 usage explained in this section.
17758 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
17759 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
17760 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
17764 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17765 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
17766 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
17768 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17769 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
17770 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
17772 (nnimap-server-port 143)
17773 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17774 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
17775 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
17776 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
17777 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
17778 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
17779 (nnimap-stream network))
17780 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
17782 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
17783 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
17784 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
17787 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
17788 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
17789 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
17790 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
17792 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
17797 @item nnimap-address
17798 @vindex nnimap-address
17800 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
17801 server name if not specified.
17803 @item nnimap-server-port
17804 @vindex nnimap-server-port
17805 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
17807 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
17810 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17811 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
17814 @item nnimap-list-pattern
17815 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
17816 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
17817 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
17818 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
17819 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
17820 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
17822 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
17823 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
17824 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
17827 Example server specification:
17830 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17831 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
17832 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
17835 @item nnimap-stream
17836 @vindex nnimap-stream
17837 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
17838 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
17839 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
17840 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
17841 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
17843 Example server specification:
17846 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17847 (nnimap-stream ssl))
17850 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
17854 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
17855 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
17857 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
17859 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
17860 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
17863 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
17864 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
17866 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
17867 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
17869 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
17871 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
17874 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
17875 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
17876 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
17877 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
17878 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
17879 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
17880 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
17881 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
17882 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
17885 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
17886 needed. It is available from
17887 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
17889 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
17890 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
17891 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
17892 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
17893 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
17894 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
17895 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
17898 @vindex imap-ssl-program
17899 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
17900 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
17901 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
17902 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
17903 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
17904 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
17907 @vindex imap-shell-program
17908 @vindex imap-shell-host
17909 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the
17910 variable @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call. Make
17911 sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g., don't
17912 forget to redirect the error output to the void.
17914 @item nnimap-authenticator
17915 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
17917 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
17918 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
17920 Example server specification:
17923 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17924 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
17927 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
17931 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
17932 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
17934 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
17937 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
17938 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
17940 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
17942 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
17944 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
17947 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
17949 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
17950 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
17951 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
17952 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
17953 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
17954 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
17957 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
17958 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
17959 running in circles yet?
17961 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
17962 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
17965 The possible options are:
17970 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
17973 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
17974 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
17975 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
17976 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
17978 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
17983 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
17984 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
17986 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
17987 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
17988 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
17989 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
17990 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
17993 Probably the only reason for frobbing this would be if you're trying
17994 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
17997 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
17998 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
17999 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
18000 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18003 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
18004 as ticked for other users.
18006 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
18008 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
18009 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18011 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
18012 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
18013 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
18014 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
18016 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
18017 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
18018 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
18019 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
18021 However, if @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}
18022 is true, this variable has no effect since the search logic
18023 is reversed, as described below.
18025 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
18026 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
18028 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
18029 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
18030 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
18031 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
18034 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
18037 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
18038 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
18039 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
18040 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
18043 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18044 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18046 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
18047 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
18050 @item nnimap-nov-is-evil
18051 @vindex nnimap-nov-is-evil
18052 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18053 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
18055 Never generate or use a local @acronym{NOV} database. Defaults to the
18056 value of @code{gnus-agent}.
18058 Using a @acronym{NOV} database usually makes header fetching much
18059 faster, but it uses the @code{UID SEARCH UID} command, which is very
18060 slow on some servers (notably some versions of Courier). Since the Gnus
18061 Agent caches the information in the @acronym{NOV} database without using
18062 the slow command, this variable defaults to true if the Agent is in use,
18063 and false otherwise.
18065 @item nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18066 @vindex nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18067 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18068 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18070 Avoid the @code{UID SEARCH UID @var{message numbers} NOT SINCE
18071 @var{date}} command, which is slow on some @acronym{IMAP} servers
18072 (notably, some versions of Courier). Instead, use @code{UID SEARCH SINCE
18073 @var{date}} and prune the list of expirable articles within Gnus.
18075 When Gnus expires your mail (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), it starts with a
18076 list of expirable articles and asks the IMAP server questions like ``Of
18077 these articles, which ones are older than a week?'' While this seems
18078 like a perfectly reasonable question, some IMAP servers take a long time
18079 to answer it, since they seemingly go looking into every old article to
18080 see if it is one of the expirable ones. Curiously, the question ``Of
18081 @emph{all} articles, which ones are newer than a week?'' seems to be
18082 much faster to answer, so setting this variable causes Gnus to ask this
18083 question and figure out the answer to the real question itself.
18085 This problem can really sneak up on you: when you first configure Gnus,
18086 everything works fine, but once you accumulate a couple thousand
18087 messages, you start cursing Gnus for being so slow. On the other hand,
18088 if you get a lot of email within a week, setting this variable will
18089 cause a lot of network traffic between Gnus and the IMAP server.
18091 @item nnimap-logout-timeout
18092 @vindex nnimap-logout-timeout
18094 There is a case where a connection to a @acronym{IMAP} server is unable
18095 to close, when connecting to the server via a certain kind of network,
18096 e.g. @acronym{VPN}. In that case, it will be observed that a connection
18097 between Emacs and the local network looks alive even if the server has
18098 closed a connection for some reason (typically, a timeout).
18099 Consequently, Emacs continues waiting for a response from the server for
18100 the @code{LOGOUT} command that Emacs sent, or hangs in other words. If
18101 you are in such a network, setting this variable to a number of seconds
18102 will be helpful. If it is set, a hung connection will be closed
18103 forcibly, after this number of seconds from the time Emacs sends the
18104 @code{LOGOUT} command. It should not be too small value but too large
18105 value will be inconvenient too. Perhaps the value 1.0 will be a good
18106 candidate but it might be worth trying some other values.
18108 Example server specification:
18111 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
18112 (nnimap-logout-timeout 1.0))
18118 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
18119 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
18120 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
18121 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
18122 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
18123 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
18128 @node Splitting in IMAP
18129 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
18130 @cindex splitting imap mail
18132 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
18133 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
18134 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
18135 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
18136 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
18140 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
18141 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
18142 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
18144 Here are the variables of interest:
18148 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
18149 @cindex splitting, crosspost
18151 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
18153 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
18154 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
18155 found will be used.
18157 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
18159 @item nnimap-split-inbox
18160 @cindex splitting, inbox
18162 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
18164 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
18165 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
18166 splitting is disabled!
18169 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
18170 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
18173 No nnmail equivalent.
18175 @item nnimap-split-rule
18176 @cindex splitting, rules
18177 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
18179 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
18182 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
18183 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
18184 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
18185 Neither did I, we need examples.
18188 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18190 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
18191 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
18192 ("INBOX.private" "")))
18195 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
18196 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
18197 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
18199 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
18200 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
18204 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
18207 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
18208 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
18210 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
18211 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
18212 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
18213 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
18215 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
18216 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
18217 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
18218 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
18219 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
18220 them every time you fetch new mail.)
18222 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
18223 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
18224 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
18226 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
18227 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
18228 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18230 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
18232 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
18233 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
18234 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
18237 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18238 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
18239 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
18240 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
18241 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
18242 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
18245 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
18246 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
18247 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
18248 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
18249 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
18250 group/function elements.
18252 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18254 @item nnimap-split-predicate
18256 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
18258 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
18259 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
18261 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
18262 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
18263 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
18266 @item nnimap-split-fancy
18267 @cindex splitting, fancy
18268 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
18269 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
18271 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18272 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
18273 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
18275 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
18276 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18277 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
18278 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18283 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
18284 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
18287 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
18289 @item nnimap-split-download-body
18290 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
18291 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
18293 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
18294 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
18295 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
18296 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
18300 @node Expiring in IMAP
18301 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
18302 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18304 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
18305 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
18306 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
18307 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
18308 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
18309 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
18312 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
18313 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
18314 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
18315 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
18316 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
18317 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
18318 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
18319 messages. Most do, fortunately.
18321 If expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail seems very slow, try setting the server
18322 variable @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}.
18326 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
18327 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
18329 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
18330 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
18332 @item nnmail-expiry-target
18334 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
18335 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
18336 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
18337 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
18341 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
18342 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
18343 @cindex editing imap acls
18344 @cindex Access Control Lists
18345 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
18346 @kindex G l (Group)
18347 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
18349 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
18350 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
18351 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
18354 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
18355 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
18356 editing window with detailed instructions.
18358 Some possible uses:
18362 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
18363 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
18364 follow the list without subscribing to it.
18366 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
18367 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
18368 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
18372 @node Expunging mailboxes
18373 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
18377 @cindex manual expunging
18378 @kindex G x (Group)
18379 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
18381 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
18382 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
18383 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
18385 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
18388 @node A note on namespaces
18389 @subsection A note on namespaces
18390 @cindex IMAP namespace
18393 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
18394 by the following text in the RFC2060:
18397 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
18399 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
18400 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
18401 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
18402 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
18404 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
18405 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
18406 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
18407 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
18408 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
18409 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
18412 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
18413 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
18414 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
18416 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
18417 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
18418 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
18419 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
18420 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
18421 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
18422 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
18423 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
18426 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
18427 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
18428 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
18430 @node Debugging IMAP
18431 @subsection Debugging IMAP
18432 @cindex IMAP debugging
18433 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
18435 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
18436 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
18437 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
18438 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
18440 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
18441 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
18442 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
18443 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
18444 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
18445 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
18446 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
18450 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
18451 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
18458 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
18459 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
18460 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
18461 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
18464 @node Other Sources
18465 @section Other Sources
18467 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
18468 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
18472 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
18473 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
18474 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
18475 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
18479 @node Directory Groups
18480 @subsection Directory Groups
18482 @cindex directory groups
18484 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
18485 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
18488 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
18489 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
18490 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
18491 back end to read directories. Big deal.
18493 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
18494 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
18495 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
18496 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
18497 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
18499 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
18501 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
18502 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
18503 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
18504 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
18507 @node Anything Groups
18508 @subsection Anything Groups
18511 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
18512 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
18513 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
18516 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
18517 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
18518 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
18519 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
18520 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
18521 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
18522 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
18523 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
18524 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
18525 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
18528 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
18529 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
18530 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
18531 in the article buffer, just as usual.
18533 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
18534 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
18535 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
18536 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
18538 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
18539 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
18540 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
18541 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
18542 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
18543 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
18544 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
18545 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
18550 @item nneething-map-file-directory
18551 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
18552 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
18553 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
18555 @item nneething-exclude-files
18556 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
18557 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
18558 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
18560 @item nneething-include-files
18561 @vindex nneething-include-files
18562 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
18563 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
18565 @item nneething-map-file
18566 @vindex nneething-map-file
18567 Name of the map files.
18571 @node Document Groups
18572 @subsection Document Groups
18574 @cindex documentation group
18577 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
18578 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
18588 The standard Unix mbox file.
18590 @cindex MMDF mail box
18592 The MMDF mail box format.
18595 Several news articles appended into a file.
18597 @cindex rnews batch files
18599 The rnews batch transport format.
18602 Netscape mail boxes.
18605 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
18607 @item standard-digest
18608 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
18611 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
18613 @item lanl-gov-announce
18614 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
18616 @cindex forwarded messages
18617 @item rfc822-forward
18618 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
18621 The Outlook mail box.
18624 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
18627 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
18630 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
18633 An RFC934-forwarded message.
18639 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
18642 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
18648 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
18649 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
18650 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
18653 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
18654 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
18655 group. And that's it.
18657 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
18658 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
18659 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
18660 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
18661 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
18662 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
18663 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
18664 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
18665 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
18666 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
18668 Virtual server variables:
18671 @item nndoc-article-type
18672 @vindex nndoc-article-type
18673 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
18674 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
18675 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
18676 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
18677 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
18679 @item nndoc-post-type
18680 @vindex nndoc-post-type
18681 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
18682 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
18687 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
18691 @node Document Server Internals
18692 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
18694 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
18695 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
18696 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
18697 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
18699 First, here's an example document type definition:
18703 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
18704 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
18707 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
18708 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
18709 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
18710 types can be defined with very few settings:
18713 @item first-article
18714 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
18715 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
18718 @item article-begin
18719 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
18720 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
18721 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
18722 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
18724 @item article-begin-function
18725 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
18726 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
18729 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
18730 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
18731 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
18733 @item head-begin-function
18734 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
18735 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
18738 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
18739 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
18742 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
18743 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
18744 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
18746 @item body-begin-function
18747 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
18748 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
18751 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
18752 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
18753 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
18755 @item body-end-function
18756 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
18757 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
18760 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
18761 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
18764 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
18765 regexp will be totally ignored.
18769 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
18770 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
18771 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
18772 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
18773 something that's palatable for Gnus:
18776 @item prepare-body-function
18777 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
18778 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
18779 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
18781 @item article-transform-function
18782 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
18783 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
18784 body of the article.
18786 @item generate-head-function
18787 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
18788 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
18789 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
18790 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
18792 @item generate-article-function
18793 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
18794 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
18795 parameter when requesting all articles.
18797 @item dissection-function
18798 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
18799 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
18800 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18801 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18802 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18803 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18807 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18812 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18813 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18814 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18815 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18816 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18817 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18818 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18819 (subtype digest guess))
18822 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18823 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18824 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18825 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18826 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18828 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18829 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18830 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18831 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18832 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18833 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18834 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18835 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18836 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18837 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18838 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18839 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18842 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
18843 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
18844 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
18847 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
18848 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
18849 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
18851 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
18857 @item nngateway-address
18858 @vindex nngateway-address
18859 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
18861 @item nngateway-header-transformation
18862 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
18863 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
18864 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
18865 transformation should be called, and defaults to
18866 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
18867 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
18870 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
18871 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
18872 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
18875 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
18878 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
18881 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
18884 The following pre-defined functions exist:
18886 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18889 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18890 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18891 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
18893 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18895 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18896 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18897 @code{nngateway-address}.
18905 (setq gnus-post-method
18907 "mail2news@@replay.com"
18908 (nngateway-header-transformation
18909 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
18912 So, to use this, simply say something like:
18915 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
18920 @node Combined Groups
18921 @section Combined Groups
18923 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
18927 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
18928 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
18932 @node Virtual Groups
18933 @subsection Virtual Groups
18935 @cindex virtual groups
18936 @cindex merging groups
18938 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
18941 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
18942 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
18943 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
18945 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
18946 regexp to match component groups.
18948 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
18949 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
18950 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
18951 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
18952 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
18953 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
18954 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
18955 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
18957 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
18958 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
18961 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
18964 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
18965 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
18967 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
18968 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
18969 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
18970 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
18973 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
18976 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
18977 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
18978 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
18980 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
18981 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
18982 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
18983 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
18984 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
18986 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
18987 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
18988 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
18990 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
18991 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
18992 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
18993 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
18994 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
18995 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
18996 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
18997 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
18998 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
18999 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
19000 it---it'll have much the same effect.
19002 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
19003 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
19004 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
19005 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
19006 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
19007 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
19008 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
19010 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
19011 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
19013 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
19014 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
19018 @node Kibozed Groups
19019 @subsection Kibozed Groups
19023 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
19024 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
19025 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
19026 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
19028 @kindex G k (Group)
19029 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
19032 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
19033 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
19034 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
19035 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
19037 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
19038 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
19039 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
19041 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
19042 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
19043 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
19044 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
19045 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
19046 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
19047 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
19048 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
19050 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
19051 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
19052 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
19053 Stranger things have happened.
19055 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
19056 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
19058 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
19059 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
19060 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
19061 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
19062 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
19063 information on what groups have been searched through to find
19064 component articles.
19066 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
19067 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
19070 @node Email Based Diary
19071 @section Email Based Diary
19073 @cindex email based diary
19076 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
19077 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
19078 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
19079 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
19080 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
19081 namely, as event reminders.
19083 Here is a typical scenario:
19087 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
19088 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
19090 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
19092 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
19094 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
19095 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
19096 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
19098 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
19099 of the night you're gonna have.
19101 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
19102 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
19105 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
19106 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
19107 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
19108 explained in the sections below.
19111 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
19112 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
19113 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
19117 @node The NNDiary Back End
19118 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
19120 @cindex the nndiary back end
19122 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
19123 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
19124 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
19125 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
19126 directory per group.
19128 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
19129 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
19130 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
19131 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
19134 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
19135 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
19136 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
19139 @node Diary Messages
19140 @subsubsection Diary Messages
19141 @cindex nndiary messages
19142 @cindex nndiary mails
19144 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
19145 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
19146 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
19147 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
19148 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
19149 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
19150 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
19154 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
19155 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
19156 (separated by a comma).
19158 A field is either an integer, or a range.
19160 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
19162 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
19163 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
19164 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
19166 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
19167 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
19168 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
19170 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
19171 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
19172 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
19173 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
19174 list of available time zone values, see the variable
19175 @code{nndiary-headers}.
19178 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
19179 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
19180 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
19185 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
19188 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
19190 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
19193 @node Running NNDiary
19194 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
19195 @cindex running nndiary
19196 @cindex nndiary operation modes
19198 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
19199 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
19200 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
19201 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
19202 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
19203 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
19205 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
19206 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
19207 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
19208 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
19209 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
19210 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
19211 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
19214 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
19219 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
19220 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19223 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
19226 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
19227 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
19228 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
19229 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
19230 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
19232 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
19233 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
19242 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
19243 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
19245 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
19246 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19247 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
19248 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
19251 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
19252 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19253 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
19256 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
19257 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
19258 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
19260 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
19261 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
19262 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
19263 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
19264 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
19266 @node Customizing NNDiary
19267 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
19268 @cindex customizing nndiary
19269 @cindex nndiary customization
19271 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
19272 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
19273 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
19274 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
19276 @defvar nndiary-reminders
19277 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
19278 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
19279 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
19280 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
19284 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
19285 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
19290 @node The Gnus Diary Library
19291 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
19293 @cindex the gnus diary library
19295 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
19296 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
19297 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
19298 useful things for you.
19300 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19303 (require 'gnus-diary)
19306 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
19307 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
19308 (sorry if you used them before).
19312 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
19313 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
19314 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
19315 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
19318 @node Diary Summary Line Format
19319 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
19320 @cindex diary summary buffer line
19321 @cindex diary summary line format
19323 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
19324 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
19325 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
19326 see the event's date.
19328 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
19329 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
19330 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
19331 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
19332 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
19334 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
19335 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
19336 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
19339 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
19342 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
19343 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
19346 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
19349 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
19350 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
19351 with the following user options:
19353 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
19354 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
19355 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
19356 diary groups'parameters.
19359 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
19360 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
19361 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
19364 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
19365 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
19366 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
19367 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
19368 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
19371 @node Diary Articles Sorting
19372 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
19373 @cindex diary articles sorting
19374 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
19375 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
19376 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
19377 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
19379 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
19380 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
19381 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
19382 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
19383 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
19385 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
19386 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
19387 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
19388 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
19391 @node Diary Headers Generation
19392 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
19393 @cindex diary headers generation
19394 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
19396 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
19397 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
19398 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
19399 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
19402 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
19403 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
19404 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
19405 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
19406 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
19408 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
19409 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
19410 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
19413 @node Diary Group Parameters
19414 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
19415 @cindex diary group parameters
19417 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
19418 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
19419 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
19420 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
19421 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
19422 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
19423 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
19424 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
19426 @node Sending or Not Sending
19427 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
19429 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
19430 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
19434 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
19435 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
19436 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
19437 sending the diary message to them as well.
19439 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
19440 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
19441 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
19442 comes in very handy for private appointments.
19445 @node Gnus Unplugged
19446 @section Gnus Unplugged
19451 @cindex Gnus unplugged
19453 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
19454 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
19455 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
19456 read news. Believe it or not.
19458 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
19459 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
19460 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
19461 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
19462 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
19464 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
19465 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
19466 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
19467 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
19468 reading news on a machine.
19470 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
19471 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
19472 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
19474 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
19477 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
19478 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
19479 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
19480 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
19481 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
19482 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
19483 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
19484 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
19485 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
19486 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
19487 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
19488 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
19489 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
19490 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
19495 @subsection Agent Basics
19497 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
19499 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
19500 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
19501 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
19502 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
19504 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
19505 connected to the net continuously.
19507 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
19508 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
19510 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
19511 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
19512 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
19513 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
19514 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
19516 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
19517 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
19518 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
19519 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
19520 they're kinda like plugged always).
19522 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
19523 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
19524 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
19527 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
19528 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
19529 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
19530 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
19531 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
19533 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
19538 @findex gnus-unplugged
19539 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
19540 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
19541 already fetched while in this mode.
19544 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
19545 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
19546 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
19547 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
19548 Source Specifiers}).
19551 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
19552 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
19553 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
19554 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
19555 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
19558 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
19559 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
19560 then you read the news offline.
19563 And then you go to step 2.
19566 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
19572 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
19573 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
19574 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
19575 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
19576 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
19577 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
19578 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
19579 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
19582 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
19583 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
19584 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
19585 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
19587 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
19588 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
19589 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
19590 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
19591 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
19592 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
19596 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
19600 @node Agent Categories
19601 @subsection Agent Categories
19603 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
19604 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
19605 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
19606 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
19607 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
19608 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
19609 you're interested in the articles anyway.
19611 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
19612 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
19613 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
19614 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
19615 buffer for creating and managing categories.
19617 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
19618 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
19619 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
19620 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
19621 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
19624 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
19625 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
19626 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
19627 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
19628 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
19629 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
19633 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
19634 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
19635 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
19639 @node Category Syntax
19640 @subsubsection Category Syntax
19642 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
19643 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
19644 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
19647 @cindex Agent Parameters
19650 The list of groups that are in this category.
19652 @item agent-predicate
19653 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
19654 are eligible for downloading; and
19657 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
19658 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
19659 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
19661 @item agent-enable-expiration
19662 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
19663 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
19664 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
19665 only groups that should not be expired.
19667 @item agent-days-until-old
19668 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
19669 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
19671 @item agent-low-score
19672 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
19674 @item agent-high-score
19675 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
19677 @item agent-short-article
19678 an integer that overrides the value of
19679 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19681 @item agent-long-article
19682 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19684 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19685 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19686 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19687 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19688 undownloaded faces.
19691 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
19694 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
19695 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
19696 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
19699 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
19700 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
19701 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
19702 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
19704 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
19705 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
19706 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
19708 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
19709 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
19710 operators sprinkled in between.
19712 Perhaps some examples are in order.
19714 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
19715 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
19721 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
19722 short (for some value of ``short'').
19724 Here's a more complex predicate:
19733 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
19734 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
19737 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
19738 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
19739 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
19741 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
19742 you want to do, you can write your own.
19744 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
19745 bound to the value determined by calling
19746 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
19747 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
19748 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
19749 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
19750 predicate to individual groups.
19754 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
19755 lines; default 100.
19758 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
19759 lines; default 200.
19762 True if the article has a download score less than
19763 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
19766 True if the article has a download score greater than
19767 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
19770 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
19771 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
19772 checksum and sees whether articles match.
19781 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
19782 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
19783 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
19786 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
19787 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
19788 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
19789 something along the lines of the following:
19792 (defun my-article-old-p ()
19793 "Say whether an article is old."
19794 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
19795 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
19798 with the predicate then defined as:
19801 (not my-article-old-p)
19804 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
19805 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
19809 (require 'gnus-agent)
19810 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
19811 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
19812 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
19815 and simply specify your predicate as:
19821 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
19822 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
19823 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
19824 just don't give a damn.
19826 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
19827 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
19828 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
19829 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
19830 parameters like so:
19833 (agent-predicate . short)
19836 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
19837 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
19838 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
19840 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
19843 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
19846 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
19847 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
19848 predicate is assumed to be a list.
19851 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
19852 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
19853 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
19854 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
19855 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
19856 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
19858 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
19859 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
19860 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
19861 if it's to be specific to that group.
19863 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
19870 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
19871 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
19877 Category specification
19881 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19887 Group/Topic Parameter specification
19890 (agent-score ("from"
19891 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19896 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
19902 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
19903 keywords stated above.
19909 Category specification
19912 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
19918 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
19922 Group Parameter specification
19925 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
19928 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
19933 Use @code{normal} score files
19935 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
19936 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
19937 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
19938 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
19940 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
19941 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
19942 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
19943 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
19947 Category Specification
19954 Group Parameter specification
19957 (agent-score . file)
19962 @node Category Buffer
19963 @subsubsection Category Buffer
19965 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
19966 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
19967 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
19969 The following commands are available in this buffer:
19973 @kindex q (Category)
19974 @findex gnus-category-exit
19975 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
19978 @kindex e (Category)
19979 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
19980 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
19981 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
19984 @kindex k (Category)
19985 @findex gnus-category-kill
19986 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
19989 @kindex c (Category)
19990 @findex gnus-category-copy
19991 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
19994 @kindex a (Category)
19995 @findex gnus-category-add
19996 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
19999 @kindex p (Category)
20000 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
20001 Edit the predicate of the current category
20002 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
20005 @kindex g (Category)
20006 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
20007 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
20008 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
20011 @kindex s (Category)
20012 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
20013 Edit the download score rule of the current category
20014 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
20017 @kindex l (Category)
20018 @findex gnus-category-list
20019 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
20023 @node Category Variables
20024 @subsubsection Category Variables
20027 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
20028 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
20029 Hook run in category buffers.
20031 @item gnus-category-line-format
20032 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
20033 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
20034 Variables}). Valid elements are:
20038 The name of the category.
20041 The number of groups in the category.
20044 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
20045 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
20046 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
20048 @item gnus-agent-short-article
20049 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
20050 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
20052 @item gnus-agent-long-article
20053 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
20054 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
20056 @item gnus-agent-low-score
20057 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
20058 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
20061 @item gnus-agent-high-score
20062 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
20063 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
20066 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
20067 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20068 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
20069 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
20070 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
20071 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
20072 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
20073 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
20077 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20078 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20079 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
20080 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
20081 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
20082 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
20083 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
20088 @node Agent Commands
20089 @subsection Agent Commands
20090 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
20091 @kindex J j (Agent)
20093 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
20094 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
20095 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
20099 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
20100 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
20101 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
20107 @node Group Agent Commands
20108 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
20112 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
20113 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
20114 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
20115 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
20118 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
20119 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
20120 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
20123 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
20124 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
20125 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
20126 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
20129 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
20130 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
20131 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
20132 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
20135 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
20136 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
20137 Add the current group to an Agent category
20138 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
20139 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20142 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
20143 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
20144 Remove the current group from its category, if any
20145 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
20146 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20149 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
20150 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20151 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
20157 @node Summary Agent Commands
20158 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
20162 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
20163 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
20164 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
20167 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
20168 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
20169 Remove the downloading mark from the article
20170 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
20174 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
20175 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
20176 Toggle whether to download the article
20177 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
20181 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
20182 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
20183 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
20186 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
20187 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
20188 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
20189 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
20192 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
20193 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
20194 Download all processable articles in this group.
20195 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
20198 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
20199 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
20200 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
20201 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
20206 @node Server Agent Commands
20207 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
20211 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
20212 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
20213 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
20214 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
20217 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
20218 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
20219 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
20220 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
20225 @node Agent Visuals
20226 @subsection Agent Visuals
20228 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
20229 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
20230 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
20231 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
20232 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
20233 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
20234 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
20235 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
20236 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
20237 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
20239 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
20240 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
20241 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
20242 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
20243 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
20244 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
20245 the download status of each article so that you always know which
20246 articles will be available when unplugged.
20248 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
20249 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
20250 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
20251 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
20252 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
20253 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
20254 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
20255 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
20257 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
20258 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
20259 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
20260 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
20261 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
20262 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
20263 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
20264 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
20265 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
20267 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
20268 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
20269 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
20270 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
20271 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
20272 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
20273 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
20274 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
20275 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
20276 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
20278 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
20279 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
20280 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
20281 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
20282 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
20283 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20285 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
20286 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
20287 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
20288 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
20289 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
20290 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
20291 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
20292 expiring'' articles.
20294 @node Agent as Cache
20295 @subsection Agent as Cache
20297 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
20298 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
20299 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
20300 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
20301 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
20302 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
20303 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
20304 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
20305 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
20307 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
20308 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
20309 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
20310 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
20311 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
20314 @subsection Agent Expiry
20316 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20317 @findex gnus-agent-expire
20318 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
20319 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
20320 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
20321 @cindex agent expiry
20322 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
20323 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
20325 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
20326 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
20327 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
20328 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
20329 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
20330 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
20331 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
20332 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
20334 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
20335 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
20336 synchronized with the group.
20338 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
20339 prevent expiration in selected groups.
20341 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
20342 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
20343 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
20344 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
20345 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
20346 be kept indefinitely.
20348 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
20349 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
20350 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
20351 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
20353 @node Agent Regeneration
20354 @subsection Agent Regeneration
20356 @cindex agent regeneration
20357 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
20358 @cindex regeneration
20360 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
20361 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
20362 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
20363 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
20364 internal inconsistencies.
20366 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
20367 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
20368 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
20369 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
20370 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
20371 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
20373 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
20374 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
20375 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
20376 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
20377 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
20378 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
20380 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20381 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20382 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
20383 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
20384 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
20385 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
20388 @node Agent and flags
20389 @subsection Agent and flags
20391 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
20392 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
20393 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
20394 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
20395 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
20396 to the flags in its own files.
20398 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
20399 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
20400 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
20402 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20403 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20404 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20405 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20406 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20407 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20409 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
20410 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
20411 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
20412 in the group buffer.
20414 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
20415 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
20416 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
20417 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
20418 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
20419 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
20420 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
20421 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
20423 @node Agent and IMAP
20424 @subsection Agent and IMAP
20426 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
20427 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
20428 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
20429 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
20431 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
20432 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
20437 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
20440 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
20444 @node Outgoing Messages
20445 @subsection Outgoing Messages
20447 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
20448 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
20449 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
20451 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
20452 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
20453 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
20455 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
20456 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
20457 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
20458 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
20461 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
20462 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
20463 ask you to confirm your action (see
20464 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
20466 @node Agent Variables
20467 @subsection Agent Variables
20472 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
20473 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
20474 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
20475 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
20477 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
20478 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
20481 @item gnus-agent-directory
20482 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
20483 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
20484 @file{~/News/agent/}.
20486 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
20487 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
20488 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
20489 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
20490 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
20493 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20494 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20495 Hook run when connecting to the network.
20497 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20498 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20499 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
20501 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20502 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20503 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
20505 @item gnus-agent-cache
20506 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
20507 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
20508 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
20509 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
20511 @item gnus-agent-go-online
20512 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
20513 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
20514 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
20515 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
20516 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
20517 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
20520 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20521 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20522 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
20523 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
20524 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
20525 read. The default is @code{t}.
20527 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20528 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20529 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20530 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20531 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20532 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20533 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20535 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20536 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20537 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
20538 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
20539 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
20540 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
20541 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
20542 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
20543 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
20544 over and over again.
20546 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20547 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20548 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
20549 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
20550 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
20551 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
20552 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
20553 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
20554 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
20555 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
20556 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
20557 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
20560 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
20561 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
20562 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
20563 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
20564 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
20565 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
20566 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
20567 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
20568 is only valid if the Agent is used.
20570 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20571 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20572 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
20573 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
20574 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
20575 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
20577 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
20578 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
20579 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
20580 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
20581 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
20583 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
20584 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
20585 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
20586 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
20587 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
20588 mail. The default is @code{t}.
20590 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20591 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20592 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
20593 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
20594 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
20596 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20597 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20598 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
20599 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
20600 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
20601 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
20602 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
20603 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
20604 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
20605 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
20606 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
20611 @node Example Setup
20612 @subsection Example Setup
20614 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
20615 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
20616 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
20619 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
20620 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
20621 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
20623 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
20624 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
20625 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
20627 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
20628 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
20630 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
20631 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
20632 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
20635 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
20636 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
20639 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
20640 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
20641 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
20642 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
20643 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
20646 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
20647 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
20648 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
20649 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
20650 back all the killed groups.)
20652 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
20653 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
20654 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
20657 @node Batching Agents
20658 @subsection Batching Agents
20659 @findex gnus-agent-batch
20661 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
20662 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
20663 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
20665 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
20666 following incantation:
20670 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
20674 @node Agent Caveats
20675 @subsection Agent Caveats
20677 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20678 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20682 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20684 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20685 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20686 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20688 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20689 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20691 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
20695 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
20696 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
20697 locally stored articles.
20704 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
20705 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
20706 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
20709 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
20710 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
20711 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
20712 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
20713 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
20715 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
20716 before generating the summary buffer.
20718 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
20719 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
20720 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
20722 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
20723 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
20724 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
20725 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
20728 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
20729 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
20730 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
20731 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
20732 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
20733 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
20734 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
20735 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
20736 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
20737 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
20738 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
20739 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
20740 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
20741 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
20742 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
20743 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
20747 @node Summary Score Commands
20748 @section Summary Score Commands
20749 @cindex score commands
20751 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
20752 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
20753 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
20754 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
20755 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
20757 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
20758 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
20759 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
20760 score file the current one.
20762 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
20767 @kindex V s (Summary)
20768 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
20769 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
20772 @kindex V S (Summary)
20773 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
20774 Display the score of the current article
20775 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
20778 @kindex V t (Summary)
20779 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
20780 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
20781 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
20782 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
20783 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
20784 score file and edit it.
20787 @kindex V w (Summary)
20788 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
20789 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
20792 @kindex V R (Summary)
20793 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
20794 Run the current summary through the scoring process
20795 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
20796 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
20797 effect you're having.
20800 @kindex V c (Summary)
20801 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
20802 Make a different score file the current
20803 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
20806 @kindex V e (Summary)
20807 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
20808 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
20809 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
20813 @kindex V f (Summary)
20814 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
20815 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
20816 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
20819 @kindex V F (Summary)
20820 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20821 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
20822 after editing score files.
20825 @kindex V C (Summary)
20826 @findex gnus-score-customize
20827 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
20828 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
20832 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
20837 @kindex V m (Summary)
20838 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
20839 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
20840 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
20843 @kindex V x (Summary)
20844 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
20845 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
20846 expunge all articles below this score
20847 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
20850 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
20851 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
20854 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
20855 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
20859 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
20860 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
20862 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
20863 keys are available:
20867 Score on the author name.
20870 Score on the subject line.
20873 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
20876 Score on the @code{References} line.
20882 Score on the number of lines.
20885 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
20888 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
20889 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
20892 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
20893 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
20894 @file{ADAPT} files.)
20903 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
20909 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
20910 what headers you are scoring on.
20922 Substring matching.
20925 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
20954 Greater than number.
20959 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
20960 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
20961 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
20966 Temporary score entry.
20969 Permanent score entry.
20972 Immediately scoring.
20976 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
20977 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
20978 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
20982 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
20983 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
20984 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
20985 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
20987 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
20988 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
20989 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
20990 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
20991 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
20993 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
20994 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
20995 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
20996 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
20997 current score file.
20999 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
21000 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
21001 pretend they are keymaps or not.
21004 @node Group Score Commands
21005 @section Group Score Commands
21006 @cindex group score commands
21008 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
21013 @kindex W e (Group)
21014 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
21015 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
21016 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
21019 @kindex W f (Group)
21020 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
21021 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
21022 all the time. This command will flush the cache
21023 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
21027 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
21029 @findex gnus-batch-score
21030 @cindex batch scoring
21032 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
21036 @node Score Variables
21037 @section Score Variables
21038 @cindex score variables
21042 @item gnus-use-scoring
21043 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
21044 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
21045 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
21047 @item gnus-kill-killed
21048 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
21049 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
21050 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
21051 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
21052 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
21053 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
21054 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
21056 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
21057 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
21058 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
21059 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
21060 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
21062 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
21063 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
21064 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
21065 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
21067 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21068 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21069 @cindex score cache
21070 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
21071 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
21072 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
21073 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
21074 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
21075 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
21076 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
21079 @item gnus-save-score
21080 @vindex gnus-save-score
21081 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
21082 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
21083 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21085 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
21086 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
21087 across group visits.
21089 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21090 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21091 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
21092 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
21093 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
21094 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
21095 manually entered data.
21097 @item gnus-summary-default-score
21098 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
21099 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
21101 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
21102 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
21103 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
21104 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
21105 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
21106 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
21108 @item gnus-score-over-mark
21109 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
21110 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
21111 default. Default is @samp{+}.
21113 @item gnus-score-below-mark
21114 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
21115 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
21116 default. Default is @samp{-}.
21118 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21119 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21120 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
21121 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
21123 Predefined functions available are:
21126 @item gnus-score-find-single
21127 @findex gnus-score-find-single
21128 Only apply the group's own score file.
21130 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
21131 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
21132 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
21133 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
21134 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
21135 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
21136 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
21137 then a regexp match is done.
21139 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
21140 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
21142 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
21143 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
21144 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
21145 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
21147 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21148 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21149 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
21150 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
21151 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
21155 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
21156 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
21157 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
21158 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
21159 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
21160 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
21161 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
21164 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
21165 overall score file, you could use the value
21167 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
21168 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
21171 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
21172 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
21173 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
21174 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
21175 are expired. It's 7 by default.
21177 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21178 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21179 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
21180 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
21181 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
21182 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
21183 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
21184 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
21186 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21187 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21188 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
21190 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
21191 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
21192 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
21193 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
21194 threading---according to the current value of
21195 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
21196 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
21197 simplified in this manner.
21202 @node Score File Format
21203 @section Score File Format
21204 @cindex score file format
21206 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
21207 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
21208 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
21210 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
21214 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
21216 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
21218 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
21220 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
21225 (mark-and-expunge -10)
21229 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
21230 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
21231 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
21232 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
21236 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
21237 Scoring}, for a different approach.
21239 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
21240 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
21241 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
21243 Six keys are supported by this alist:
21248 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
21249 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
21250 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
21251 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
21252 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
21253 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
21254 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
21255 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
21256 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
21257 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
21258 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
21259 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
21260 to articles that matches these score entries.
21262 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
21263 score entry has one to four elements.
21267 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
21268 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
21272 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
21273 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
21274 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
21275 is successful. If this element is not present, the
21276 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
21277 instead. This is 1000 by default.
21280 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
21281 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
21282 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
21283 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
21284 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
21287 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
21288 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
21289 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
21290 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
21293 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
21294 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
21295 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
21296 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
21297 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
21298 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
21299 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
21300 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
21301 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
21302 instead, if you feel like.
21305 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
21306 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
21307 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
21308 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
21309 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
21310 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
21314 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
21315 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
21319 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
21320 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
21322 These predicates are true if
21325 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
21328 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
21329 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
21336 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
21337 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
21338 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
21339 it's not. I think.)
21341 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
21342 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
21343 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
21344 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
21347 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
21348 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
21349 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
21350 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
21351 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
21352 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
21353 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
21357 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
21358 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
21359 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
21360 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
21361 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
21362 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
21363 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
21364 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
21367 @item Head, Body, All
21368 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
21372 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
21373 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
21374 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
21375 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
21376 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
21377 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
21378 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
21382 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
21383 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
21384 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
21385 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
21386 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
21387 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
21388 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
21389 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
21390 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
21391 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
21392 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
21396 @cindex score file atoms
21398 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21399 lower than this number will be marked as read.
21402 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21403 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
21405 @item mark-and-expunge
21406 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21407 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
21410 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
21411 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
21412 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
21413 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
21414 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
21417 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
21418 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
21421 @item exclude-files
21422 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
21423 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
21427 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
21428 ignored when handling global score files.
21431 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
21432 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
21433 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
21434 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
21437 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
21438 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
21439 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
21440 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
21442 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
21446 (mark-and-expunge -100)
21449 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
21450 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
21451 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
21452 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
21453 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
21455 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
21456 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
21457 scoring rules exist.
21460 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
21461 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
21462 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
21463 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
21464 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
21465 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
21466 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21467 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
21468 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
21469 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
21470 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
21474 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
21475 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
21476 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
21477 file for a number of groups.
21480 @cindex local variables
21481 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
21482 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
21483 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
21484 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
21485 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
21490 @node Score File Editing
21491 @section Score File Editing
21493 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
21494 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
21495 with a mode for that.
21497 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
21498 additional commands:
21503 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
21504 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
21505 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
21506 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
21509 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
21510 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
21511 Insert the current date in numerical format
21512 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
21513 you were wondering.
21516 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
21517 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
21518 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
21519 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
21520 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
21525 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
21527 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
21528 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
21530 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
21531 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
21534 @node Adaptive Scoring
21535 @section Adaptive Scoring
21536 @cindex adaptive scoring
21538 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
21539 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
21540 stupidity, to be precise.
21542 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
21543 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
21544 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
21545 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
21546 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21547 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
21548 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
21549 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
21550 variable to @code{(word line)}.
21552 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21553 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
21554 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
21555 might look something like this:
21558 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21559 '((gnus-unread-mark)
21560 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
21561 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
21562 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
21563 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
21564 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
21565 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
21566 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
21567 (gnus-ancient-mark)
21568 (gnus-low-score-mark)
21569 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
21572 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
21573 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
21574 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
21575 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
21576 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
21577 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
21580 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
21581 will be applied to each article.
21583 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
21584 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
21585 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
21586 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
21588 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
21589 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
21590 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
21591 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
21593 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
21594 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
21595 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
21596 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
21598 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
21599 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
21600 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
21601 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
21602 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
21603 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
21605 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
21606 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
21607 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
21609 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
21610 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
21611 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
21613 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
21614 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
21615 let you use different rules in different groups.
21617 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
21618 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
21619 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
21622 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
21623 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
21624 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
21625 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
21627 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
21628 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
21629 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
21630 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
21631 the length of the match is less than
21632 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
21633 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
21636 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21637 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
21638 headers. If you adapt on words, the
21639 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
21640 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
21643 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21644 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
21645 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
21646 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
21647 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
21650 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
21651 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
21652 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
21653 score with 30 points.
21655 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
21656 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
21657 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
21658 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
21659 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
21661 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
21662 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
21663 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
21664 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
21665 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
21667 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
21668 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
21669 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
21670 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
21672 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
21673 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
21674 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
21675 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
21677 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21678 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21679 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21680 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21681 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21683 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21684 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21685 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21687 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21688 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21689 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21690 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21693 @node Home Score File
21694 @section Home Score File
21696 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
21697 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
21698 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
21699 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
21701 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
21702 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
21703 could perhaps use the same home score file.
21705 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
21706 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
21711 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
21715 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
21716 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
21720 A list. The elements in this list can be:
21724 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
21725 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
21728 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
21729 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
21730 name of the group as the parameter.
21733 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
21736 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
21741 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
21744 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21745 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
21748 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
21749 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
21751 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
21753 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21754 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
21757 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
21758 Other functions include
21761 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
21762 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
21763 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
21764 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
21768 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
21769 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
21770 their own home score files:
21773 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21774 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
21775 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
21776 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
21777 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
21780 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
21781 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
21782 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
21783 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
21784 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
21786 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
21787 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
21788 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
21789 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
21790 precedence over this variable.
21793 @node Followups To Yourself
21794 @section Followups To Yourself
21796 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
21797 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
21798 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
21799 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
21800 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
21801 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
21805 @item gnus-score-followup-article
21806 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
21807 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
21810 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
21811 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
21812 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
21816 @vindex message-sent-hook
21817 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
21818 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
21820 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
21824 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
21825 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
21829 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21830 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21833 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
21834 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
21839 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
21843 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
21844 is system-dependent.
21847 @node Scoring On Other Headers
21848 @section Scoring On Other Headers
21849 @cindex scoring on other headers
21851 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
21852 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
21853 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
21854 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
21855 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
21857 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
21858 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
21859 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
21860 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
21861 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
21862 inhibited for all groups.
21864 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
21865 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
21866 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
21867 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
21868 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
21870 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21873 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
21874 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
21877 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
21878 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
21879 time if you have much mail.
21881 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
21882 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
21888 @section Scoring Tips
21889 @cindex scoring tips
21895 @cindex scoring crossposts
21896 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
21897 the @code{Xref} header.
21899 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
21902 @item Multiple crossposts
21903 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
21904 more than, say, 3 groups:
21907 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
21911 @item Matching on the body
21912 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
21913 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
21914 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
21915 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
21916 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
21917 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
21918 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
21921 @item Marking as read
21922 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
21923 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
21924 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
21928 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
21930 @item Negated character classes
21931 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
21932 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
21933 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
21937 @node Reverse Scoring
21938 @section Reverse Scoring
21939 @cindex reverse scoring
21941 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
21942 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
21943 like this in your score file:
21947 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
21952 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
21953 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
21956 @node Global Score Files
21957 @section Global Score Files
21958 @cindex global score files
21960 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
21961 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
21962 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
21964 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
21965 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
21966 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
21968 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
21969 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
21970 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
21971 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
21972 files are applicable to which group.
21974 To use the score file
21975 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
21976 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
21980 (setq gnus-global-score-files
21981 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
21982 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
21985 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
21987 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
21988 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
21989 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
21990 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
21992 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
21993 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
21995 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
21996 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
21997 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
21998 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
21999 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
22000 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
22002 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
22008 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
22010 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
22012 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
22014 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
22015 lowered out of existence.
22017 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
22018 articles completely.
22021 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
22022 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
22023 old articles for a long time.
22026 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
22027 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
22028 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
22029 holding our breath yet?
22033 @section Kill Files
22036 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
22037 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
22038 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
22040 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
22041 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
22042 files into score files.
22044 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
22045 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
22046 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
22047 that isn't a very good idea.
22049 Normal kill files look like this:
22052 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22053 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
22057 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
22058 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
22060 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
22061 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
22064 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
22069 @kindex M-k (Summary)
22070 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
22071 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
22074 @kindex M-K (Summary)
22075 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
22076 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
22079 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
22084 @kindex M-k (Group)
22085 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
22086 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
22089 @kindex M-K (Group)
22090 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
22091 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
22094 Kill file variables:
22097 @item gnus-kill-file-name
22098 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
22099 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
22100 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
22101 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
22102 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
22103 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
22105 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22106 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22107 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
22108 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
22111 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
22112 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
22113 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
22114 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
22115 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
22116 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
22117 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
22118 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
22119 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
22121 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22122 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22123 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
22128 @node Converting Kill Files
22129 @section Converting Kill Files
22131 @cindex converting kill files
22133 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
22134 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
22135 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
22138 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
22139 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
22141 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
22143 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
22144 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
22145 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
22149 @node Advanced Scoring
22150 @section Advanced Scoring
22152 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
22153 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
22154 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
22155 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
22156 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
22158 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
22162 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
22163 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
22164 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
22168 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
22169 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
22171 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
22172 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
22173 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
22174 non-@code{nil} value.
22176 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
22177 operator, and various match operators.
22184 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22185 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
22186 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
22191 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22192 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
22193 then this operator will return @code{false}.
22198 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
22199 logical negation of the value of its argument.
22203 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
22204 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
22205 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
22206 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
22207 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
22208 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
22209 the ancestry you want to go.
22211 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
22212 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
22213 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
22214 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
22215 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
22218 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
22219 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
22221 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
22222 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
22225 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
22226 when he's talking about Gnus:
22231 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22232 ("subject" "Gnus"))
22239 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
22243 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22250 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
22251 really don't want to read what he's written:
22255 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22256 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
22260 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
22261 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
22262 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
22269 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
22270 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
22271 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
22272 ("body" "white.*socks"))
22276 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
22277 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
22278 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
22279 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
22282 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22284 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22288 The possibilities are endless.
22290 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
22291 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
22293 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
22294 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
22295 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
22296 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
22297 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
22298 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
22299 @samp{subject}) first.
22301 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
22302 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
22313 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
22314 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
22320 ("subject" "Gnus")))
22327 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
22328 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
22333 @section Score Decays
22334 @cindex score decays
22337 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
22338 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
22339 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
22340 use them in any sensible way.
22342 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
22343 @findex gnus-decay-score
22344 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
22345 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
22346 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
22347 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
22348 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
22349 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
22350 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
22351 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
22352 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
22353 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
22357 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
22358 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
22359 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
22361 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
22363 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
22365 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
22366 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
22367 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
22368 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
22369 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
22371 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
22375 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
22376 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
22377 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
22378 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
22382 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
22385 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
22388 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
22392 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
22393 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
22394 the new score, which should be an integer.
22396 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
22397 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
22402 @include message.texi
22403 @chapter Emacs MIME
22404 @include emacs-mime.texi
22406 @include sieve.texi
22418 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22419 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22420 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22421 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22422 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22423 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22424 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
22425 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22426 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22427 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
22428 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22429 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
22430 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22431 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22432 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22433 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22434 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22435 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22436 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22437 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22438 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22439 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22440 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22444 @node Process/Prefix
22445 @section Process/Prefix
22446 @cindex process/prefix convention
22448 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22449 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22451 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22452 command to be performed on.
22456 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22457 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22458 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22459 with the current one.
22461 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22462 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22463 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22465 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22466 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22469 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22470 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22472 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22475 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22476 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22477 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22478 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22480 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22481 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22482 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22483 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22484 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22485 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22486 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22487 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22489 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22490 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22491 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22492 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22493 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22497 @section Interactive
22498 @cindex interaction
22502 @item gnus-novice-user
22503 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22504 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22505 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22506 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22507 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22510 @item gnus-expert-user
22511 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22512 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22513 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22514 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22515 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22516 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22519 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22520 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22521 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22522 is @code{t} by default.
22524 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22525 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22526 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22531 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22532 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22533 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22535 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22536 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22537 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22538 rule of 900 to the current article.
22540 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22541 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22542 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22543 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22544 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22545 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22546 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22548 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22549 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22550 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22551 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22552 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22553 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22554 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22555 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22556 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22558 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22559 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22560 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22562 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22566 @node Formatting Variables
22567 @section Formatting Variables
22568 @cindex formatting variables
22570 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22571 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22572 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22573 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22574 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22577 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22578 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22579 lots of percentages everywhere.
22582 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22583 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22584 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22585 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22586 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22587 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22588 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22589 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22592 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22593 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22594 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22595 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22596 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22597 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22598 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22599 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22601 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22602 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22604 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22605 @findex gnus-update-format
22606 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22607 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22608 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22609 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22613 @node Formatting Basics
22614 @subsection Formatting Basics
22616 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22617 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22618 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22620 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22621 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22622 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22623 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22624 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22627 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22628 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22629 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22630 less than 4 characters wide.
22632 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22633 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22636 @node Mode Line Formatting
22637 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22639 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22640 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22641 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22642 with the following two differences:
22647 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22650 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22651 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22652 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22653 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22654 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22655 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22656 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22661 @node Advanced Formatting
22662 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22664 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22665 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22666 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22667 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22669 These are the valid modifiers:
22674 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22678 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22683 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22686 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22691 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22694 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22697 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22700 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22706 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22711 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22712 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22713 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22714 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22715 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22716 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22717 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22719 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22720 last operation, padding.
22722 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
22723 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
22724 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
22725 @xref{Compilation}.
22728 @node User-Defined Specs
22729 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22731 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22732 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22733 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22734 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22735 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22736 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22737 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22738 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22739 should protect against that.
22741 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22742 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22744 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22745 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22746 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22747 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22751 @node Formatting Fonts
22752 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22755 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22756 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22757 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22758 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22759 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22763 @vindex gnus-face-0
22764 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22765 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22766 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22767 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22768 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22769 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22771 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22772 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22773 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22774 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22775 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22776 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22777 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22778 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22779 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22780 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22781 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22782 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22783 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22784 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22787 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22790 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22791 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22792 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22794 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22795 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22796 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22797 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22798 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22799 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22800 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22802 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22803 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22804 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22807 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22808 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22810 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22811 mode-line variables.
22813 @node Positioning Point
22814 @subsection Positioning Point
22816 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22817 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22818 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22820 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22822 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22823 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22824 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22826 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22827 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22828 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22833 @subsection Tabulation
22835 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22836 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22837 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22838 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22840 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22841 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22843 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22844 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22845 This is the soft tabulator.
22847 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22848 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22849 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22852 @node Wide Characters
22853 @subsection Wide Characters
22855 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22856 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22857 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22859 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22860 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22861 these countries, that's not true.
22863 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22864 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22865 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22866 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22870 @node Window Layout
22871 @section Window Layout
22872 @cindex window layout
22874 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22876 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22877 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22878 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22879 @code{t} by default.
22881 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22882 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22884 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22885 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22886 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22889 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
22890 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
22891 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22895 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22896 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22897 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22898 possible names is listed below.
22900 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22901 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
22904 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22908 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22909 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22910 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22911 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22912 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22913 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22914 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22915 size spec per split.
22917 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22918 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22919 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
22920 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22921 present) gets focus.
22923 Here's a more complicated example:
22926 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22927 (summary 0.25 point)
22928 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
22932 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22933 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22934 occupy, not a percentage.
22936 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22937 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22938 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22939 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
22940 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
22943 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22946 (article (horizontal 1.0
22951 (summary 0.25 point)
22956 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22957 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22959 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22960 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22961 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22962 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22963 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22965 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22966 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22967 lines from the splits.
22969 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22974 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22975 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22976 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22977 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22978 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22979 size = number | frame-params
22980 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22984 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22985 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22986 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22987 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22989 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22990 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22991 @cindex window height
22992 @cindex window width
22993 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22994 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22995 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22996 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22997 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22998 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
23000 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
23001 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
23002 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
23003 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
23005 @findex gnus-configure-frame
23006 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
23007 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
23008 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
23009 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
23010 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
23011 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
23012 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
23013 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
23014 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
23015 configuration list.
23018 (gnus-configure-frame
23022 (article 0.3 point))
23030 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
23031 @code{frame} split:
23034 (gnus-configure-frame
23037 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
23039 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
23040 (user-position . t)
23041 (left . -1) (top . 1))
23046 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
23047 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
23048 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
23049 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
23050 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
23051 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
23052 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
23053 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
23055 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
23056 be found in its default value.
23058 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
23059 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
23060 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
23064 (message (horizontal 1.0
23065 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
23067 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
23072 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
23073 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
23074 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
23079 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
23080 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
23081 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
23082 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
23083 (name . "Message"))
23084 (message 1.0 point))))
23087 @findex gnus-add-configuration
23088 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
23089 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
23090 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
23091 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
23094 (gnus-add-configuration
23095 '(article (vertical 1.0
23097 (summary .25 point)
23101 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
23102 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
23103 Gnus has been loaded.
23105 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
23106 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
23107 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
23108 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
23109 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
23111 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
23112 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
23113 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
23116 @subsection Example Window Configurations
23120 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
23121 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
23136 (gnus-add-configuration
23139 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23141 (summary 0.16 point)
23144 (gnus-add-configuration
23147 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23148 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23154 @node Faces and Fonts
23155 @section Faces and Fonts
23160 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23161 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23162 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23167 @section Compilation
23168 @cindex compilation
23169 @cindex byte-compilation
23171 @findex gnus-compile
23173 Remember all those line format specification variables?
23174 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
23175 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
23176 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
23177 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
23178 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
23181 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
23182 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
23183 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
23184 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
23185 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
23186 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
23187 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
23191 @section Mode Lines
23194 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23195 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23196 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23197 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23198 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23199 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23200 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23203 @cindex display-time
23205 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23206 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23207 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23208 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23209 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23210 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23211 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23212 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
23215 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23217 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23218 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23220 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23221 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23222 (length display-time-string)))))
23225 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23226 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23227 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23228 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23229 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23232 @node Highlighting and Menus
23233 @section Highlighting and Menus
23235 @cindex highlighting
23238 @vindex gnus-visual
23239 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23240 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23241 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23244 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23245 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23248 @item group-highlight
23249 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23250 @item summary-highlight
23251 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23252 @item article-highlight
23253 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23255 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23257 Create menus in the group buffer.
23259 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23261 Create menus in the article buffer.
23263 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23265 Create menus in the server buffer.
23267 Create menus in the score buffers.
23269 Create menus in all buffers.
23272 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23273 buffers, you could say something like:
23276 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23279 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23282 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23285 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23286 in all Gnus buffers.
23288 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23291 @item gnus-mouse-face
23292 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23293 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23294 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23298 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23302 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23303 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23304 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23306 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23307 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23308 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23310 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23311 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23312 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23314 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23315 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23316 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23318 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23319 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23320 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23322 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23323 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23324 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23335 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
23336 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
23337 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
23338 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
23339 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
23343 @vindex gnus-carpal
23344 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
23345 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
23346 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
23351 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23352 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23353 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
23355 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
23356 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
23357 Face used on buttons.
23359 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
23360 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
23361 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
23363 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23364 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23365 Buttons in the group buffer.
23367 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23368 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23369 Buttons in the summary buffer.
23371 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23372 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23373 Buttons in the server buffer.
23375 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23376 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23377 Buttons in the browse buffer.
23380 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
23381 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
23382 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
23390 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23391 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23392 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23393 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23394 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23396 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23397 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23398 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23400 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23401 been idle for thirty minutes:
23404 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23407 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23411 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23414 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23415 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23416 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23418 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23419 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23420 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23421 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23423 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23424 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23425 @var{idle} minutes.
23427 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23428 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23431 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23432 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23433 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23435 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23436 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23437 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23438 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23440 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23441 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23443 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23445 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23448 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
23449 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23450 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23451 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23452 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23453 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23454 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23455 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23456 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23457 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23458 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23460 @findex gnus-demon-init
23461 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23462 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23463 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23464 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23465 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23467 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23468 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23469 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23478 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
23479 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
23481 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
23482 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
23483 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
23484 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
23487 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
23488 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
23489 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
23490 messages, which are distributed in the newsgroups
23491 @samp{news.lists.filters}, @samp{alt.nocem.misc}, etc.
23493 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
23494 this will make spam disappear.
23496 There are some variables to customize, of course:
23499 @item gnus-use-nocem
23500 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
23501 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
23504 You can also set this variable to a positive number as a group level.
23505 In that case, Gnus scans NoCeM messages when checking new news if this
23506 value is not exceeding a group level that you specify as the prefix
23507 argument to some commands, e.g. @code{gnus},
23508 @code{gnus-group-get-new-news}, etc. Otherwise, Gnus does not scan
23509 NoCeM messages if you specify a group level that is smaller than this
23510 value to those commands. For example, if you use 1 or 2 on the mail
23511 groups and the levels on the news groups remain the default, 3 is the
23514 @item gnus-nocem-groups
23515 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
23516 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
23519 ("news.lists.filters" "alt.nocem.misc")
23522 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
23523 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
23524 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
23525 people you want to listen to. The default is:
23529 "alba-nocem@@albasani.net"
23530 "bleachbot@@httrack.com"
23531 "news@@arcor-online.net"
23532 "news@@uni-berlin.de"
23534 "pgpmoose@@killfile.org"
23538 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
23539 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
23541 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
23542 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
23543 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
23544 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
23545 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
23546 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
23547 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
23548 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
23549 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
23550 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
23552 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
23553 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
23556 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
23559 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
23560 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
23563 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
23566 The specs are applied left-to-right.
23569 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
23570 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
23571 @findex gnus-nocem-epg-verify
23573 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
23574 says she is. This variable defaults to @code{gnus-nocem-epg-verify} if
23575 EasyPG is available, otherwise defaults to @code{pgg-verify}. The
23576 function should return non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful,
23577 otherwise (including the case the NoCeM message was not signed) should
23578 return @code{nil}. If this is too slow and you don't care for
23579 verification (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to
23582 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
23583 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
23584 @code{gnus-nocem-epg-verify} or @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if
23585 you are willing to add the @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
23587 @item gnus-nocem-directory
23588 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
23589 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
23590 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
23592 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23593 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23594 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
23595 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
23596 might then see old spam.
23598 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
23599 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
23600 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
23601 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
23602 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
23605 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23606 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23607 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
23608 group. @code{nil} means no restriction. NoCeM groups can be huge and
23609 very slow to process.
23613 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
23614 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
23615 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
23616 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
23623 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23624 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23625 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23627 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23628 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23629 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23630 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23631 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23632 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23633 @code{undo} function.
23635 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23636 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23637 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23638 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23639 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23640 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23641 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23642 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23643 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23644 never be totally undoable.
23646 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23647 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23649 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23650 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23651 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23652 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23656 @node Predicate Specifiers
23657 @section Predicate Specifiers
23658 @cindex predicate specifiers
23660 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23661 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23662 to type all that much.
23664 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23669 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23670 gnus-article-unread-p)
23673 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23674 functions all take one parameter.
23676 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23677 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23678 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23679 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23684 @section Moderation
23687 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23688 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23689 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23692 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23696 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23699 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23701 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23706 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23707 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23708 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23711 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23712 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23715 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23716 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23720 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23723 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23724 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23728 @node Fetching a Group
23729 @section Fetching a Group
23730 @cindex fetching a group
23732 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23733 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23734 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23735 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23736 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23737 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23740 @node Image Enhancements
23741 @section Image Enhancements
23743 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23744 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23745 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23748 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23749 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23750 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23751 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23752 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23760 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23761 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23762 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23766 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23767 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23768 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23776 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23777 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23778 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23779 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23780 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23781 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23782 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23783 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23784 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23785 @code{display} program.
23787 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23788 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23789 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23790 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23791 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23792 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23793 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23794 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23796 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23797 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23798 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23799 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23800 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23801 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23803 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23811 @vindex gnus-x-face
23812 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23813 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23814 default colors are black and white.
23816 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23817 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23818 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23819 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23820 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23821 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23824 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23825 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23826 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23827 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23829 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23830 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23831 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23832 (png . (:relief -2))))
23835 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23836 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23837 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23838 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23839 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23840 @samp{libcompface} library.
23843 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23844 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23845 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23846 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23847 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23848 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23850 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23851 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23852 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23853 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23854 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23855 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23856 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23857 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23858 header data as a string.
23860 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23861 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23862 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23863 randomly generated data.
23865 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23866 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23867 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23868 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23869 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23871 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23872 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23875 (setq message-required-news-headers
23876 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23877 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23880 Using the last function would be something like this:
23883 (setq message-required-news-headers
23884 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23885 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23886 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23887 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23895 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23897 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23898 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23899 represent the author of the message.
23902 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23903 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23904 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23907 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23908 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23910 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23913 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23915 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23917 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23918 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23920 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23921 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23922 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23924 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23925 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23926 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23927 converts the file to Face format by using the
23928 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23930 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23931 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23934 (setq message-required-news-headers
23935 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23936 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23937 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23942 @subsection Smileys
23947 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23952 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23953 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23955 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23956 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23959 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23962 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23963 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23964 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23965 text and maps that to file names.
23967 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23968 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23969 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23970 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23971 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23974 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23979 @vindex smiley-style
23980 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23981 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23982 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23983 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23986 @item smiley-data-directory
23987 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23988 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23989 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23991 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23992 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23993 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
24007 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
24008 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
24009 over your shoulder as you read news.
24011 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
24020 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
24021 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
24022 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
24023 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
24024 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
24025 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
24026 @code{GIF} formats.
24029 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24030 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
24031 point your Web browser at
24032 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
24034 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
24035 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
24037 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
24038 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
24041 @vindex gnus-picon-style
24042 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
24043 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
24044 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
24046 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
24050 @item gnus-picon-databases
24051 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24052 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
24053 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
24054 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
24055 "/usr/local/faces")}.
24057 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
24058 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
24059 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24060 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
24062 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
24063 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
24064 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
24065 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
24067 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
24068 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
24069 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24070 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
24071 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
24073 @item gnus-picon-file-types
24074 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
24075 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
24076 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
24082 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
24085 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24086 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24087 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
24088 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
24089 unusual directory structure.
24091 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24092 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24093 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
24098 @subsubsection Toolbar
24102 @item gnus-use-toolbar
24103 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
24104 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
24105 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
24106 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
24107 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
24108 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
24109 names show. The default is @code{default}.
24111 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
24112 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
24113 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
24114 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
24115 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
24116 The default is that of the default toolbar.
24118 @item gnus-group-toolbar
24119 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
24120 The toolbar in the group buffer.
24122 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
24123 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
24124 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
24126 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24127 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24128 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
24139 @node Fuzzy Matching
24140 @section Fuzzy Matching
24141 @cindex fuzzy matching
24143 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
24144 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
24146 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
24147 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
24148 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
24150 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
24151 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
24152 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
24153 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
24154 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
24157 @node Thwarting Email Spam
24158 @section Thwarting Email Spam
24162 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24164 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
24165 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
24166 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
24167 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
24168 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
24169 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
24170 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
24171 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
24174 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
24175 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
24176 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
24177 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
24178 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
24179 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
24181 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
24184 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
24185 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
24186 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
24187 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
24190 @node The problem of spam
24191 @subsection The problem of spam
24193 @cindex spam filtering approaches
24194 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
24196 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24198 First, some background on spam.
24200 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
24201 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
24202 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
24203 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
24204 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
24205 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
24206 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
24207 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
24208 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
24210 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
24211 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
24212 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
24213 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
24214 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
24215 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
24216 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
24217 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
24218 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
24221 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
24222 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
24223 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
24224 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
24225 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
24226 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
24227 from Bulgarian IPs.
24229 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
24230 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
24231 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
24232 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
24234 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
24235 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
24236 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
24237 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
24239 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
24240 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
24241 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
24242 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
24243 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
24244 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
24245 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
24246 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
24247 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
24249 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
24250 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
24251 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
24252 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
24253 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
24254 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
24255 down for some time because of the incident.
24257 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
24258 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
24259 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
24260 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
24261 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
24262 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
24263 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
24264 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
24265 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
24266 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
24267 the server that it has misclassified mail.
24269 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
24270 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
24271 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
24272 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
24273 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
24274 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
24275 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
24278 @node Anti-Spam Basics
24279 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
24283 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24285 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
24286 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
24288 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
24289 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
24290 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
24291 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
24292 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
24293 part of the mail address.)
24296 (setq message-default-news-headers
24297 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
24300 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24301 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24305 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
24306 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
24307 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
24312 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
24313 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
24314 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
24315 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
24317 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
24318 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
24319 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
24320 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
24321 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
24322 your fancy split rule in this way:
24327 (to "larsi" "misc")
24331 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24332 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24333 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24334 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24335 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24337 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24338 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24339 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24340 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24342 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24346 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24347 @cindex SpamAssassin
24348 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24351 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24352 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24353 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24354 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24355 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24356 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24357 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24359 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24360 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24361 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24364 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24365 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24366 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24367 Specifiers}) follow.
24371 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24375 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24378 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24379 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24380 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24383 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24387 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24390 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24391 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24395 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24396 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24397 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24398 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24401 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24403 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24407 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24408 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24412 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24413 downloaded by default. You need to set
24414 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24415 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
24417 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24418 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24419 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24422 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24423 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24425 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24426 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24430 @subsection Hashcash
24433 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24434 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24435 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24436 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24437 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24439 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24440 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24441 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24442 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24443 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24444 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24445 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24446 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24447 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24448 one of them separately.
24451 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24452 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24453 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24454 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24455 need to install to use this feature, see
24456 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24457 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24459 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24460 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24461 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24464 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24467 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24471 @item hashcash-default-payment
24472 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24473 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24474 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24477 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24478 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24479 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24480 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24481 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24482 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24483 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24484 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24485 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24487 @item hashcash-path
24488 @vindex hashcash-path
24489 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24490 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24491 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24492 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24493 when you generate hashcash payments.
24497 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24498 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24499 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24500 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24501 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24502 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24503 Hashcash Payments}).
24506 @section Spam Package
24507 @cindex spam filtering
24510 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24511 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24512 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24513 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24516 * Spam Package Introduction::
24517 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24518 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24519 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24520 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24522 * Extending the Spam package::
24523 * Spam Statistics Package::
24526 @node Spam Package Introduction
24527 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24528 @cindex spam filtering
24529 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24532 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24533 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24535 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24536 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24538 @cindex spam-initialize
24539 @vindex spam-use-stat
24540 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24541 @code{spam-initialize}:
24547 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24548 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24549 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24550 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24551 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24553 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24554 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24556 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24557 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24559 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24560 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24561 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24562 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24563 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24565 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24566 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24567 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24568 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24569 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24572 @cindex spam back ends
24573 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24574 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24575 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24576 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24577 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24579 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24580 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24582 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24583 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24584 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24585 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24586 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24587 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24588 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24590 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24591 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24592 point, the Spam package does several things:
24594 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24595 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24596 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24597 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24598 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24599 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24600 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24601 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24604 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24605 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24615 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24616 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24617 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24618 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24622 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24623 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24625 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24626 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24627 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24628 to be processed as ham by setting
24629 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24630 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24632 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24633 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24634 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24635 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24636 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24637 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24638 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24639 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24640 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24641 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24642 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24643 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24645 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24646 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24647 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24648 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24649 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24650 Configuration Examples}.
24652 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24653 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24654 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24655 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24657 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24658 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24660 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24661 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24662 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24664 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24665 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24666 @cindex spam filtering
24667 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24670 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24671 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24672 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24673 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24674 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24680 @vindex spam-split-group
24682 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24683 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24684 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24685 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24686 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24687 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24688 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24689 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24690 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24692 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24694 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24695 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24696 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24697 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body}
24698 to @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can
24699 ``scan'' the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only
24700 retrieves the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells
24701 it to retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by
24702 default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24703 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Splitting
24706 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24707 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24708 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24709 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24710 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24711 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24712 ends, and the following split rule:
24715 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24716 (any "ding" "ding")
24718 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24723 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24724 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24725 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24726 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24727 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24728 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24730 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24731 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24732 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24733 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24738 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24739 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24740 (any "ding" "ding")
24741 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24743 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24748 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24749 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24750 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24751 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24752 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24753 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24754 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24756 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24757 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24758 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24759 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24761 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24762 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24765 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24766 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24768 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24769 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24770 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24771 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24773 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24774 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24775 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24776 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24778 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24779 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24780 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24782 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24783 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24784 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24785 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24786 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24787 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24788 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24790 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24791 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24792 @cindex spam filtering
24793 @cindex spam filtering variables
24794 @cindex spam variables
24797 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24798 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24799 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24800 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24801 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24802 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24803 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24805 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24806 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24807 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24808 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24810 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24811 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24812 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24813 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24814 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24815 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24816 by customizing the corresponding variable
24817 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24818 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24819 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24820 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24821 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24822 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24823 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24826 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24828 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24829 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24830 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24831 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24832 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24833 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24834 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24835 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24836 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24837 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24838 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24839 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24840 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24842 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24843 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24844 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24845 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24846 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24847 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24848 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24849 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24852 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24853 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24854 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24855 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24856 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24857 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24858 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24863 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24864 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24865 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24866 you really want to.
24869 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24870 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24871 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24872 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24873 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24874 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24877 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24878 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24879 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24880 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24881 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24882 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24883 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24884 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24885 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24886 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24887 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24888 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24889 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24890 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24891 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24893 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24894 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24896 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24897 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24898 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24900 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24901 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24903 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24904 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24905 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24906 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24907 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24909 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24910 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24911 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24912 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24913 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24916 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24917 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24918 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24919 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24920 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24921 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24922 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24923 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24924 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24925 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24926 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24927 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24928 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24930 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24931 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24933 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24934 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24937 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24938 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24939 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24940 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24941 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24942 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24943 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24945 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24946 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24947 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24948 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24950 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24951 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24952 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24953 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24954 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24955 from the mail server.
24957 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24958 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24959 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24960 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24962 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24963 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24964 @cindex spam filtering
24965 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24966 @cindex spam configuration examples
24969 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24971 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24973 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24974 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24975 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24979 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24981 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24982 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24983 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24984 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24985 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24986 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24987 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24988 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24989 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
24990 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24991 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24992 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24993 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24994 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24995 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24996 (any "ding" "ding")
24997 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24999 ;; @r{default mailbox}
25002 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
25004 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
25005 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
25006 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
25007 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
25009 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25011 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
25012 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
25013 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
25014 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
25015 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
25017 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
25018 ((spam-autodetect . t))
25020 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
25022 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
25023 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
25025 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
25026 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
25027 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
25029 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
25031 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
25032 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
25034 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
25035 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
25036 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
25038 (gnus-ticked-mark))
25039 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
25040 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
25041 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
25043 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
25044 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
25045 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
25049 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
25050 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25052 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
25053 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
25054 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
25055 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
25056 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
25057 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
25058 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
25059 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
25060 @samp{training.spam} folders.
25062 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
25063 does most of the job for me:
25066 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
25067 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
25068 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
25069 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25070 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
25071 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
25072 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
25077 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
25079 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
25080 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
25081 bogofilter or DCC).
25083 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
25084 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
25085 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
25086 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
25087 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
25088 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
25089 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
25091 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
25092 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
25093 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
25094 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
25095 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
25096 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
25098 @item @b{Ham folders:}
25100 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
25101 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
25102 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
25103 @samp{training.spam}.
25106 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
25108 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25110 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
25111 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
25112 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
25116 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
25119 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
25120 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
25121 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
25122 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
25123 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
25125 @node Spam Back Ends
25126 @subsection Spam Back Ends
25127 @cindex spam back ends
25129 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
25130 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
25131 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
25132 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
25136 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
25137 * BBDB Whitelists::
25138 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
25139 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
25141 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
25143 * SpamAssassin back end::
25144 * ifile spam filtering::
25145 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
25149 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
25150 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
25151 @cindex spam filtering
25152 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
25153 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
25156 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
25158 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
25159 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
25160 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
25161 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
25166 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
25168 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
25169 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
25170 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25171 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
25172 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25176 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
25178 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
25179 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25180 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
25184 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
25186 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25187 customizing the group parameters or the
25188 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25189 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25190 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
25194 Instead of the obsolete
25195 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
25196 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
25197 the same way, we promise.
25201 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
25203 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25204 customizing the group parameters or the
25205 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25206 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25207 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25212 Instead of the obsolete
25213 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
25214 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
25215 the same way, we promise.
25219 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
25220 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
25221 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
25222 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
25223 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
25225 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
25226 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
25227 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
25228 Emacs regular expression syntax.
25230 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
25231 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
25232 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
25233 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
25234 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
25235 @file{blacklist} respectively.
25237 @node BBDB Whitelists
25238 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
25239 @cindex spam filtering
25240 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
25241 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
25244 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
25246 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25247 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
25248 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
25249 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
25250 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25251 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
25252 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25256 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
25258 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
25259 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25260 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
25261 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
25262 classified as spammers.
25264 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
25265 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
25266 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
25267 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
25272 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
25274 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25275 customizing the group parameters or the
25276 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25277 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25278 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25283 Instead of the obsolete
25284 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
25285 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
25286 the same way, we promise.
25290 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
25291 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
25292 @cindex spam reporting
25293 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25294 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25297 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
25299 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25300 customizing the group parameters or the
25301 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25302 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25303 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
25306 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
25310 Instead of the obsolete
25311 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
25312 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
25313 same way, we promise.
25317 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
25319 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
25320 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25321 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25322 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25323 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25327 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25329 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25330 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25331 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25335 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25336 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25337 @cindex spam filtering
25338 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25341 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25343 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25344 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25345 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25346 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25347 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25348 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25353 @subsubsection Blackholes
25354 @cindex spam filtering
25355 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25358 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25360 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25361 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25362 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25363 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25364 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25365 contains outdated servers.
25367 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25368 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25369 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25370 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25371 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25372 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25376 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25378 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25382 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25384 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25385 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25389 @defvar spam-use-dig
25391 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25392 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25396 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25397 ham processor for blackholes.
25399 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25400 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25401 @cindex spam filtering
25402 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25405 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25407 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25408 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25409 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25410 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25411 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25412 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25416 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25418 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25419 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25423 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25425 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25426 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25430 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25431 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25434 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25435 @cindex spam filtering
25436 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25439 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25441 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25444 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25445 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25446 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25447 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25448 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25449 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25451 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25452 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25455 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25456 processing will be turned off.
25458 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25467 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25468 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25471 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25473 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25474 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25475 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25476 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25477 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25478 installation documents for details.
25480 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25484 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25485 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25486 customizing the group parameters or the
25487 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25488 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25489 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25493 Instead of the obsolete
25494 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25495 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25496 the same way, we promise.
25499 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25500 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25501 customizing the group parameters or the
25502 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25503 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25504 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25505 of non-spam messages.
25509 Instead of the obsolete
25510 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25511 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25512 the same way, we promise.
25515 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25517 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25518 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25519 database directory.
25523 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25524 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25525 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25526 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25527 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25528 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25530 @node SpamAssassin back end
25531 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25532 @cindex spam filtering
25533 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25536 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25538 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25540 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25541 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25542 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25543 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25546 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25547 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25548 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25549 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25552 You should not enable this if you use
25553 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25557 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25559 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25560 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25562 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25566 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25568 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25569 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25570 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25571 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25575 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25576 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25577 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25578 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25579 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25580 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25581 to test this functionality.
25583 @node ifile spam filtering
25584 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25585 @cindex spam filtering
25586 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25589 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25591 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25592 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25596 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25598 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25599 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25600 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25604 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25606 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25607 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25608 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25611 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25613 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25614 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25618 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25619 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25620 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25621 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25624 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25625 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25626 @cindex spam filtering
25627 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25631 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25632 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25633 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25634 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25635 spam-stat dictionary}.
25637 @defvar spam-use-stat
25641 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25642 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25643 customizing the group parameters or the
25644 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25645 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25646 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25650 Instead of the obsolete
25651 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25652 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25653 the same way, we promise.
25656 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25657 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25658 customizing the group parameters or the
25659 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25660 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25661 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25662 of non-spam messages.
25666 Instead of the obsolete
25667 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25668 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25669 the same way, we promise.
25672 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25673 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25674 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25675 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25676 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25679 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25680 @cindex spam filtering
25684 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25685 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25686 installed separately.
25688 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25689 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25690 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25691 mail as a spam mail or not.
25693 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25694 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25695 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25697 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25700 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25701 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25702 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25703 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25704 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25705 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25706 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25707 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25710 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25711 spam-split-group "Junk"
25712 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25713 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25714 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25717 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25718 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25722 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25723 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25724 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25728 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25729 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25730 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25731 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25732 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25733 database to live somewhere special, set
25734 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25737 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25738 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25739 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25740 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25741 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25742 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25743 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25744 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25745 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25746 @xref{Spam Package}.
25748 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25749 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25750 customizing the group parameter or the
25751 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25752 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25753 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25757 Instead of the obsolete
25758 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25759 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25760 the same way, we promise.
25763 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25764 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25765 customizing the group parameter or the
25766 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25767 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25768 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25773 Instead of the obsolete
25774 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25775 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25776 the same way, we promise.
25779 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25780 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25783 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25784 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25785 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25787 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25788 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25789 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25790 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25791 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25792 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25794 @node Extending the Spam package
25795 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25796 @cindex spam filtering
25797 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25798 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25800 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25801 incoming mail, provide the following:
25809 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25810 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25813 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25815 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25816 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25817 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
25818 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25819 register/unregister spam and ham.
25824 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25825 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25826 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25827 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25832 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25839 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25840 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25842 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25843 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25844 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25845 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25848 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25849 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25850 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25852 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25853 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25854 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25863 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25864 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25866 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25867 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25868 variable customization.
25872 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25874 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25875 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25877 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25878 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25884 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25886 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25887 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25888 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25891 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25893 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25894 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25898 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25900 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25901 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25902 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25906 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25908 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25909 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25910 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25913 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25915 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25916 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25920 @code{spam-install-backend}
25922 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25923 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25924 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25927 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25929 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25930 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25931 never install such a back end.
25936 @node Spam Statistics Package
25937 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25938 @cindex Paul Graham
25939 @cindex Graham, Paul
25940 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25941 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25942 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25944 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25945 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25946 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25947 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25948 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25949 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25950 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25951 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25952 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25955 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25956 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25957 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25958 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25959 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25960 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25961 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25962 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25964 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25965 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25966 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25968 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25969 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25970 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25971 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25972 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25975 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25976 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25977 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25980 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25981 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25983 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25984 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25985 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25986 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25987 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25989 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25990 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25991 per mail. Use the following:
25993 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25994 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25995 is treated as one spam mail.
25998 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25999 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
26000 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
26003 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
26004 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
26005 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
26006 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
26007 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
26008 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
26010 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
26011 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
26012 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
26013 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
26014 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
26017 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
26018 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
26019 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
26020 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
26023 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
26024 reset the dictionary.
26026 @defun spam-stat-reset
26027 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
26030 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
26031 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
26032 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
26033 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
26034 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
26035 only non-spam mails.
26037 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
26038 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
26039 to update the dictionary incrementally.
26042 @defun spam-stat-save
26043 Save the dictionary.
26046 @defvar spam-stat-file
26047 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
26048 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
26051 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
26052 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
26054 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
26055 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
26057 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26060 (require 'spam-stat)
26064 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
26067 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
26068 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
26069 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
26070 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
26072 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
26073 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
26074 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
26075 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
26078 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26079 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26083 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
26084 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
26087 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
26088 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
26089 expression are considered potential spam.
26092 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26093 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26094 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26098 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
26099 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
26100 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
26101 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
26102 mails, when creating the dictionary!
26105 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26106 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26107 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26111 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
26112 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
26113 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
26114 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
26115 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
26119 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26120 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
26121 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26122 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26127 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26128 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26130 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
26132 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
26133 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
26134 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26137 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
26138 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
26139 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26142 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
26143 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
26144 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
26145 already been processed as non-spam.
26148 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
26149 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
26150 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
26151 been processed as spam.
26154 @defun spam-stat-save
26155 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
26156 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26159 @defun spam-stat-load
26160 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
26161 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26164 @defun spam-stat-score-word
26165 Return the spam score for a word.
26168 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
26169 Return the spam score for a buffer.
26172 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
26173 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
26174 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
26177 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
26178 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26181 (require 'spam-stat)
26185 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
26188 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26189 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26190 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26191 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26192 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26193 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26194 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26195 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26196 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26197 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26198 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26199 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26200 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26201 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26204 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
26207 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26208 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26209 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26210 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
26211 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26212 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26215 @node The Gnus Registry
26216 @section The Gnus Registry
26221 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
26222 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
26223 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
26224 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
26225 features are pretty cool.
26227 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
26228 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
26232 Split messages to their parent
26234 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
26235 the sender in addition to the Message-ID. Several strategies are
26239 Store custom flags and keywords
26241 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
26242 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
26243 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
26247 Store arbitrary data
26249 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
26250 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
26251 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
26256 * Fancy splitting to parent::
26257 * Store custom flags and keywords::
26258 * Store arbitrary data::
26264 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
26267 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500
26268 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t)
26270 (gnus-registry-initialize)
26273 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
26274 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @code{*Group*} buffer. It also
26275 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.) so
26276 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
26277 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
26279 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
26280 what they do before you copy them blindly).
26284 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
26285 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
26289 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
26290 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t
26291 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
26294 They say: keep a lot of messages around, use long group names, track
26295 messages by sender and subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when
26296 the registry splits incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where
26297 messages should go if there's more than one possibility. In addition,
26298 the registry should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'',
26299 ``nnrss'', ``spam'', or ``train.''
26301 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
26302 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
26303 the general settings.
26305 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
26306 The groups that will not be followed by
26307 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
26308 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
26311 @defvar gnus-registry-ignored-groups
26312 The groups that will not be remembered by the registry. This is a
26313 list of regular expressions, also available through Group/Topic
26314 customization (so you can ignore or keep a specific group or a whole
26318 @defvar gnus-registry-use-long-group-names
26319 Whether the registry will use long group names. It's recommended to
26320 set this to @code{t}, although everything works if you don't. Future
26321 functionality will require it.
26324 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
26325 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
26326 registry will keep.
26329 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
26330 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions.
26333 @node Fancy splitting to parent
26334 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
26336 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
26338 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
26339 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
26340 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
26343 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
26344 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
26345 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
26346 have to put a rule like this:
26349 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
26351 ;; split to parent: you need this
26352 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
26354 ;; other rules, as an example
26360 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
26361 following variables.
26363 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
26364 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
26365 Customize interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to
26366 track @code{subject} and @code{sender} as well when splitting by parent.
26367 It may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large and
26368 people don't stick to the same groups.
26371 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
26372 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
26373 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
26374 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
26375 the majority of matches or on the first found.
26378 @node Store custom flags and keywords
26379 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
26381 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
26382 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
26383 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
26385 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
26386 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
26387 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
26388 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
26389 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
26390 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
26392 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
26393 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
26394 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
26398 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
26399 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
26400 will offer the available marks for completion.
26403 @node Store arbitrary data
26404 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26406 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26407 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26410 @defun gnus-registry-store-extra-entry (id key value)
26411 Store @code{value} in the extra data key @code{key} for message
26415 @defun gnus-registry-delete-extra-entry (id key)
26416 Delete the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26419 @defun gnus-registry-fetch-extra (id key)
26420 Get the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26423 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26424 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26425 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26426 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26427 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26432 @section Interaction with other modes
26437 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26438 buffers. It is enabled with
26440 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26445 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26446 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26447 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26448 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26451 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26452 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26453 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26457 @findex gnus-dired-print
26458 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26459 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26462 @node Various Various
26463 @section Various Various
26469 @item gnus-home-directory
26470 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26471 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26472 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26474 @item gnus-directory
26475 @vindex gnus-directory
26476 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26477 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26478 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26480 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26481 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26482 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26483 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26485 @item gnus-default-directory
26486 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26487 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26488 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26489 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26490 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26491 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26492 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26495 @vindex gnus-verbose
26496 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26497 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26498 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26499 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26500 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26502 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26503 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26504 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26505 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26507 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26508 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26509 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26510 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26511 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26512 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26513 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26514 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26515 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26516 displayed in the echo area.
26518 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26519 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26520 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26521 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26522 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26523 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26524 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26525 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26526 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26527 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26529 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26530 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26531 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26532 read when doing the operation described above.
26534 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26535 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26537 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26538 @cindex characters in file names
26539 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26540 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26541 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26545 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26550 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26551 Windows (phooey) systems.
26553 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26554 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26555 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26556 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26557 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26559 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26560 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26561 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26562 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26563 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26565 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26566 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26567 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26569 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26570 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26572 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26573 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26574 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26575 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26578 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26580 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26581 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26582 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26583 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26584 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26585 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26586 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26587 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26588 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26595 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26596 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26598 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26600 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26606 Not because of victories @*
26609 but for the common sunshine,@*
26611 the largess of the spring.
26615 but for the day's work done@*
26616 as well as I was able;@*
26617 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26618 but at the common table.@*
26623 @chapter Appendices
26626 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26627 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26628 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26629 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26630 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26631 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26632 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26633 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26634 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26641 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26643 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26644 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26645 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26646 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26647 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
26648 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26655 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26656 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26658 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26659 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26660 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26661 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26662 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26664 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26665 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26666 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26667 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26668 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26669 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26671 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26672 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26673 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26674 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26677 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26678 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
26679 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26680 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26681 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26682 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26683 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26684 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26685 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26689 @node Gnus Versions
26690 @subsection Gnus Versions
26692 @cindex September Gnus
26694 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26695 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26698 @cindex Gnus versions
26700 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26701 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26702 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26704 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26705 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26707 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26708 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26710 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26711 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26713 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26714 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26717 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26718 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26720 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26722 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26723 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26724 with the information when possible).
26726 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
26727 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26728 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
26729 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
26730 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
26731 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
26734 @node Other Gnus Versions
26735 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
26738 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
26739 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
26740 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
26741 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
26743 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
26744 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
26745 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
26746 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
26753 What's the point of Gnus?
26755 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26756 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26757 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26758 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26759 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26760 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26761 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26762 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26763 keep track of millions of people who post?
26765 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26766 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26767 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26768 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26769 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26770 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26771 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26772 every one of you to explore and invent.
26774 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26775 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26778 @node Compatibility
26779 @subsection Compatibility
26781 @cindex compatibility
26782 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26783 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26784 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26789 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26793 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26796 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26799 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26800 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26801 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26802 important variables have their values copied into their global
26803 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26804 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26806 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26807 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26808 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26809 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26810 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26814 @cindex highlighting
26815 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26816 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26817 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26818 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26819 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26820 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26823 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26824 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26825 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26826 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26828 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26829 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26830 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26831 to stop doing it the old way.
26833 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26835 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26837 @cindex reporting bugs
26839 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26840 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26841 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26843 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26844 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26845 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26846 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26851 @subsection Conformity
26853 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26854 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26862 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26866 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26868 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26869 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26870 We do have some breaches to this one.
26876 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26877 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26878 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26879 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26880 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26885 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26886 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26887 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26888 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26890 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26891 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26892 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26894 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26895 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26897 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26900 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26901 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26902 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26903 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26904 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26907 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26908 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26909 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26910 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26912 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26913 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26915 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26916 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26917 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26918 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26919 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26920 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26921 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26922 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26926 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26927 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26932 @subsection Emacsen
26938 This version of Gnus should work on:
26946 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26950 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26951 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26952 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26953 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26955 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26958 @node Gnus Development
26959 @subsection Gnus Development
26961 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26962 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26963 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26964 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26965 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26966 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26967 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26968 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26970 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26971 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26972 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26973 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26974 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26975 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26976 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26980 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26981 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26982 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26983 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26984 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26986 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26987 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26988 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26989 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26990 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26991 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26992 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26993 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26994 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26995 can't be assumed to do so.
26997 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26998 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26999 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
27002 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
27003 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
27004 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
27005 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
27006 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
27009 @subsection Contributors
27010 @cindex contributors
27012 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
27013 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
27014 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
27015 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
27016 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
27017 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
27018 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
27019 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
27020 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
27021 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
27023 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
27029 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
27032 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
27033 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
27034 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
27035 functionality and stuff.
27038 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
27039 well as numerous other things).
27042 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
27045 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
27048 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
27051 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
27054 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
27055 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
27058 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
27061 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
27064 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
27067 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
27070 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
27073 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
27076 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
27077 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
27080 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
27083 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
27086 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
27089 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
27093 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
27096 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
27099 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
27102 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
27103 well as autoconf support.
27107 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
27108 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
27110 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
27125 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
27127 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
27131 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
27141 Alexei V. Barantsev,
27156 Massimo Campostrini,
27161 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
27162 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
27166 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
27169 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27175 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27180 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27184 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27192 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27194 Michelangelo Grigni,
27198 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27200 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27202 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27210 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
27211 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27212 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27214 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27224 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27225 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27227 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27228 Thor Kristoffersen,
27231 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27249 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27250 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27257 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27262 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27266 John McClary Prevost,
27272 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27277 Christian von Roques,
27280 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27287 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27289 Randal L. Schwartz,
27303 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27308 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27328 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27329 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27330 (550kB and counting).
27332 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27335 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27336 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27340 @subsection New Features
27341 @cindex new features
27344 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27345 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27346 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27347 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27348 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27349 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27350 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
27353 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27354 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27355 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27358 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27360 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27365 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27366 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27369 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27370 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27373 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27376 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27377 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27378 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27381 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27382 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27383 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27384 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27387 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27388 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27391 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27392 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27393 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27396 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27397 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27400 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27401 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27402 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27405 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27406 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27407 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27410 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27411 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27414 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27415 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27418 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
27419 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
27422 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27423 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27426 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27427 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27430 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27431 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27434 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27437 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27438 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27441 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27442 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27445 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27446 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27449 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27452 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27453 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27456 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27460 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27464 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27465 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27468 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
27474 @node September Gnus
27475 @subsubsection September Gnus
27479 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27483 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27488 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27489 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27493 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27494 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27498 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27502 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27503 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27506 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27510 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27513 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27516 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27519 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27523 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27524 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27527 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27531 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27535 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27539 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27543 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27546 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27547 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27550 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27554 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27555 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27558 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27561 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27562 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27563 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27566 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27569 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27572 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27576 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27577 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27580 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27581 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27584 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27585 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27588 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27589 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27590 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27593 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27594 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27597 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27600 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27603 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27606 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27609 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27610 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27613 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27617 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27620 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27625 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
27628 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
27632 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27635 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27639 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27642 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27645 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27646 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27649 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27650 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27654 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27655 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27658 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27662 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27663 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27666 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27669 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27673 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27677 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27678 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27681 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27685 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27686 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27689 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27690 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27693 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27697 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27700 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27703 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27709 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27711 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27715 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27722 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27725 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27726 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27729 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27730 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27734 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27735 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27738 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27741 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27742 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27745 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27749 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27750 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27754 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
27755 Server Internals}).
27758 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27762 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27765 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27766 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27769 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27770 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27771 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27774 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27775 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27778 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27779 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27782 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27786 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27787 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27790 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27791 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27794 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27798 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27801 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27805 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27806 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27809 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27810 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27813 A new command for reading collections of documents
27814 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27815 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27818 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27822 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27823 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27826 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27827 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27828 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27831 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27832 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27836 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27840 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27844 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27849 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27853 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27857 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27858 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27861 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27867 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27869 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27874 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27875 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27876 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27879 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27880 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27881 group, which is created automatically.
27884 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27888 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27891 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27892 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27895 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27899 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27902 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27903 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27906 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27909 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27913 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27914 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27917 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27918 control over simplification.
27921 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27924 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27928 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27931 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27934 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27935 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27936 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27939 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27940 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27943 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27947 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27948 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27951 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27952 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27955 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27959 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27962 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27965 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27966 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27969 A new function for citing in Message has been
27970 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27973 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27976 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27980 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27981 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27984 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27985 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27988 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27991 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27995 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27996 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27998 New features in Gnus 5.8:
28003 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
28004 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
28006 If you used procmail like in
28009 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
28010 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
28011 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
28012 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
28015 this now has changed to
28019 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
28023 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
28026 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
28027 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
28030 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
28031 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
28034 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
28035 called to position point.
28038 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
28039 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
28042 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
28043 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
28046 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
28047 subtly different manner.
28050 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
28051 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
28052 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
28055 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
28060 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
28063 New features in Gnus 5.10:
28067 @item Installation changes
28068 @c ***********************
28072 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
28074 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
28075 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
28076 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
28077 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
28078 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
28079 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
28080 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
28081 isn't save in general.
28084 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
28085 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
28086 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
28087 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
28088 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
28089 remove-installed-shadows}.
28092 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
28094 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
28095 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
28096 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
28097 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
28098 the second parameter.
28100 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
28101 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
28102 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
28103 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
28104 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
28105 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
28106 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
28107 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
28108 cycle used under Unix systems.
28110 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
28111 superfluous, so they have been removed.
28114 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
28116 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
28117 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
28120 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
28121 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
28123 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
28125 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
28126 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
28127 lisp directory into load-path.
28129 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
28130 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
28134 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
28135 @c *****************************************
28140 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
28141 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
28144 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
28146 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
28147 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
28148 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
28149 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
28152 Improved anti-spam features.
28154 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
28155 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
28156 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
28157 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
28158 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
28159 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
28162 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
28164 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
28165 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
28166 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
28167 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
28168 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
28172 @item Changes in group mode
28173 @c ************************
28178 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
28182 Retrieval of charters and control messages
28184 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
28185 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28188 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28190 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28191 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28192 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28193 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28194 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28197 (setq gnus-parameters
28199 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28200 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28201 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28202 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28206 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28208 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28209 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28210 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28211 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28212 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
28213 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28214 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28215 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28216 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28219 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28221 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28222 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28223 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28226 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28227 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28229 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28230 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28231 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28233 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28237 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28238 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28239 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28243 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28244 @c **************************************
28249 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28250 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28251 region if the region is active.
28254 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28255 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28260 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28261 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28262 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28263 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28266 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28271 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28272 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28274 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28275 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28279 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28280 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28283 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28286 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28287 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28290 Warn about email replies to news
28292 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28293 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28297 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28298 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28302 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
28303 opposed to old but unread messages).
28306 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28307 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28310 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28311 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28314 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28315 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28318 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28320 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28321 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28322 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28323 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28326 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28327 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28328 Outlook (Express) articles.
28331 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28333 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28334 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28335 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28336 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28338 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28339 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28340 message cited below.
28343 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
28346 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28350 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28353 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28354 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28357 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28360 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28362 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28363 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28364 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28365 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28366 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28370 Deleting of attachments.
28372 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28373 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28374 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28375 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28376 that support editing.
28379 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28381 The default value is determined from the
28382 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28383 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28384 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28387 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28389 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28390 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28391 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28394 Extended format specs.
28396 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28397 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28398 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28399 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28400 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28401 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28404 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28405 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28407 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28408 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28409 out other articles.
28412 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28414 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28415 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28416 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28417 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28420 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28424 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28425 @c ****************************************************
28432 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28433 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28434 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28437 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28438 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28441 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28442 Gcc articles as read.
28445 Externalizing of attachments
28447 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28448 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28449 local files as external parts.
28452 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28453 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28456 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28458 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28459 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28460 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28461 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28462 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28463 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28464 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28465 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28466 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28469 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28471 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28472 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28473 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28474 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28475 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28476 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28479 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28480 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28484 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28487 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28489 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28490 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28491 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28492 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28493 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28494 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28495 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28496 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28497 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28498 was inserted directly.
28501 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28503 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28504 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28505 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28506 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28507 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28510 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28512 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28514 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28515 'bbdb-complete-name)
28519 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28521 Add a new format of match like
28523 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28524 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28526 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28528 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28529 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28533 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28535 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28536 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28537 need add those two headers too.
28540 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28541 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28542 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28546 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28547 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28548 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28549 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28550 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28553 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28555 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28558 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28560 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28564 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28566 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28567 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28568 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28569 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28570 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28571 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28572 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28573 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28576 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28577 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
28579 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28580 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28581 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28582 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28585 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28588 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28589 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28592 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28595 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28596 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28597 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28598 invalidate the digital signature.
28601 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28602 decompressed when activated.
28603 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28606 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28608 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28609 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28610 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28611 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28612 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28615 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28616 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28617 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28618 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28620 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28621 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28622 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28623 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28627 @item Changes in back ends
28628 @c ***********************
28632 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28635 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28638 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28640 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28643 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28645 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28646 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28647 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28648 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
28649 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28650 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28651 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28652 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28653 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28654 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28655 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28665 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28666 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28669 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28670 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28671 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28672 message, Message Manual}).
28675 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28676 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28677 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28678 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28680 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28681 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28682 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28687 @item Miscellaneous changes
28688 @c ************************
28695 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28696 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28697 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28698 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28699 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28700 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28701 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28702 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28703 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28704 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28705 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28706 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28707 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28708 is not needed any more.
28711 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28713 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28714 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28715 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28720 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28721 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28722 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28726 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28729 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28731 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28738 @subsubsection No Gnus
28741 New features in No Gnus:
28742 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28744 @include gnus-news.texi
28750 @section The Manual
28754 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28755 either @code{texi2dvi}
28757 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28758 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28760 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28762 The following conventions have been used:
28767 This is a @samp{string}
28770 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28773 This is a @file{file}
28776 This is a @code{symbol}
28780 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28784 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28787 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28790 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28793 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28794 ever get them confused.
28798 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28799 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28800 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28801 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28802 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28803 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28804 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28810 @node On Writing Manuals
28811 @section On Writing Manuals
28813 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28814 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28815 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28816 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28817 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28818 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28821 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28822 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28823 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28826 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28827 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28832 @section Terminology
28834 @cindex terminology
28839 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28840 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28841 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28842 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28843 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28847 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28848 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28849 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28850 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28854 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28858 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28863 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28864 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28865 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28866 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28867 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28868 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28869 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28870 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28871 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28874 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28875 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28876 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28877 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28878 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28879 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28881 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28882 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28883 access the articles.
28885 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28886 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28887 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28892 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28893 default, way of getting news.
28897 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28898 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28903 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28904 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28908 A message that has been posted as news.
28911 @cindex mail message
28912 A message that has been mailed.
28916 A mail message or news article
28920 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28925 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28930 A line from the head of an article.
28934 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28935 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28937 @item @acronym{NOV}
28938 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28939 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28940 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28941 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28942 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28943 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28945 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28946 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28947 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28948 normal @sc{head} format.
28950 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28951 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28952 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28953 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28954 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28957 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28958 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28959 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28960 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28961 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28962 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28963 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28967 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
28968 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28969 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
28970 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28971 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28972 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28974 @item killed groups
28975 @cindex killed groups
28976 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28977 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28979 @item zombie groups
28980 @cindex zombie groups
28981 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28984 @cindex active file
28985 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28986 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28987 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28990 @cindex bogus groups
28991 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28992 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28993 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28996 @cindex activating groups
28997 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28998 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28999 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
29003 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
29004 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
29005 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
29009 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
29011 @item select method
29012 @cindex select method
29013 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
29016 @item virtual server
29017 @cindex virtual server
29018 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
29019 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
29020 whole is a virtual server.
29024 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
29025 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
29028 @item ephemeral groups
29029 @cindex ephemeral groups
29030 @cindex temporary groups
29031 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
29032 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
29033 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
29036 @cindex solid groups
29037 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
29038 group buffer are solid groups.
29040 @item sparse articles
29041 @cindex sparse articles
29042 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
29043 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
29047 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
29048 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
29052 @cindex thread root
29053 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
29054 articles in the thread.
29058 An article that has responses.
29062 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
29066 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
29067 specified by RFC 1153.
29070 @cindex splitting, terminology
29071 @cindex mail sorting
29072 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
29073 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
29074 incorrectly called mail filtering.
29080 @node Customization
29081 @section Customization
29082 @cindex general customization
29084 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
29085 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
29086 for some quite common situations.
29089 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
29090 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
29091 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
29092 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
29096 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
29097 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
29099 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
29100 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
29101 Gnus has to get from the server.
29105 @item gnus-read-active-file
29106 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
29107 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
29108 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29109 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
29110 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
29112 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
29113 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
29114 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
29115 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
29116 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
29117 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
29118 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
29119 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
29120 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
29121 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
29122 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
29124 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
29125 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
29126 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
29127 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
29128 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
29129 variables.@footnote{Although the back ends @code{nnkiboze}, and
29130 @code{nnwfm} don't have their own nn*-nov-is-evil.}
29134 @node Slow Terminal Connection
29135 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
29137 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
29138 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
29139 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
29143 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
29144 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
29145 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
29146 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
29147 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29149 @item gnus-visible-headers
29150 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29151 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29152 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29153 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29155 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29157 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29158 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29159 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29162 @item gnus-use-full-window
29163 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29164 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29165 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29166 want to read them anyway.
29168 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29169 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29173 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29174 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29175 lines, which might save some time.
29179 @node Little Disk Space
29180 @subsection Little Disk Space
29183 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29184 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29188 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29189 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29190 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29191 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29194 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29195 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29196 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29197 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29200 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29201 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29202 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29203 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29204 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29210 @subsection Slow Machine
29211 @cindex slow machine
29213 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29214 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29216 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29217 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29219 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29220 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29221 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29225 @node Troubleshooting
29226 @section Troubleshooting
29227 @cindex troubleshooting
29229 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29237 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29240 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29241 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29245 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29247 @samp{No Gnus v0.10} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29249 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29250 files lying around. Delete these.
29253 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29254 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29257 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29258 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29259 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29260 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29261 something like that.
29264 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29267 @cindex reporting bugs
29269 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29271 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29272 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29273 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29274 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29276 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29277 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29278 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29279 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29282 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29283 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29284 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29285 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29286 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29287 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29289 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29290 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29291 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29295 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29296 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29299 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29300 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29301 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29302 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29303 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29304 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29305 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29306 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29307 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29308 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29309 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29310 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29311 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29312 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29317 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29318 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29319 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29320 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29321 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29323 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
29324 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29325 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29326 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
29327 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29328 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29329 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29330 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29331 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29332 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29333 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29334 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29335 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29338 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29339 @cindex ding mailing list
29340 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29341 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29342 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29343 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29347 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29348 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29350 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29351 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29352 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29353 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29356 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29357 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29358 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29359 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29360 and general methods of operation.
29363 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29364 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29365 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29366 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29367 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29368 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29369 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29370 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29371 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29375 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29376 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29377 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29378 @cindex utility functions
29380 @cindex internal variables
29382 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29383 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29384 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29388 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29389 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29390 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29392 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29393 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29394 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29396 @item gnus-group-real-name
29397 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29398 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29401 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29402 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29403 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29404 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29406 @item gnus-get-info
29407 @findex gnus-get-info
29408 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
29410 @item gnus-group-unread
29411 @findex gnus-group-unread
29412 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29416 @findex gnus-active
29417 The active entry for @var{group}.
29419 @item gnus-set-active
29420 @findex gnus-set-active
29421 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29423 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29424 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29425 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29428 @item gnus-continuum-version
29429 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29430 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29431 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29434 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29435 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29436 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29438 @item gnus-news-group-p
29439 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29440 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29442 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29443 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29444 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29446 @item gnus-server-to-method
29447 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29448 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29450 @item gnus-server-equal
29451 @findex gnus-server-equal
29452 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
29454 @item gnus-group-native-p
29455 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29456 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29458 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29459 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29460 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29462 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29463 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29464 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29466 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29467 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29468 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
29469 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
29471 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29472 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29473 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29475 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29476 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29477 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29479 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29480 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29481 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29482 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29485 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29489 @item gnus-read-method
29490 @findex gnus-read-method
29491 Prompts the user for a select method.
29496 @node Back End Interface
29497 @subsection Back End Interface
29499 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29500 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29501 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29502 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29503 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29504 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29506 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29507 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29508 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29509 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29510 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29511 been opened, the function should fail.
29513 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29514 name. Take this example:
29518 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29519 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29522 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29523 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29525 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29526 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29527 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29529 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29530 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29531 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29533 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29534 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29535 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29536 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29537 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29538 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29541 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29542 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29543 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
29544 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29547 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29548 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29549 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29550 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29551 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29552 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29553 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29554 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29555 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29556 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29558 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29559 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29560 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29561 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29562 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29563 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29564 of numbers as long as possible.
29566 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29567 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29568 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29570 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29573 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29576 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29577 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29578 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29579 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29580 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29581 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29585 @node Required Back End Functions
29586 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29590 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29592 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29593 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29594 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29595 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29597 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29598 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29599 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29600 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29602 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29603 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29604 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29605 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29606 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29607 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29608 number, do maximum fetches.
29610 Here's an example HEAD:
29613 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29614 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29615 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29616 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29617 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29618 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29619 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29621 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29622 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29623 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29627 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29628 these in the data buffer.
29630 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29634 head = error / valid-head
29635 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29636 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29637 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29638 header = <text> eol
29642 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29644 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29645 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29649 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29650 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29651 field = <text except TAB>
29654 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29658 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29660 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29661 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29663 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29664 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29665 server. In fact, it should do so.
29667 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29668 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29671 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29673 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29674 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29677 There should be no data returned.
29680 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29682 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29683 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29684 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29685 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29687 There should be no data returned.
29690 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29692 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29693 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29694 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29695 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29697 There should be no data returned.
29700 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29702 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29704 There should be no data returned.
29707 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29709 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29710 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29711 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29712 it would be nice if that were possible.
29714 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29715 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29716 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29717 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29718 into its article buffer.
29720 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29721 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29722 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29723 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29724 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29725 on successful article retrieval.
29728 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
29730 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29731 making @var{group} the current group.
29733 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29736 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29739 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29742 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29743 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29744 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29745 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29746 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29747 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29748 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29749 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29750 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29754 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29755 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29756 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29760 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29762 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29763 a no-op on most back ends.
29765 There should be no data returned.
29768 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29770 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29773 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29776 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29777 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29780 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29781 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29782 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29783 and the highest as 0.
29786 active-file = *active-line
29787 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29789 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29792 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29793 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29794 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29797 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29799 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29800 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29801 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29802 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29803 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29804 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29806 There should be no result data from this function.
29811 @node Optional Back End Functions
29812 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29816 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29818 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29819 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29820 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29822 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29823 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29824 former is in the same format as the data from
29825 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29826 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29829 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29833 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29835 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29836 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29837 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29838 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29839 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29840 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29841 the network resources).
29843 There should be no result data from this function.
29846 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29848 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29849 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29850 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29851 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29852 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29853 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29854 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29855 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29857 There should be no result data from this function.
29860 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29862 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29863 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29864 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29865 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29866 propagate the mark information to the server.
29868 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29871 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29874 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29875 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29876 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29877 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29878 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29879 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29880 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29881 possible, not limit itself to these.
29883 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29884 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29885 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29886 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29888 An example action list:
29891 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29892 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29893 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29896 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29897 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29899 There should be no result data from this function.
29901 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29903 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29904 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29905 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29906 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29907 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29909 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29910 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29911 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29914 There should be no result data from this function.
29917 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29919 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29920 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29921 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29922 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29923 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29924 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29925 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29926 local if that's practical.
29928 There should be no result data from this function.
29931 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29933 The result data from this function should be a description of
29937 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29939 description = <text>
29942 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29944 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29945 groups available on the server.
29948 description-buffer = *description-line
29952 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29954 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29955 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29956 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29957 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29958 in the active buffer format.
29960 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29961 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29962 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29963 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29964 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29965 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29966 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29969 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29971 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29973 There should be no return data.
29976 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29978 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29979 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29980 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29981 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29982 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29985 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29988 There should be no result data returned.
29991 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29993 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29994 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29996 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29997 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29998 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29999 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
30000 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
30001 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
30003 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
30004 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
30007 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30008 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30010 There should be no data returned.
30013 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
30015 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
30016 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
30017 this function in short order.
30019 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
30020 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
30022 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
30023 article for that group.
30025 There should be no data returned.
30028 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
30030 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
30031 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
30033 There should be no data returned.
30036 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
30038 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
30039 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
30040 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
30042 There should be no data returned.
30045 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
30047 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
30048 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
30050 There should be no data returned.
30055 @node Error Messaging
30056 @subsubsection Error Messaging
30058 @findex nnheader-report
30059 @findex nnheader-get-report
30060 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
30061 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
30062 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
30063 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
30064 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
30065 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
30068 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
30070 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
30073 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
30074 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
30075 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
30076 takes one argument---the server symbol.
30078 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
30079 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
30080 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
30083 @node Writing New Back Ends
30084 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
30086 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
30087 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
30088 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
30089 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
30090 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
30093 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
30094 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
30095 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
30097 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
30098 package called @code{nnoo}.
30100 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
30101 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
30107 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
30108 parameters. For instance:
30111 (nnoo-declare nndir
30115 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
30116 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
30119 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
30120 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
30121 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
30123 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
30124 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
30125 a function in those back ends.
30128 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30129 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30130 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30133 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
30134 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
30135 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
30137 @item nnoo-define-basics
30138 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30142 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30146 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30147 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30148 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30150 @item nnoo-map-functions
30151 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30152 functions from the parent back ends.
30155 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30156 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30157 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30160 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30161 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30162 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30163 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30166 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30167 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30168 haven't already been defined.
30174 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30178 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30179 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30180 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30185 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30188 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30189 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30193 (require 'nnheader)
30197 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30199 (nnoo-declare nndir
30202 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30203 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30204 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30206 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30207 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30210 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30212 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30213 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30214 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30216 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30217 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30219 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30221 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30223 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30224 (setq nndir-directory
30225 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30227 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30228 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30229 (push `(nndir-current-group
30230 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30231 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30233 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30234 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30236 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30238 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30239 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30240 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30241 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30242 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30246 nnmh-status-message
30248 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30254 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30255 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30257 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30258 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30259 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30260 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30261 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30263 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30264 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30269 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30272 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30274 The abilities can be:
30278 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30280 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30282 This back end supports both mail and news.
30284 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30287 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30288 articles and groups.
30290 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30291 true for almost all back ends.
30292 @item prompt-address
30293 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30294 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30295 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30299 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30300 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30302 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30303 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30304 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30305 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30308 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30309 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30310 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30313 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30314 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30317 This function takes four parameters.
30321 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30324 @item exit-function
30325 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30327 @item temp-directory
30328 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30331 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30332 performed for one group only.
30335 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30336 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30337 find the article number assigned to this article.
30339 The function also uses the following variables:
30340 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30341 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30342 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30343 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30347 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30348 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30352 @node Score File Syntax
30353 @subsection Score File Syntax
30355 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
30356 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30357 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30359 Here's a typical score file:
30363 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
30370 BNF definition of a score file:
30373 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30374 element = rule / atom
30375 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30376 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30377 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30378 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30380 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30381 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30382 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30383 date-header = "date"
30384 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30385 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30386 score = "nil" / <integer>
30387 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30388 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30389 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30390 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30391 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30392 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30393 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30394 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30395 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30396 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30397 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30398 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30399 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30400 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30401 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30402 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30403 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30404 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30405 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30406 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30407 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30408 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30409 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30410 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30411 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30412 eval = "eval" space <form>
30413 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30416 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30419 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30420 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30421 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30422 one looong line, then that's ok.
30424 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30425 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30429 @subsection Headers
30431 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30432 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30433 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30434 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30436 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30437 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30438 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30439 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30440 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30441 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30442 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30444 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30445 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30446 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30447 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30448 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30450 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30451 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30457 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30458 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30460 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30461 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30462 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30463 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30465 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30469 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30472 is transformed into
30475 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30478 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30479 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30482 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30485 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30486 is slightly tricky:
30489 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30495 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30498 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30504 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30511 and is equal to the previous range.
30513 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30514 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30515 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30519 range = simple-range / normal-range
30520 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30521 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30522 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30523 number *[ " " contents ]
30526 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30527 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30528 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30529 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30530 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30535 @subsection Group Info
30537 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30538 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30539 describes the group.
30541 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30542 second is a more complex one:
30545 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30547 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30548 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30550 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30553 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30554 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30555 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30556 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30557 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30558 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30559 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30560 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30561 this section is about.
30563 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30564 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30565 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30567 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30570 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30571 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30572 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30573 group = quote <string> quote
30574 ralevel = rank / level
30575 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30576 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30577 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30579 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30580 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30581 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30582 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30585 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30586 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30589 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30590 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30593 @item gnus-info-group
30594 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30595 @findex gnus-info-group
30596 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30597 Get/set the group name.
30599 @item gnus-info-rank
30600 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30601 @findex gnus-info-rank
30602 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30603 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30605 @item gnus-info-level
30606 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30607 @findex gnus-info-level
30608 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30609 Get/set the group level.
30611 @item gnus-info-score
30612 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30613 @findex gnus-info-score
30614 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30615 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30617 @item gnus-info-read
30618 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30619 @findex gnus-info-read
30620 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30621 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30623 @item gnus-info-marks
30624 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30625 @findex gnus-info-marks
30626 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30627 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30629 @item gnus-info-method
30630 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30631 @findex gnus-info-method
30632 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30633 Get/set the group select method.
30635 @item gnus-info-params
30636 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30637 @findex gnus-info-params
30638 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30639 Get/set the group parameters.
30642 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30643 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30645 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30646 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30647 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30648 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30651 @node Extended Interactive
30652 @subsection Extended Interactive
30653 @cindex interactive
30654 @findex gnus-interactive
30656 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30657 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30658 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30661 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30662 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30667 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30668 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30669 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30670 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30671 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30672 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30673 @code{interactive}.
30675 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30680 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30681 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30685 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30686 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30687 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30690 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30694 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30698 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30704 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30705 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30709 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30710 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30711 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30713 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30714 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30715 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30716 Gnus, that's very useful.
30718 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30719 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30720 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30721 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30722 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30723 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30724 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30725 following function:
30728 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30732 (,function ,@@args))
30736 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30737 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30738 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30741 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30742 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30743 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30745 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30746 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30747 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30750 @node Various File Formats
30751 @subsection Various File Formats
30754 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30755 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30759 @node Active File Format
30760 @subsubsection Active File Format
30762 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30763 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30766 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30769 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30770 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30771 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30772 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30773 no.general 1000 900 y
30776 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30779 active = *group-line
30780 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30781 group = <non-white-space string>
30783 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30784 low-number = <positive integer>
30785 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30788 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30789 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30792 @node Newsgroups File Format
30793 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30795 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30796 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30797 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30800 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30801 Here's the definition:
30805 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30806 group = <non-white-space string>
30808 description = <string>
30813 @node Emacs for Heathens
30814 @section Emacs for Heathens
30816 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30817 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30818 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30819 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30820 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30821 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30822 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30826 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30827 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30832 @subsection Keystrokes
30836 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30839 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30842 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30843 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30844 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30845 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30846 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30847 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30849 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30850 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30851 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30852 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30853 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30854 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30855 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30857 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30858 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30859 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30860 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30861 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30862 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30863 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30865 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30866 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30867 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30868 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30869 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30875 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30877 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30878 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30879 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30880 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30882 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30883 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30884 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30885 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30886 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30887 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30888 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30889 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30890 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30891 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30893 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30894 write the following:
30897 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30900 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30901 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30902 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30903 change how Gnus works.
30905 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30906 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30907 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30908 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30909 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30911 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30912 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30913 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30917 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30921 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30924 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
30925 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
30928 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
30931 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30932 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30935 @include gnus-faq.texi
30937 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30938 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30939 @include doclicense.texi
30957 @c Local Variables:
30959 @c coding: iso-8859-1
30963 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819