10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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284 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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293 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
295 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
299 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
300 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
301 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
302 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
303 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
304 License'' in the Emacs manual.
306 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
307 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
308 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
310 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
311 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
312 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
313 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
321 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
323 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
324 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
326 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
327 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
328 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
329 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
330 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
331 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
332 License'' in the Emacs manual.
334 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
335 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
336 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
338 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
339 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
340 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
341 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
349 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
352 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
353 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
355 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
357 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
358 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
359 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
360 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
361 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
362 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
363 License'' in the Emacs manual.
365 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
366 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
367 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
369 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
370 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
371 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
372 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
381 @top The Gnus Newsreader
385 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
386 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
387 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
390 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.15.
401 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
402 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
404 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
405 being accused of plagiarism:
407 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
408 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
409 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
410 can even read news with it!
412 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
413 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
414 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
415 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
416 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
422 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
423 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
424 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
425 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
426 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
427 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
428 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
429 * Various:: General purpose settings.
430 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
431 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
432 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
433 * Key Index:: Key Index.
435 Other related manuals
437 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
438 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
439 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
440 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
443 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
447 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
448 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
449 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
450 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
451 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
452 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
453 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
454 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
455 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
456 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
457 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
461 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
462 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
463 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
467 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
468 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
469 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
470 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
471 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
472 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
473 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
474 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
475 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
476 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
477 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
478 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
479 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
480 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
481 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
482 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
483 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
487 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
488 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
489 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
493 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
494 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
495 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
496 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
497 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
501 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
502 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
503 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
504 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
505 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
509 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
510 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
511 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
512 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
513 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
514 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
515 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
516 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
517 * Threading:: How threads are made.
518 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
519 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
520 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
521 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
522 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
523 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
524 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
525 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
526 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
527 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
528 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
529 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
530 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
531 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
532 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
533 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
534 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
535 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
536 or reselecting the current group.
537 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
538 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
539 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
540 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
542 Summary Buffer Format
544 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
545 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
546 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
547 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
551 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
552 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
554 Reply, Followup and Post
556 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
557 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
558 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
559 * Canceling and Superseding::
563 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
564 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
565 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
567 * Generic Marking Commands::
568 * Setting Process Marks::
572 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
573 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
574 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
578 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
579 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
581 Customizing Threading
583 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
584 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
585 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
586 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
590 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
591 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
592 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
593 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
594 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
595 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
599 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
600 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
601 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
605 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
606 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
607 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
608 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
609 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
610 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
611 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
612 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
613 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
614 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
616 Alternative Approaches
618 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
619 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
621 Various Summary Stuff
623 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
624 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
625 * Summary Generation Commands::
626 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
630 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
631 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
632 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
633 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
634 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
638 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
639 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
640 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
641 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
642 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
643 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
644 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
645 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
649 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
650 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
651 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
652 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
653 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
654 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
655 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
656 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
660 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
661 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
662 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
663 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
664 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
665 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
666 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
670 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
671 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
675 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
676 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
677 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
681 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
682 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
683 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
684 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
685 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
686 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
687 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
688 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
689 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
690 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
691 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
692 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
693 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
697 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
698 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
699 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
701 Choosing a Mail Back End
703 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
704 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
705 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
706 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
707 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
708 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
713 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
714 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
715 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
716 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
717 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
718 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
722 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
723 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
724 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
725 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
726 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
730 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
731 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
732 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
733 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
734 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
738 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
742 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
743 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
744 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
748 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
749 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
753 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
754 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
755 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
756 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
757 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
758 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
759 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
760 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
761 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
762 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
763 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
764 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
768 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
769 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
770 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
774 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
775 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
776 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
780 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
781 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
782 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
783 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
784 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
785 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
786 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
787 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
788 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
789 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
790 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
791 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
792 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
793 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
794 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
795 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
796 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
800 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
801 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
802 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
803 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
807 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
808 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
809 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
813 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
814 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
815 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
816 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
817 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
818 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
819 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
820 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
821 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
822 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
823 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
824 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
825 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
826 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
827 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
828 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
829 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
830 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
831 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
835 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
836 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
837 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
838 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
839 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
840 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
841 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
842 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
846 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
847 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
848 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
849 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
853 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
854 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
855 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
856 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
857 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
858 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
862 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
863 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
864 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
865 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
866 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
867 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
868 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
869 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
870 * Frequently Asked Questions::
874 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
875 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
876 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
877 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
878 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
879 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
880 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
881 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
882 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
886 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
887 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
888 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
889 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
890 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
894 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
895 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
896 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
897 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
901 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
902 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
903 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
904 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
905 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
906 * Group Info:: The group info format.
907 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
908 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
909 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
913 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
914 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
915 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
916 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
917 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
918 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
922 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
923 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
927 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
928 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
934 @chapter Starting Gnus
939 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
940 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
943 @findex gnus-other-frame
944 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
945 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
946 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
948 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
949 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
950 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
952 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
953 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
956 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
957 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
958 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
959 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
960 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
961 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
962 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
963 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
964 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
965 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
966 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
970 @node Finding the News
971 @section Finding the News
974 @vindex gnus-select-method
976 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
977 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
978 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
979 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
982 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
983 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
986 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
989 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
992 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
995 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
996 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
997 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
999 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1001 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1002 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1003 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1004 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1005 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1006 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1008 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1009 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1010 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1011 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1013 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1014 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1015 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1016 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1017 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1018 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1019 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1020 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1021 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1024 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1026 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1027 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1028 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1029 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1030 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1031 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1033 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1035 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1036 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1037 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1038 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1039 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1040 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1043 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1044 you would typically set this variable to
1047 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1051 @node The First Time
1052 @section The First Time
1053 @cindex first time usage
1055 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1056 be subscribed by default.
1058 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1059 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1060 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1061 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1064 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1065 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1066 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1068 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1069 help you with most common problems.
1071 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1072 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1076 @node The Server is Down
1077 @section The Server is Down
1078 @cindex server errors
1080 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1081 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1082 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1084 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1085 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1086 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1087 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1088 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1089 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1090 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1092 @findex gnus-no-server
1093 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1095 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1096 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1097 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1098 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1099 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1100 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1101 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1105 @section Slave Gnusae
1108 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1109 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1110 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1111 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1113 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1114 @file{.newsrc} file.
1116 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1117 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1118 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1119 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1120 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1121 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1122 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1125 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1126 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1127 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1128 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1129 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1130 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1131 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1132 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1134 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1135 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1137 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1138 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1139 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1140 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1141 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1143 @node Fetching a Group
1144 @section Fetching a Group
1145 @cindex fetching a group
1147 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1148 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1149 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1150 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1151 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1152 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1158 @cindex subscription
1160 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1161 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1162 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1163 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1164 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1165 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1166 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1167 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1168 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1171 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1172 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1173 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1177 @node Checking New Groups
1178 @subsection Checking New Groups
1180 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1181 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1182 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1183 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1184 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1185 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1186 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1187 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1188 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1189 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1191 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1192 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1193 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1194 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1195 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1196 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1197 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1198 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1199 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1200 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1201 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1203 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1204 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1205 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1206 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1207 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1208 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1211 @node Subscription Methods
1212 @subsection Subscription Methods
1214 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1215 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1216 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1218 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1219 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1221 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1225 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1227 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1228 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1229 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1231 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1232 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1233 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1234 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1236 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1237 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1238 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1240 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1241 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1242 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1243 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1244 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1245 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1246 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1247 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1248 up. Or something like that.
1250 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1252 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1253 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1254 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1256 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1257 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1258 Kill all new groups.
1260 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1261 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1262 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1263 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1264 topic parameter that looks like
1270 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1273 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1279 A closely related variable is
1280 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1281 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1282 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1283 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1286 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1287 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1289 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1292 @node Filtering New Groups
1293 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1295 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1296 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1297 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1300 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1303 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1304 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1305 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1306 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1307 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1308 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1309 subscribing these groups.
1310 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1311 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1313 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1314 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1315 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1316 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1317 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1318 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1319 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1320 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1322 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1323 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1324 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1325 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1326 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1327 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1328 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1329 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1330 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1331 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1334 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1335 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1338 @node Changing Servers
1339 @section Changing Servers
1340 @cindex changing servers
1342 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1343 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1344 very flaky and you want to use another.
1346 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1347 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1351 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1352 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1353 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1354 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1357 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1358 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1359 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1360 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1362 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1363 @findex gnus-change-server
1364 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1365 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1366 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1367 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1368 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1370 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1371 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1372 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1373 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1374 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1376 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1377 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1378 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1379 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1380 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1381 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1383 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1384 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1385 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1386 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1388 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1389 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1390 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1391 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1392 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1393 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1394 cache for all groups).
1398 @section Startup Files
1399 @cindex startup files
1404 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1405 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1407 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1408 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1409 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1410 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1411 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1412 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1413 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1415 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1416 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1417 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1418 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1419 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1420 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1422 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1423 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1424 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1425 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1426 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1427 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1428 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1429 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1430 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1431 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1433 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1434 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1435 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1436 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1437 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1438 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1439 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1440 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1441 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1442 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1443 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1444 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1446 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1447 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1448 @vindex version-control
1449 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1450 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1451 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1452 If you want version control for this file, set
1453 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1454 @code{version-control} variable.
1456 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1457 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1458 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1459 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1460 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1461 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1462 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1463 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1464 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1465 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1468 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1469 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1471 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1472 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1475 @vindex gnus-init-file
1476 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1477 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1478 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1479 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1480 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1481 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1482 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1483 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1484 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1485 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1491 @cindex dribble file
1494 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1495 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1496 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1497 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1498 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1501 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1502 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1505 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1506 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1507 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1509 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1510 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1511 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1512 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1513 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1514 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1516 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1517 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1518 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1521 @node The Active File
1522 @section The Active File
1524 @cindex ignored groups
1526 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1527 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1528 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1530 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1531 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1532 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1533 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1534 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1535 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1536 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1539 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1540 @c if you set it to anything else.
1542 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1544 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1545 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1546 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1548 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1549 you actually subscribe to.
1551 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1552 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1553 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1554 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1556 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1557 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1558 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1559 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1560 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1561 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1563 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1564 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1565 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1568 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1569 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1570 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1571 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1572 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1573 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1575 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1576 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1578 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1579 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1581 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1582 secondary select methods.
1585 @node Startup Variables
1586 @section Startup Variables
1590 @item gnus-load-hook
1591 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1592 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1593 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1594 times you start Gnus.
1596 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1597 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1598 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1600 @item gnus-startup-hook
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1602 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1604 @item gnus-started-hook
1605 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1606 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1609 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1610 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1611 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1612 generating the group buffer.
1614 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1615 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1616 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1617 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1618 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1619 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1620 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1621 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1623 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1624 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1625 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1626 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1627 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1628 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1630 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1631 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1632 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1634 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1635 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1636 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1638 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1639 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1640 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1641 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1647 @chapter Group Buffer
1648 @cindex group buffer
1650 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1652 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1653 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1654 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1655 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1656 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1657 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1658 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1659 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1660 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1661 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1662 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1663 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1664 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1665 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1666 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1667 @c human rights at 9...
1670 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1671 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1672 long as Gnus is active.
1676 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1677 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1678 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1679 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1680 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1681 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1682 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1683 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1689 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1690 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1691 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1692 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1693 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1694 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1695 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1696 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1697 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1698 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1699 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1700 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1701 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1702 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1703 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1704 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1705 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1709 @node Group Buffer Format
1710 @section Group Buffer Format
1713 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1714 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1715 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1719 @node Group Line Specification
1720 @subsection Group Line Specification
1721 @cindex group buffer format
1723 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1724 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1726 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1729 25: news.announce.newusers
1730 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1735 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1736 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1737 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1738 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1740 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1741 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1742 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1743 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1744 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1745 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1747 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1749 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1750 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1751 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1752 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1753 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1755 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1756 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1757 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1759 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1764 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1767 Whether the group is subscribed.
1770 Level of subscribedness.
1773 Number of unread articles.
1776 Number of dormant articles.
1779 Number of ticked articles.
1782 Number of read articles.
1785 Number of unseen articles.
1788 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1789 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1791 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1792 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1793 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1794 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1795 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1796 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1797 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1798 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1801 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1804 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1813 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1814 comment element in the group parameters.
1817 Newsgroup description.
1820 @samp{m} if moderated.
1823 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1829 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1835 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1839 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1842 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1843 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1844 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1845 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1846 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1849 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1851 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1855 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1858 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1862 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1863 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1864 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1865 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1866 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1867 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1872 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1873 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1874 group, or a bogus native group.
1877 @node Group Modeline Specification
1878 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1879 @cindex group modeline
1881 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1882 The mode line can be changed by setting
1883 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1884 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1888 The native news server.
1890 The native select method.
1894 @node Group Highlighting
1895 @subsection Group Highlighting
1896 @cindex highlighting
1897 @cindex group highlighting
1899 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1900 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1901 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1902 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1903 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1905 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1909 (cond (window-system
1910 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1911 (defface my-group-face-1
1912 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1913 (defface my-group-face-2
1914 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1915 (defface my-group-face-3
1916 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1917 (defface my-group-face-4
1918 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1919 (defface my-group-face-5
1920 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1922 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1923 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1924 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1925 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1926 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1927 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1930 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1932 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1939 The number of unread articles in the group.
1943 Whether the group is a mail group.
1945 The level of the group.
1947 The score of the group.
1949 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1951 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1952 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1954 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1955 topic being inserted.
1958 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1959 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1960 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1962 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1963 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1964 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1965 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1966 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1969 @node Group Maneuvering
1970 @section Group Maneuvering
1971 @cindex group movement
1973 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1974 expected, hopefully.
1980 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1981 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1982 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1988 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1989 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1990 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1995 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1999 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2000 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2004 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2005 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2006 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2011 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2012 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2015 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2021 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2022 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2023 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2028 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2029 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2030 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2035 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2036 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2039 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2040 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2041 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2042 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2046 @node Selecting a Group
2047 @section Selecting a Group
2048 @cindex group selection
2053 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2055 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2056 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2057 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2058 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2059 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2060 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2061 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2062 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2064 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2065 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2066 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2068 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2069 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2074 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2075 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2076 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2077 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2078 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2082 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2083 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2084 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2085 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2086 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2087 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2088 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2089 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2090 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2091 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2094 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2096 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2097 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2098 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2101 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2102 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2103 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2104 doing any processing of its contents
2105 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2106 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2107 manner will have no permanent effects.
2111 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2112 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2113 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2114 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2115 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2116 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2117 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2118 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2121 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2122 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2123 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2124 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2125 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2126 Which article this is is controlled by the
2127 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2133 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2136 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2139 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2141 @item unseen-or-unread
2142 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2143 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2147 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2151 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2152 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2154 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2155 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2156 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2157 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2161 @node Subscription Commands
2162 @section Subscription Commands
2163 @cindex subscription
2171 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2172 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2173 Toggle subscription to the current group
2174 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2180 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2181 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2182 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2183 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2189 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2191 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2197 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2198 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2201 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2202 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2203 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2204 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2205 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2211 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2212 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2216 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2217 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2220 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2221 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2222 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2223 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2224 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2225 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2226 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2227 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2228 @file{.newsrc} file.
2232 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2242 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2243 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2244 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2245 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2246 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2247 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2252 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2253 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2254 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2258 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2259 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2260 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2262 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2263 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2264 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2265 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2266 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2267 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2274 @section Group Levels
2278 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2279 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2280 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2281 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2282 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2284 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2290 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2291 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2292 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2293 prompted for a level.
2296 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2297 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2298 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2299 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2300 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2301 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2302 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2303 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2304 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2305 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2306 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2307 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2308 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2309 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2310 reasons of efficiency.
2312 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2313 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2315 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2316 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2317 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2318 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2319 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2320 groups are hidden, in a way.
2322 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2323 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2324 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2325 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2326 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2327 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2329 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2330 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2331 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2332 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2333 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2334 list of killed groups.)
2336 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2337 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2338 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2340 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2341 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2342 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2343 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2344 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2345 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2346 relevant valid ranges.
2348 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2349 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2350 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2351 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2352 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2353 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2356 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2357 one with the best level.
2359 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2360 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2361 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2364 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2365 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2366 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2367 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2370 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2371 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2372 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2373 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2375 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2376 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2377 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2378 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2379 to 5. The default is 6.
2383 @section Group Score
2388 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2389 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2390 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2393 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2394 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2395 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2396 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2397 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2398 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2399 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2400 least significant part.))
2402 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2403 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2404 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2405 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2406 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2407 action after each summary exit, you can add
2408 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2409 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2410 slow things down somewhat.
2413 @node Marking Groups
2414 @section Marking Groups
2415 @cindex marking groups
2417 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2418 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2419 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2420 bidding on those groups.
2422 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2423 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2424 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2432 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2433 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2440 Remove the mark from the current group
2441 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2445 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2446 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2451 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2455 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2456 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2460 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2461 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2462 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2465 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2467 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2468 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2469 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2470 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2471 the command to be executed.
2474 @node Foreign Groups
2475 @section Foreign Groups
2476 @cindex foreign groups
2478 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2479 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2480 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2481 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2488 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2489 @cindex making groups
2490 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2491 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2492 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2496 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2497 @cindex renaming groups
2498 Rename the current group to something else
2499 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2500 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2506 @findex gnus-group-customize
2507 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2511 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2512 @cindex renaming groups
2513 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2514 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2518 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2519 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2520 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2524 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2525 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2526 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2532 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2533 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2538 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2539 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2543 @cindex (ding) archive
2544 @cindex archive group
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2546 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2547 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2548 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2549 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2550 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2551 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2555 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2557 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2558 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2559 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2560 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2564 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2566 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2567 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2568 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2572 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2573 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2575 Make a group based on some file or other
2576 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2577 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2578 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2579 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2580 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2581 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2582 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2583 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2584 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2588 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2589 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2590 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2591 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2599 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2600 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2601 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2602 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2603 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2604 @xref{Web Searches}.
2606 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2607 to a particular group by using a match string like
2608 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2611 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2612 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2613 This function will delete the current group
2614 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2615 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2616 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2617 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2618 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2622 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2623 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2624 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2628 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2629 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2630 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2633 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2636 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2637 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2638 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2639 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2640 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2641 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2645 @node Group Parameters
2646 @section Group Parameters
2647 @cindex group parameters
2649 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2650 Here's an example group parameter list:
2653 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2657 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2658 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2659 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2660 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2662 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2663 is an alist of regexps and values.
2665 The following group parameters can be used:
2670 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2673 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2676 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2677 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2678 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2679 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2680 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2682 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2683 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2684 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2685 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2686 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2687 list address instead.
2689 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2693 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2696 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2699 It is totally ignored
2700 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2701 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2703 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2704 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2705 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2706 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2707 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2709 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2710 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2711 sending the message.
2713 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2714 @cindex Mail List Groups
2715 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2716 entering summary buffer.
2718 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2723 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2724 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2725 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2726 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2727 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2728 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2730 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2731 directly uses this group parameter.
2735 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2736 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2737 of whether it has any unread articles.
2739 @item broken-reply-to
2740 @cindex broken-reply-to
2741 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2742 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2743 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2744 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2745 broken behavior. So there!
2749 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2750 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2754 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2755 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2756 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2761 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2762 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2763 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2764 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2765 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2766 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2767 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2768 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2769 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2773 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2774 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2775 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2777 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2780 @cindex total-expire
2781 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2782 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2783 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2784 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2787 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2791 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2792 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2793 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2794 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2795 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2796 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2797 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2800 @cindex score file group parameter
2801 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2802 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2803 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2806 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2807 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2808 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2809 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2812 @cindex admin-address
2813 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2814 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2815 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2816 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2820 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2821 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2825 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2828 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2829 entering the group with C-u @var{integer}.
2832 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2836 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2838 Here are some examples:
2842 Display only unread articles.
2845 Display everything except expirable articles.
2847 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2848 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2852 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2853 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2854 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2855 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2856 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2860 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2861 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2862 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2866 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2867 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2868 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2872 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2873 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2874 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2876 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2878 @item ignored-charsets
2879 @cindex ignored-charset
2880 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2881 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2882 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2884 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2887 @cindex posting-style
2888 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2889 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2890 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2891 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2892 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2894 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2895 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2896 like this in the group parameters:
2901 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2902 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2907 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2908 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2912 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2913 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2914 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2915 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2916 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2920 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2921 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2922 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2923 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2925 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2926 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2927 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2928 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2931 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2932 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2936 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2939 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2940 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2941 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2942 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2943 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2944 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2945 @code{eval}ed there.
2947 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2948 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2949 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2950 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2951 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2952 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2953 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2954 parameters for the group.
2957 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2958 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2959 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2960 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2961 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2965 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2966 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2967 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2968 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2969 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2971 @vindex gnus-parameters
2972 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2973 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2977 (setq gnus-parameters
2979 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2980 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2981 (gnus-summary-line-format
2982 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2986 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2990 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2994 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2997 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2998 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3001 @node Listing Groups
3002 @section Listing Groups
3003 @cindex group listing
3005 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3014 List all groups that have unread articles
3015 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3016 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3017 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3018 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3025 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3026 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3027 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3028 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3029 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3030 unsubscribed groups).
3034 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3035 List all unread groups on a specific level
3036 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3037 with no unread articles.
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3042 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3043 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3044 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3049 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3050 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3054 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3055 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3056 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3060 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3061 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3065 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3066 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3067 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3068 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3069 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3070 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3071 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3072 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3076 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3077 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3078 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3082 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3083 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3084 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3088 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3089 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3093 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3094 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3098 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3099 List groups limited within the current selection
3100 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3104 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3105 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3109 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3110 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3114 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3115 @cindex visible group parameter
3116 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3117 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3118 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3119 get the same effect.
3121 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3122 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3123 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3124 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3125 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3128 @node Sorting Groups
3129 @section Sorting Groups
3130 @cindex sorting groups
3132 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3134 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3135 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3136 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3137 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3142 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3143 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3144 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3146 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3147 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3148 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3150 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3151 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3152 Sort by group level.
3154 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3155 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3156 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3158 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3159 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3160 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3161 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3163 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3164 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3165 Sort by number of unread articles.
3167 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3169 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3171 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3172 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3173 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3178 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3179 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3183 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3184 some sorting criteria:
3188 @kindex G S a (Group)
3189 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3190 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3191 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3194 @kindex G S u (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3196 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3197 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3200 @kindex G S l (Group)
3201 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3202 Sort the group buffer by group level
3203 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3206 @kindex G S v (Group)
3207 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3208 Sort the group buffer by group score
3209 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3212 @kindex G S r (Group)
3213 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3214 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3215 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3218 @kindex G S m (Group)
3219 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3220 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3221 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3224 @kindex G S n (Group)
3225 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3226 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3227 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3231 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3232 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3234 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3235 commands will sort in reverse order.
3237 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3241 @kindex G P a (Group)
3242 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3243 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3244 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3247 @kindex G P u (Group)
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3249 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3250 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3253 @kindex G P l (Group)
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3255 Sort the groups by group level
3256 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3259 @kindex G P v (Group)
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3261 Sort the groups by group score
3262 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3265 @kindex G P r (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3267 Sort the groups by group rank
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3271 @kindex G P m (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3273 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3274 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3277 @kindex G P n (Group)
3278 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3279 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3280 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3283 @kindex G P s (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3285 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3289 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3293 @node Group Maintenance
3294 @section Group Maintenance
3295 @cindex bogus groups
3300 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3301 Find bogus groups and delete them
3302 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3306 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3307 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3308 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3309 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3310 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3314 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3315 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3316 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3317 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3318 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3319 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3322 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3323 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3324 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3325 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3330 @node Browse Foreign Server
3331 @section Browse Foreign Server
3332 @cindex foreign servers
3333 @cindex browsing servers
3338 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3339 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3340 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3341 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3344 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3345 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3346 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3347 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3349 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3354 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3355 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3359 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3360 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3363 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3364 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3365 Enter the current group and display the first article
3366 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3369 @kindex RET (Browse)
3370 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3371 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3375 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3376 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3377 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3383 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3384 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3388 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3389 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3393 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3394 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3395 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3400 @section Exiting Gnus
3401 @cindex exiting Gnus
3403 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3408 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3409 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3410 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3411 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3415 @findex gnus-group-exit
3416 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3417 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3421 @findex gnus-group-quit
3422 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3423 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3426 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3427 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3428 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3429 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3430 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3431 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3436 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3437 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3438 trying to customize meta-variables.
3443 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3444 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3445 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3451 @section Group Topics
3454 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3455 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3456 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3457 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3458 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3459 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3463 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3464 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3475 2: alt.religion.emacs
3478 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3480 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3481 13: comp.sources.unix
3484 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3486 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3487 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3488 is a toggling command.)
3490 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3491 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3492 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3493 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3496 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3497 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3498 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3501 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3505 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3506 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3507 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3508 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3509 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3513 @node Topic Commands
3514 @subsection Topic Commands
3515 @cindex topic commands
3517 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3518 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3519 definitions slightly.
3521 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3522 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3523 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3524 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3525 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3526 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3528 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3535 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3536 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3537 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3541 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3543 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3544 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3545 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3546 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3549 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3550 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3551 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3552 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3556 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3557 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3558 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3559 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3565 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3566 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3567 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3571 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3572 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3573 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3576 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3577 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3578 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3579 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3580 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3582 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3583 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3587 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3588 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3595 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3597 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3598 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3599 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3600 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3601 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3602 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3606 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3612 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3613 Move the current group to some other topic
3614 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3615 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3619 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3620 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3624 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3625 Copy the current group to some other topic
3626 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3627 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3632 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3633 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3637 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3638 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3639 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3643 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3644 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3645 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3646 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3647 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3648 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3649 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3652 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3653 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3657 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3658 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3659 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3663 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3664 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3665 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3669 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3670 Toggle hiding empty topics
3671 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3675 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3676 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3678 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3681 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3682 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3683 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3684 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3685 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3688 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3689 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3690 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3691 expiry process (if any)
3692 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3696 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3697 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3700 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3701 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3702 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3706 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3707 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3708 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3711 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3712 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3713 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3716 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3717 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3718 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3722 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3723 @cindex group parameters
3724 @cindex topic parameters
3726 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3727 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3732 @node Topic Variables
3733 @subsection Topic Variables
3734 @cindex topic variables
3736 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3737 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3739 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3740 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3741 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3754 Number of groups in the topic.
3756 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3758 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3761 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3762 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3763 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3766 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3767 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3769 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3770 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3771 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3775 @subsection Topic Sorting
3776 @cindex topic sorting
3778 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3784 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3785 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3786 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3787 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3790 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3791 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3792 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3793 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3796 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3797 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3798 Sort the current topic by group level
3799 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3802 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3803 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3804 Sort the current topic by group score
3805 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3808 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3809 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3810 Sort the current topic by group rank
3811 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3814 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3815 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3816 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3817 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3820 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3821 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3822 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3823 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3827 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3828 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3829 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3830 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3834 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3835 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3839 @node Topic Topology
3840 @subsection Topic Topology
3841 @cindex topic topology
3844 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3850 2: alt.religion.emacs
3853 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3855 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3856 13: comp.sources.unix
3859 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3860 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3861 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3866 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3867 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3871 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3872 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3873 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3874 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3875 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3876 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3878 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3879 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3880 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3883 @node Topic Parameters
3884 @subsection Topic Parameters
3885 @cindex topic parameters
3887 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3888 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3889 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3891 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3896 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3897 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3898 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3901 @item subscribe-level
3902 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3903 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3904 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3908 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3909 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3910 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3911 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3917 2: alt.religion.emacs
3921 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3923 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3924 13: comp.sources.unix
3928 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3929 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3930 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3931 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3932 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3933 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3935 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3936 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3937 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3938 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3939 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3941 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3942 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3943 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3944 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3945 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3946 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3947 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3948 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3951 @node Misc Group Stuff
3952 @section Misc Group Stuff
3955 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3956 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3957 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3958 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3959 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3966 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3967 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3968 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3972 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3973 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3974 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3975 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3976 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3977 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3978 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3982 @findex gnus-group-mail
3983 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3984 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3985 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3986 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3990 @findex gnus-group-news
3991 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3992 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3993 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3995 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3996 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
3997 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3998 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3999 for this to work though.
4003 Variables for the group buffer:
4007 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4008 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4009 is called after the group buffer has been
4012 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4013 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4014 is called after the group buffer is
4015 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4018 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4019 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4020 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4021 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4023 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4024 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4025 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4026 whether they are empty or not.
4028 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4029 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4030 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4031 non-ASCII group names.
4035 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4036 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4039 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4040 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4041 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4042 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4043 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4044 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4049 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4050 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4055 @node Scanning New Messages
4056 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4057 @cindex new messages
4058 @cindex scanning new news
4064 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4065 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4066 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4067 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4068 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4069 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4074 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4075 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4076 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4077 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4078 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4079 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4080 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4082 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4083 @cindex activating groups
4085 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4086 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4091 @findex gnus-group-restart
4092 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4093 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4094 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4098 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4099 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4101 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4102 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4106 @node Group Information
4107 @subsection Group Information
4108 @cindex group information
4109 @cindex information on groups
4116 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4117 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4120 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4121 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4122 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4123 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4124 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4125 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4126 for fetching the file.
4128 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4129 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4133 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4134 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4136 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4137 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4140 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4141 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4142 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4146 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4147 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4148 @cindex control message
4149 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4150 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4151 group if given a prefix argument.
4153 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4154 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4155 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4156 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4158 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4159 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4160 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4164 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4166 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4167 @cindex describing groups
4168 @cindex group description
4169 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4170 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4171 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4175 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4176 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4177 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4184 @findex gnus-version
4185 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4189 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4190 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4193 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4196 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4197 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4201 @node Group Timestamp
4202 @subsection Group Timestamp
4204 @cindex group timestamps
4206 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4207 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4208 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4211 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4214 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4216 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4217 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4220 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4221 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4224 This will result in lines looking like:
4227 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4228 0: custom 19961002T012713
4231 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4232 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4236 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4237 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4240 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4241 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4245 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4246 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4247 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4248 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4250 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4256 @subsection File Commands
4257 @cindex file commands
4263 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4264 @vindex gnus-init-file
4265 @cindex reading init file
4266 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4267 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4271 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4272 @cindex saving .newsrc
4273 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4274 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4275 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4278 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4279 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4280 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4285 @node Sieve Commands
4286 @subsection Sieve Commands
4287 @cindex group sieve commands
4289 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4290 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4291 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4292 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4293 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4295 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4296 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4297 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4298 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4299 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4300 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4301 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4302 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4303 regenerate the Sieve script.
4305 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4306 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4307 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4308 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4309 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4310 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4311 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4312 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4313 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4314 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4317 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4318 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4323 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4329 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4330 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4331 @cindex generating sieve script
4332 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4333 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4337 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4338 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4339 @cindex updating sieve script
4340 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4341 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4342 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4347 @node Summary Buffer
4348 @chapter Summary Buffer
4349 @cindex summary buffer
4351 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4352 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4354 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4355 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4357 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4360 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4361 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4362 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4363 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4364 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4365 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4366 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4367 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4368 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4369 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4370 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4371 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4372 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4373 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4374 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4375 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4376 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4377 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4378 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4379 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4380 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4381 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4382 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4383 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4384 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4385 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4386 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4387 or reselecting the current group.
4388 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4389 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4390 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4391 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4395 @node Summary Buffer Format
4396 @section Summary Buffer Format
4397 @cindex summary buffer format
4401 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4402 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4403 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4409 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4410 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4411 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4412 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4415 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4416 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4417 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4418 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4419 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4420 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4421 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4422 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4423 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4424 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4425 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4428 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4429 'mail-extract-address-components)
4432 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4433 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4434 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4435 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4438 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4439 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4441 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4442 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4443 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4444 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4445 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4447 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4448 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4449 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4450 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4451 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4452 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4454 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4456 The following format specification characters and extended format
4457 specification(s) are understood:
4463 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4464 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4466 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4467 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4468 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4470 Full @code{From} header.
4472 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4474 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4477 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4478 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4479 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4480 may be more thorough.
4482 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4485 Number of lines in the article.
4487 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4488 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4490 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4491 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4493 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4495 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4496 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4509 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4510 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4511 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4514 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4515 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4516 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4517 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4519 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4520 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4521 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4522 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4524 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4525 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4526 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4528 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4529 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4530 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4532 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4533 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4534 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4536 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4537 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4538 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4543 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4544 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4546 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4547 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4549 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4550 for adopted articles.
4552 One space for each thread level.
4554 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4556 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4559 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4560 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4561 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4564 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4566 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4567 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4568 default level. If the difference between
4569 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4570 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4578 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4580 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4586 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4587 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4589 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4590 article has any children.
4596 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4597 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4599 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4600 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4601 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4602 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4603 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4604 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4607 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4608 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4609 There can only be one such area.
4611 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4612 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4613 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4614 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4615 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4616 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4618 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4619 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4621 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4624 @node To From Newsgroups
4625 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4629 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4630 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4631 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4632 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4633 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4637 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4638 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4639 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4643 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4644 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4647 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4648 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4651 @findex gnus-extra-header
4652 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4653 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4654 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4657 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4661 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4662 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4663 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4664 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4665 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4666 headers are used instead.
4670 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4671 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4672 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
4673 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4674 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4675 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4678 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4679 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4680 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4681 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4683 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4687 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4689 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4690 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4691 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4692 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4696 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4699 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4700 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4703 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4704 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4705 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4711 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4712 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4715 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4716 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4718 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4719 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4720 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4721 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4723 Here are the elements you can play with:
4729 Unprefixed group name.
4731 Current article number.
4733 Current article score.
4737 Number of unread articles in this group.
4739 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4742 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4743 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4744 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4745 and no unselected ones.
4747 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4748 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4750 Subject of the current article.
4752 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4754 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4756 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4758 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4760 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4762 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4766 @node Summary Highlighting
4767 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4771 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4772 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4773 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4774 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4775 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4777 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4778 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4779 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4780 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4782 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4783 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4784 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4785 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4787 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4788 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4789 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4790 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4791 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4792 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4795 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4796 ((> score default) . bold))
4798 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4799 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4803 @node Summary Maneuvering
4804 @section Summary Maneuvering
4805 @cindex summary movement
4807 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4808 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4810 None of these commands select articles.
4815 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4816 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4817 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4818 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4819 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4823 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4824 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4825 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4826 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4827 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4830 @kindex G g (Summary)
4831 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4832 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4833 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4836 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4837 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4838 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4839 to the group buffer.
4841 Variables related to summary movement:
4845 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4846 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4847 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4848 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4849 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4850 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4851 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4852 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4853 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4854 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4855 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4856 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4857 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4858 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4860 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4861 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4862 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4863 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4864 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4865 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4866 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4868 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4870 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4871 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4872 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4873 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4874 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4876 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4877 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4878 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4879 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4880 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4881 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4882 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4883 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4886 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4887 the given number of lines from the top.
4892 @node Choosing Articles
4893 @section Choosing Articles
4894 @cindex selecting articles
4897 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4898 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4902 @node Choosing Commands
4903 @subsection Choosing Commands
4905 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4906 and they all select and display an article.
4908 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4909 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4913 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4914 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4915 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4916 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4918 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4919 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4920 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @pxref{Paging the Article}.
4925 @kindex G n (Summary)
4926 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4928 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4933 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4934 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4935 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4940 @kindex G N (Summary)
4941 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4942 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4947 @kindex G P (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4949 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4952 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4953 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4954 Go to the next article with the same subject
4955 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4958 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4960 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4965 @kindex G f (Summary)
4967 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4968 Go to the first unread article
4969 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4973 @kindex G b (Summary)
4975 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4976 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4977 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4978 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4983 @kindex G l (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4985 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4988 @kindex G o (Summary)
4989 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4991 @cindex article history
4992 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4993 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4994 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4995 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4996 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4997 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5002 @kindex G j (Summary)
5003 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5004 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5005 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5010 @node Choosing Variables
5011 @subsection Choosing Variables
5013 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5016 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5017 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5018 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5019 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5020 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5021 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5023 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5024 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5025 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5026 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5027 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5028 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5030 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5031 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5032 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5034 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5035 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5036 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5037 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5038 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5039 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5040 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5041 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5042 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5043 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5048 @node Paging the Article
5049 @section Scrolling the Article
5050 @cindex article scrolling
5055 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5056 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5057 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5058 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5059 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5061 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5062 If the rest of the article consists only of citations and signature,
5063 then it will be skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You
5064 can customize what is considered uninteresting with
5065 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}, or set it to @code{nil} to disable
5066 this feature. You can manually view the article's pages, no matter how
5067 boring, using @kbd{C-v} in the article buffer.
5070 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5072 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5075 @kindex RET (Summary)
5076 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5077 Scroll the current article one line forward
5078 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5081 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5082 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5083 Scroll the current article one line backward
5084 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5088 @kindex A g (Summary)
5090 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5091 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5092 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5093 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5094 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5095 the way it came from the server.
5097 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5098 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5099 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5102 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5107 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5112 @kindex A < (Summary)
5113 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5114 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5115 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5120 @kindex A > (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5122 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5126 @kindex A s (Summary)
5128 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5129 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5130 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5134 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5135 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5140 @node Reply Followup and Post
5141 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5144 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5145 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5146 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5147 * Canceling and Superseding::
5151 @node Summary Mail Commands
5152 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5154 @cindex composing mail
5156 Commands for composing a mail message:
5162 @kindex S r (Summary)
5164 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5165 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5166 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5167 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5168 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5173 @kindex S R (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5175 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5176 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5177 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5178 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5181 @kindex S w (Summary)
5182 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5183 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5184 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5185 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5186 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5189 @kindex S W (Summary)
5190 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5191 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5192 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5193 the process/prefix convention.
5196 @kindex S v (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5198 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5199 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5200 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5201 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5202 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5205 @kindex S V (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5207 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5208 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5209 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5212 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5213 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5214 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5215 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5218 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5219 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5220 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5221 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5222 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5226 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5227 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5228 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5229 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5230 Forward the current article to some other person
5231 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5232 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5233 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5234 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5235 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5236 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5237 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5238 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5239 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5245 @kindex S m (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5247 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5248 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5249 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5250 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5255 @kindex S i (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5257 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5258 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5259 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5261 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5262 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5263 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5264 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5265 for this to work though.
5268 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5269 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5270 @cindex bouncing mail
5271 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5272 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5273 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5274 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5275 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5276 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5277 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5278 very well fail, though.
5281 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5282 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5283 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5284 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5285 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5286 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5287 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5288 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5289 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5290 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5292 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5293 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5294 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5295 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5296 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5298 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5299 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5302 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5303 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5304 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5305 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5306 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5309 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5311 @cindex crossposting
5312 @cindex excessive crossposting
5313 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5314 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5316 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5317 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5318 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5319 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5320 command understands the process/prefix convention
5321 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5325 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5326 Manual}, for more information.
5329 @node Summary Post Commands
5330 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5332 @cindex composing news
5334 Commands for posting a news article:
5340 @kindex S p (Summary)
5341 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5342 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5343 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5344 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5345 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5350 @kindex S f (Summary)
5351 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5352 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5353 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5357 @kindex S F (Summary)
5359 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5360 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5361 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5362 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5363 process/prefix convention.
5366 @kindex S n (Summary)
5367 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5368 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5369 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5372 @kindex S N (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5374 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5375 message through mail and include the original message
5376 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5377 the process/prefix convention.
5380 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5381 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5382 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5383 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5384 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5385 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5386 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5387 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5388 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5389 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5390 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5391 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5392 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5395 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5396 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5398 @cindex making digests
5399 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5400 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5401 process/prefix convention.
5404 @kindex S u (Summary)
5405 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5406 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5407 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5408 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5411 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5412 Manual}, for more information.
5415 @node Summary Message Commands
5416 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5420 @kindex S y (Summary)
5421 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5422 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5423 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5424 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5425 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5430 @node Canceling and Superseding
5431 @subsection Canceling Articles
5432 @cindex canceling articles
5433 @cindex superseding articles
5435 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5436 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5438 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5440 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5442 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5443 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5444 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5445 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5446 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5447 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5449 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5450 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5453 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5454 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5455 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5457 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5458 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5459 your original article.
5461 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5463 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5464 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5465 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5468 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5469 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5470 have posted almost the same article twice.
5472 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5473 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5474 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5475 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5476 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5477 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5478 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5479 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5480 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5481 canceled/superseded.
5483 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5485 @node Delayed Articles
5486 @section Delayed Articles
5487 @cindex delayed sending
5488 @cindex send delayed
5490 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5491 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5492 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5493 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5496 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5499 @findex gnus-delay-article
5500 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5501 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5502 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5503 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5507 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5508 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5509 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5510 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5513 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5514 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5515 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5518 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5519 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5520 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5521 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5522 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5523 that means a time tomorrow.
5526 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5527 couple of variables:
5530 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5531 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5532 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5533 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5535 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5536 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5537 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5538 formats described above.
5540 @item gnus-delay-group
5541 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5542 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5543 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5544 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5546 @item gnus-delay-header
5547 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5548 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5549 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5550 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5553 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5554 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5555 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5556 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5557 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5559 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5560 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5561 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5562 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5563 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5564 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5565 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5568 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5569 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5570 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5571 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5572 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5573 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5574 argument is ignored.
5576 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5577 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5578 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5582 @node Marking Articles
5583 @section Marking Articles
5584 @cindex article marking
5585 @cindex article ticking
5588 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5590 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5591 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5592 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5594 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5597 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5598 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5599 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5603 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5607 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5608 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5609 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5613 @node Unread Articles
5614 @subsection Unread Articles
5616 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5621 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5622 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5624 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5625 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5626 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5627 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5628 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5629 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5630 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5633 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5634 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5636 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5637 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5638 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5639 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5643 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5644 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5646 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5651 @subsection Read Articles
5652 @cindex expirable mark
5654 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5659 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5660 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5661 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5664 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5665 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5668 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5669 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5670 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5673 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5674 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5677 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5678 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5681 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5682 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5685 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5686 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5689 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5690 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5693 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5694 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5697 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5698 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5702 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5703 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5704 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5708 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5709 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5711 One more special mark, though:
5715 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5716 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5718 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5719 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5720 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5721 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5727 @subsection Other Marks
5728 @cindex process mark
5731 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5737 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5738 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5739 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5740 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5741 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5744 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5745 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5746 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5747 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5750 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5751 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5752 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5755 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5756 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5757 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5760 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5761 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5762 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5763 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5766 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5767 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5768 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5769 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5770 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5771 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5774 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5775 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5776 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5777 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5780 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5781 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5782 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5783 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5784 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5788 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5789 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5790 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5791 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5792 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5793 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5796 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5797 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5798 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5799 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5800 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5801 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5805 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5806 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5807 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5808 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5809 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5812 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5813 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5814 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5815 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5816 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5817 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5821 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5822 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5823 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5825 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5826 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5827 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5831 @subsection Setting Marks
5832 @cindex setting marks
5834 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5839 @kindex M c (Summary)
5840 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5842 @cindex mark as unread
5843 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5844 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5850 @kindex M t (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5852 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5853 @xref{Article Caching}.
5858 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5860 Mark the current article as dormant
5861 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5865 @kindex M d (Summary)
5867 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5868 Mark the current article as read
5869 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5873 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5874 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5875 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5880 @kindex M k (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5882 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5883 and then select the next unread article
5884 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5888 @kindex M K (Summary)
5889 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5890 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5891 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5892 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5895 @kindex M C (Summary)
5896 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5897 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5898 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5901 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5902 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5903 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5904 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5907 @kindex M H (Summary)
5908 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5909 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5910 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5913 @kindex M h (Summary)
5914 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5915 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5916 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5919 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5921 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5922 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5925 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5927 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5928 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5932 @kindex M e (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5935 Mark the current article as expirable
5936 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5939 @kindex M b (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5941 Set a bookmark in the current article
5942 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5945 @kindex M B (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5947 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5948 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5951 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5953 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5954 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5957 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5959 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5960 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5963 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5965 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5966 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5967 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5970 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5971 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5972 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5973 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5974 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5975 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5976 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5977 The default is @code{t}.
5980 @node Generic Marking Commands
5981 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5983 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5984 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5985 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5986 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5987 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5990 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5991 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5994 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5995 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5996 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5997 to list in this manual.
5999 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6000 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6001 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6002 article, you could say something like:
6005 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6006 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6007 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6013 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6014 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6018 @node Setting Process Marks
6019 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6020 @cindex setting process marks
6022 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6023 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6024 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6025 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6026 commands into the cache. For more information,
6027 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6034 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6036 Mark the current article with the process mark
6037 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6038 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6042 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6043 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6044 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6048 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6049 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6050 Remove the process mark from all articles
6051 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6054 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6055 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6056 Invert the list of process marked articles
6057 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6060 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6061 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6062 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6063 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6066 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6067 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6068 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6069 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6072 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6074 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6078 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6079 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6082 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6083 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6084 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6085 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6088 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6089 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6090 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6091 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6094 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6096 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6097 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6100 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6102 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6105 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6106 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6107 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6108 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6111 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6112 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6113 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6116 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6118 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6119 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6122 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6124 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6128 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6130 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6131 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6134 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6136 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6137 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6141 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6142 set process marks based on article body contents.
6149 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6150 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6151 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6154 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6155 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6156 additional articles.
6162 @kindex / / (Summary)
6163 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6164 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6165 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6169 @kindex / a (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6171 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6172 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6176 @kindex / x (Summary)
6177 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6178 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6179 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6180 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6185 @kindex / u (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6188 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6189 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6190 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6191 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6194 @kindex / m (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6196 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6197 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6200 @kindex / t (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6202 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6203 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6204 articles younger than that number of days.
6207 @kindex / n (Summary)
6208 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6209 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6210 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6211 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6214 @kindex / w (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6216 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6217 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6221 @kindex / . (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6223 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6224 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6227 @kindex / v (Summary)
6228 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6229 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6230 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6233 @kindex / p (Summary)
6234 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6235 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6236 group parameter predicate
6237 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6238 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6242 @kindex M S (Summary)
6243 @kindex / E (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6245 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6249 @kindex / D (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6251 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6252 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6255 @kindex / * (Summary)
6256 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6257 Include all cached articles in the limit
6258 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6261 @kindex / d (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6263 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6267 @kindex / M (Summary)
6268 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6269 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6272 @kindex / T (Summary)
6273 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6274 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6277 @kindex / c (Summary)
6278 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6279 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6283 @kindex / C (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6285 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6287 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6290 @kindex / N (Summary)
6291 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6292 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6293 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6296 @kindex / o (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6298 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6299 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6307 @cindex article threading
6309 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6310 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6311 hierarchical fashion.
6313 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6314 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6315 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6316 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6317 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6318 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6319 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6321 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6325 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6328 A tree-like article structure.
6331 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6334 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6335 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6336 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6337 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6338 called loose threads.
6340 @item thread gathering
6341 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6343 @item sparse threads
6344 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6345 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6351 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6352 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6356 @node Customizing Threading
6357 @subsection Customizing Threading
6358 @cindex customizing threading
6361 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6362 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6363 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6364 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6369 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6372 @cindex loose threads
6375 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6376 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6377 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6378 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6379 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6380 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6382 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6383 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6384 There are four possible values:
6388 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6389 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6390 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6391 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6392 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6397 @cindex adopting articles
6402 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6403 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6404 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6405 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6408 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6409 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6410 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6411 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6412 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6413 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6414 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6415 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6416 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6417 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6420 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6421 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6422 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6426 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6427 display them after one another.
6430 Don't gather loose threads.
6433 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6434 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6435 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6436 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6437 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6438 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6439 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6440 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6441 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6442 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6443 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6445 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6446 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6447 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6450 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6451 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6452 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6453 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6454 simplification is used.
6456 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6457 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6458 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6459 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6461 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6463 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6469 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6470 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6471 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6472 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6477 (mapconcat 'identity
6478 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6480 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6483 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6486 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6487 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6488 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6489 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6490 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6491 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6493 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6496 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6497 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6498 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6500 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6501 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6504 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6505 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6506 Remove excessive whitespace.
6508 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6509 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6510 Remove all whitespace.
6513 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6516 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6517 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6518 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6519 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6520 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6521 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6522 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6523 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6525 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6526 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6527 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6528 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6529 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6530 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6531 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6532 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6533 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6537 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6538 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6539 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6540 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6542 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6543 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6544 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6547 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6551 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6552 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6558 @node Filling In Threads
6559 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6562 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6563 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6564 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6565 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6566 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6567 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6568 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6569 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6570 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6571 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6572 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6573 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6576 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6577 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6578 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6580 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6581 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6582 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6583 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6584 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6585 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6586 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6587 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6588 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6589 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6590 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6591 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6592 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6593 @code{nil} by default.
6595 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6596 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6597 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6598 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6599 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6600 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6601 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6603 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6604 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6605 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6610 @node More Threading
6611 @subsubsection More Threading
6614 @item gnus-show-threads
6615 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6616 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6617 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6618 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6619 slower and more awkward.
6621 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6622 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6623 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6626 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6627 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6628 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6633 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6634 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6635 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6638 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6639 unread, but you get my drift.)
6642 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6643 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6644 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6645 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6646 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6647 threads are expunged.
6649 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6650 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6651 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6654 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6655 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6656 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6657 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6658 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6659 result in a new thread.
6661 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6662 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6663 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6666 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6667 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6668 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6669 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6670 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6671 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6672 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6673 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6674 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6675 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6676 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6681 @node Low-Level Threading
6682 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6686 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6687 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6688 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6690 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6691 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6692 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6693 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6694 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6695 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6696 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6697 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6698 meaningful. Here's one example:
6701 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6703 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6704 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6706 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6708 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6715 @node Thread Commands
6716 @subsection Thread Commands
6717 @cindex thread commands
6723 @kindex T k (Summary)
6724 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6725 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6726 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6727 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6728 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6733 @kindex T l (Summary)
6734 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6735 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6736 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6737 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6740 @kindex T i (Summary)
6741 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6742 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6743 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6746 @kindex T # (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6748 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6749 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6752 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6754 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6755 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6758 @kindex T T (Summary)
6759 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6760 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6763 @kindex T s (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6765 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6766 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6769 @kindex T h (Summary)
6770 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6771 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6774 @kindex T S (Summary)
6775 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6776 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6779 @kindex T H (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6781 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6784 @kindex T t (Summary)
6785 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6786 Re-thread the current article's thread
6787 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6788 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6791 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6792 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6793 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6794 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6798 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6799 understand the numeric prefix.
6804 @kindex T n (Summary)
6806 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6808 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6809 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6810 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6813 @kindex T p (Summary)
6815 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6817 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6818 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6819 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6822 @kindex T d (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6824 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6827 @kindex T u (Summary)
6828 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6829 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6832 @kindex T o (Summary)
6833 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6834 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6837 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6838 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6839 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6840 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6841 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6842 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6843 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6844 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6845 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6846 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6847 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6848 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6852 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6853 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6855 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6856 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6857 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6859 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6860 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6861 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6862 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6863 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6864 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6865 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6866 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6867 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6869 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6870 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6871 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6872 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6873 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6875 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6876 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6878 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6879 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6880 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6882 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6883 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6884 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6885 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6886 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6887 ascending article order.
6889 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6890 by number, you could do something like:
6893 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6894 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6895 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6896 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6899 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6900 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6901 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6902 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6903 which the articles arrived.
6905 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6909 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6911 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6912 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6915 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6916 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6917 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6918 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6921 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6922 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6923 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6924 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6925 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6926 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6927 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6928 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6929 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6930 variable. It is very similar to the
6931 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6932 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6933 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6934 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6935 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6936 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6937 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6939 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6943 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6944 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6945 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6950 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6951 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6952 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6953 @cindex article pre-fetch
6956 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6957 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6958 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6959 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6960 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6962 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6963 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6965 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6966 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6967 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6968 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6969 connection is blocked.
6971 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6972 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6973 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6974 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6976 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6977 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6978 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6979 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6982 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
6985 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6986 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6987 happen automatically.
6989 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6990 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6991 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6992 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6993 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6994 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6995 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6997 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6998 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6999 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7000 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7001 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7002 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7003 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7004 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7005 article data structure as the only parameter.
7007 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7008 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7011 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7012 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7013 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7014 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7017 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7020 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7021 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7022 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7024 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7025 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7026 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7027 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7031 Remove articles when they are read.
7034 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7037 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7039 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7040 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7041 @c from the next group.
7044 @node Article Caching
7045 @section Article Caching
7046 @cindex article caching
7049 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7050 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7051 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7052 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7053 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7055 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7057 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7058 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7059 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7060 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7061 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7062 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7063 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7064 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7066 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7067 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7068 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7069 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7070 as dormant, and don't worry.
7072 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7074 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7075 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7076 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7077 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7078 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7079 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7080 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7081 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7082 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7083 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7085 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7086 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7087 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7088 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7089 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7090 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7091 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7092 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7093 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7094 not then be downloaded by this command.
7096 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7097 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7098 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7099 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7100 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7101 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7103 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7104 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7105 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7106 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7107 variables, the group is not cached.
7109 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7110 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7111 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7112 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7113 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7114 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7115 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7116 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7117 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7120 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7121 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7122 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7123 where, isn't that cool?
7125 @node Persistent Articles
7126 @section Persistent Articles
7127 @cindex persistent articles
7129 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7130 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7131 useful in my opinion.
7133 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7134 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7135 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7136 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7137 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7138 the expiry going on at the news server.
7140 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7141 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7142 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7148 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7149 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7152 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7153 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7154 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7155 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7159 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7161 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7162 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7163 interested in persistent articles:
7166 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7170 @node Article Backlog
7171 @section Article Backlog
7173 @cindex article backlog
7175 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7176 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7177 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7178 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7179 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7180 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7181 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7182 increase memory usage some.
7184 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7185 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7186 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7187 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7188 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7189 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7190 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7192 The default value is 20.
7195 @node Saving Articles
7196 @section Saving Articles
7197 @cindex saving articles
7199 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7200 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7201 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7202 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7203 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7205 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7206 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7207 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7209 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7210 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7211 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7213 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7214 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7215 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7216 deleted before saving.
7222 @kindex O o (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7225 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7226 Save the current article using the default article saver
7227 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7230 @kindex O m (Summary)
7231 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7232 Save the current article in mail format
7233 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7236 @kindex O r (Summary)
7237 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7238 Save the current article in rmail format
7239 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7242 @kindex O f (Summary)
7243 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7244 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7245 Save the current article in plain file format
7246 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7249 @kindex O F (Summary)
7250 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7251 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7252 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7255 @kindex O b (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7257 Save the current article body in plain file format
7258 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7261 @kindex O h (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7263 Save the current article in mh folder format
7264 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7267 @kindex O v (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7269 Save the current article in a VM folder
7270 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7274 @kindex O p (Summary)
7276 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7277 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7278 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7279 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7280 complete headers in the piped output.
7283 @kindex O P (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7285 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7286 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7287 external program Muttprint (see
7288 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7289 options to use is controlled by the variable
7290 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7294 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7295 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7296 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7297 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7298 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7299 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7300 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7301 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7302 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7303 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7304 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7305 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7309 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7310 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7311 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7312 functions below, or you can create your own.
7316 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7317 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7318 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7319 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7320 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7321 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7322 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7324 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7325 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7326 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7327 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7328 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7329 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7331 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7332 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7333 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7334 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7335 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7336 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7337 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7339 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7340 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7341 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7342 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7343 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7344 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7346 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7347 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7348 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7349 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7350 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7352 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7353 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7354 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7355 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7356 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7359 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7360 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7361 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7362 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7363 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7365 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7366 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7367 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7368 reader to use this setting.
7371 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7372 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7373 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7374 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7377 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7378 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7379 available functions that generate names:
7383 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7384 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7385 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7387 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7388 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7389 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7391 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7392 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7393 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7395 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7396 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7397 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7399 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7400 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7401 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7404 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7405 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7406 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7407 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7408 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7412 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7413 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7414 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7415 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7418 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7419 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7420 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7421 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7422 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7423 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7424 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7425 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7426 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7428 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7429 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7430 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7431 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7433 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7434 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7435 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7438 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7439 lots of mail groups called things like
7440 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7441 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7442 following will do just that:
7445 (defun my-save-name (group)
7446 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7447 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7449 (setq gnus-split-methods
7450 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7455 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7456 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7457 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7458 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7459 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7460 all the files in the top level directory
7461 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7462 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7463 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7464 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7466 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7467 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7468 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7469 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7470 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7473 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7477 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7478 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7479 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7482 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7483 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7484 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7485 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7488 @node Decoding Articles
7489 @section Decoding Articles
7490 @cindex decoding articles
7492 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7493 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7496 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7497 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7498 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7499 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7500 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7501 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7505 @cindex article series
7506 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7507 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7508 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7509 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7510 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7512 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7513 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7514 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7516 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7517 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7518 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7520 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7521 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7522 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7525 @node Uuencoded Articles
7526 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7528 @cindex uuencoded articles
7533 @kindex X u (Summary)
7534 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7535 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7536 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7539 @kindex X U (Summary)
7540 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7541 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7542 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7545 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7546 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7547 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7550 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7551 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7552 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7553 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7557 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7558 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7559 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7560 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7561 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7563 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7564 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7565 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7566 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7569 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7570 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7571 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7572 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7573 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7574 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7578 @node Shell Archives
7579 @subsection Shell Archives
7581 @cindex shell archives
7582 @cindex shared articles
7584 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7585 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7586 some commands to deal with these:
7591 @kindex X s (Summary)
7592 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7593 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7596 @kindex X S (Summary)
7597 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7598 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7601 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7602 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7603 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7606 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7607 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7608 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7609 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7613 @node PostScript Files
7614 @subsection PostScript Files
7620 @kindex X p (Summary)
7621 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7622 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7625 @kindex X P (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7627 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7628 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7631 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7633 View the current PostScript series
7634 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7637 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7638 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7639 View and save the current PostScript series
7640 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7645 @subsection Other Files
7649 @kindex X o (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7651 Save the current series
7652 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7655 @kindex X b (Summary)
7656 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7657 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7658 doesn't really work yet.
7662 @node Decoding Variables
7663 @subsection Decoding Variables
7665 Adjective, not verb.
7668 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7669 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7670 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7674 @node Rule Variables
7675 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7676 @cindex rule variables
7678 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7679 variables are of the form
7682 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7689 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7690 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7692 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7693 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7696 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7697 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7700 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7701 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7702 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7703 user and default view rules.
7705 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7706 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7707 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7712 @node Other Decode Variables
7713 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7716 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7718 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7719 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7720 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7721 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7722 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7726 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7727 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7730 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7731 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7732 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7735 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7736 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7737 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7738 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7739 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7742 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7743 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7744 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7746 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7747 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7748 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7749 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7750 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7753 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7754 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7755 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7757 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7758 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7759 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7760 looking for files to display.
7762 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7763 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7764 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7767 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7768 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7772 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7773 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7774 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7777 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7778 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7779 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7782 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7783 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7785 decoded articles as unread.
7787 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7788 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7789 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7790 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7792 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7793 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7794 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7796 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7797 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7799 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7800 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7801 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7802 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7804 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7805 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7806 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7807 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7808 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7809 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7810 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7811 simply dropped them.
7816 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7817 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7821 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7822 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7823 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7824 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7825 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7826 for you when you post the article.
7828 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7829 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7830 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7831 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7833 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7834 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7835 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7836 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7837 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7838 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7839 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7841 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7842 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7843 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7844 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7845 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7846 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7847 Default is @code{t}.
7853 @subsection Viewing Files
7854 @cindex viewing files
7855 @cindex pseudo-articles
7857 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7858 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7859 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7860 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7861 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7862 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7863 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7865 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7866 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7867 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7868 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7870 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7871 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7872 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7874 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7875 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7876 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7877 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7878 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7880 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7881 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7882 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7883 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7884 a list of parameters to that command.
7886 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7887 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7888 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7890 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7891 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7892 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7895 @node Article Treatment
7896 @section Article Treatment
7898 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7899 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7900 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7901 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7902 these articles easier.
7905 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7906 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7907 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7908 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7909 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7910 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7911 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7912 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7913 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7914 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7918 @node Article Highlighting
7919 @subsection Article Highlighting
7920 @cindex highlighting
7922 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7923 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7928 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7929 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7930 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7931 Do much highlighting of the current article
7932 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7933 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7936 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7937 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7938 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7939 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7940 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7941 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7942 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7943 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7944 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7945 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7946 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7947 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7950 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7952 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7954 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7957 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7959 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7960 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7961 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7963 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7964 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7965 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7967 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7968 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7969 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7970 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7971 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7972 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7974 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7975 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7976 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7978 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7979 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7980 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7982 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7983 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7984 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7985 that it's a citation.
7987 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7988 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7989 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7991 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7992 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7993 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7995 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7996 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7997 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7998 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8004 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8005 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8006 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8007 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8008 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8009 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8010 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8011 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8016 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8019 @node Article Fontisizing
8020 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8022 @cindex article emphasis
8024 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8025 @kindex W e (Summary)
8026 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8027 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8028 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8029 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8031 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8032 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8033 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8034 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8035 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8036 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8037 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8038 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8042 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8043 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8044 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8053 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8054 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8055 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8056 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8057 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8058 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8059 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8060 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8061 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8062 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8063 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8064 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8065 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8067 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8068 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8069 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8073 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8076 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8078 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8079 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8080 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8081 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8083 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8086 @node Article Hiding
8087 @subsection Article Hiding
8088 @cindex article hiding
8090 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8091 too much cruft in most articles.
8096 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-article-hide
8098 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8099 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8100 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8103 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8104 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8105 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8109 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8110 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8111 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8112 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8115 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8116 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8117 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8121 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8122 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8123 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8124 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8125 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8126 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8127 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8128 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8132 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8133 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8134 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8135 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8140 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8141 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8142 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8143 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8146 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8147 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8148 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8149 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8152 @cindex stripping advertisements
8153 @cindex advertisements
8154 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8155 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8156 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8157 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8158 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8159 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8160 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8161 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8162 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8163 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8166 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8167 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8168 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8172 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8173 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8174 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8175 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8176 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8177 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8178 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8179 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8180 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8181 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8182 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8185 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8191 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8192 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8193 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8194 customizing the hiding:
8198 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8199 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8200 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8201 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8202 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8203 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8204 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8209 Starting point of the hidden text.
8211 Ending point of the hidden text.
8213 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8215 Number of lines of hidden text.
8218 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8219 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8220 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8221 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8222 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8227 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8228 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8230 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8231 following two variables:
8234 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8235 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8236 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8237 50), hide the cited text.
8239 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8240 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8241 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8246 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8247 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8248 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8249 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8250 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8251 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8255 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8256 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8257 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8259 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8260 citation customization.
8262 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8266 @node Article Washing
8267 @subsection Article Washing
8269 @cindex article washing
8271 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8272 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8274 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8275 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8278 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8279 articles by default.
8284 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8285 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8289 Force redisplaying of the current article
8290 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8291 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8292 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8293 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8296 @kindex W l (Summary)
8297 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8298 Remove page breaks from the current article
8299 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8303 @kindex W r (Summary)
8304 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8305 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8306 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8307 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8308 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8309 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8311 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8312 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8313 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8314 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8317 @kindex W m (Summary)
8318 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8319 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8323 @kindex W t (Summary)
8325 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8326 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8327 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8330 @kindex W v (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8332 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8333 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8336 @kindex W o (Summary)
8337 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8338 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8341 @kindex W d (Summary)
8342 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8343 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8345 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8347 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8348 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8349 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8350 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8353 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8354 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8355 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8356 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8359 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8360 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8361 @cindex Outlook Express
8362 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8363 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8364 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8367 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8368 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8369 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8370 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8371 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8372 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8373 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8374 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8375 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8376 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8379 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8380 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8381 Repair a broken attribution line.
8382 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8385 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8386 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8387 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8388 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8391 @kindex W w (Summary)
8392 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8393 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8395 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8399 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8400 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8401 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8404 @kindex W C (Summary)
8405 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8406 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8407 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8410 @kindex W c (Summary)
8411 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8412 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8413 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8414 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8415 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8418 @kindex W q (Summary)
8419 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8420 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8421 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8422 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8423 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8424 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8425 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8426 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8427 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8430 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8431 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8432 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8433 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8434 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8435 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8436 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8438 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8441 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8442 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8443 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8444 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8445 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8448 @kindex W u (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8450 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8451 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8452 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8453 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8456 @kindex W h (Summary)
8457 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8458 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8459 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8460 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8462 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8464 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8465 The default is to use the function specified by
8466 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8467 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8468 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8469 you can use include:
8476 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8480 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8483 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8486 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8491 @kindex W b (Summary)
8492 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8493 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8494 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8497 @kindex W B (Summary)
8498 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8499 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8500 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8503 @kindex W p (Summary)
8504 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8505 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8506 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8507 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8508 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8509 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8510 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8513 @kindex W s (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8515 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8519 @kindex W a (Summary)
8520 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8521 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8522 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8525 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8526 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8527 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8528 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8531 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8532 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8533 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8534 lines with a single empty line.
8535 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8538 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8539 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8540 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8541 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8544 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8545 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8546 Do all the three commands above
8547 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8550 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8551 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8552 Remove all blank lines
8553 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8556 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8557 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8558 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8559 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8562 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8563 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8564 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8565 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8569 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8572 @node Article Header
8573 @subsection Article Header
8575 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8580 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8581 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8582 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8585 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8586 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8587 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8588 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8591 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8592 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8593 Fold all the message headers
8594 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8598 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8599 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8600 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8605 @node Article Buttons
8606 @subsection Article Buttons
8609 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8610 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8611 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8612 button on these references.
8614 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8615 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8616 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8617 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8618 one that handles article heads:
8622 @item gnus-button-alist
8623 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8624 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8627 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8633 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8634 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8635 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8636 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8637 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8640 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8641 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8642 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8645 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8646 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8647 avoid false matches.
8650 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8653 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8654 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8658 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8661 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8664 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8665 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8666 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8667 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8668 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8671 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8674 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8676 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8677 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8678 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8679 default values of the variables above.
8681 @item gnus-article-button-face
8682 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8683 Face used on buttons.
8685 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8686 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8687 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8691 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8695 @subsection Article Date
8697 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8698 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8699 when the article was sent.
8704 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8705 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8706 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8707 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8710 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8711 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8713 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8714 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8717 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8718 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8719 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8722 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8723 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8724 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8725 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8728 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8729 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8730 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8731 @findex format-time-string
8732 Display the date using a user-defined format
8733 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8734 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8735 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8736 for a list of possible format specs.
8739 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8740 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8741 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8742 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8743 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8744 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8747 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8750 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8751 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8752 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8755 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8756 into wonderful absurdities.
8758 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8761 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8764 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8765 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8769 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8770 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8771 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8772 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8773 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8774 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8775 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8779 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8780 preferred format automatically.
8783 @node Article Display
8784 @subsection Article Display
8789 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8790 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8792 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8793 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8795 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8796 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8798 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8799 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8801 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8806 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8807 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8808 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8809 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8812 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8813 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8814 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8815 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8818 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8819 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8820 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8823 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8824 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8825 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8828 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8829 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8830 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8831 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8834 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8835 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8836 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8837 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8840 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8841 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8842 Remove all images from the article buffer
8843 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8849 @node Article Signature
8850 @subsection Article Signature
8852 @cindex article signature
8854 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8855 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8856 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8857 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8858 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8859 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8860 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8861 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8862 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8865 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8866 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8867 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8868 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8869 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8870 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8871 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8872 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8875 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8878 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8879 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8880 signature when displaying articles.
8884 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8887 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8890 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8891 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8893 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8894 in question is not a signature.
8897 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8898 listed above. Here's an example:
8901 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8902 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8905 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8906 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8907 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8908 signature after all.
8911 @node Article Miscellania
8912 @subsection Article Miscellania
8916 @kindex A t (Summary)
8917 @findex gnus-article-babel
8918 Translate the article from one language to another
8919 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8925 @section MIME Commands
8926 @cindex MIME decoding
8928 @cindex viewing attachments
8930 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8931 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8937 @kindex K v (Summary)
8938 View the @sc{mime} part.
8941 @kindex K o (Summary)
8942 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8945 @kindex K c (Summary)
8946 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8949 @kindex K e (Summary)
8950 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8953 @kindex K i (Summary)
8954 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8957 @kindex K | (Summary)
8958 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8961 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8966 @kindex K b (Summary)
8967 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8968 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8972 @kindex K m (Summary)
8973 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8974 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8975 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8976 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8977 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8980 @kindex X m (Summary)
8981 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8982 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8983 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8984 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8987 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8988 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8989 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8990 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8993 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8994 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8995 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8996 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8999 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9000 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9001 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9002 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9004 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9005 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9006 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9007 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9008 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9009 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9012 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9013 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9014 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
9015 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9022 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9023 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9024 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9025 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9028 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9031 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9035 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9036 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9037 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9038 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9039 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9040 default is @code{nil}.
9042 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9043 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9044 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9045 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9046 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9047 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9048 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9050 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9051 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9052 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9053 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9054 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9055 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9056 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9057 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9059 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9060 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9061 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9062 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9063 displayed. This variable overrides
9064 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9065 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9068 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9069 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9070 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9072 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9073 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9074 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9075 value is @code{nil}.
9077 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9078 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9079 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9080 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9081 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9082 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9083 save all jpegs into some directory).
9085 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9088 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9089 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9091 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9092 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9093 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9094 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9095 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9098 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9099 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9100 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9102 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9103 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9104 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9105 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9107 Ready-made functions include@*
9108 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9109 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9110 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9111 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9112 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9113 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9114 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9115 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9116 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9117 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9118 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9119 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9121 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9122 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9124 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9125 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9126 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9129 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9130 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9131 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9132 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9136 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9145 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9146 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9147 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9148 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9149 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9150 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9151 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9153 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9154 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9155 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9156 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9158 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9159 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9160 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9161 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9162 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9163 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9164 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9165 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9166 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9168 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9169 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9170 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9171 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9172 quoted-printable header encoding.
9174 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9175 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9176 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9180 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9183 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9184 means encode all charsets),
9186 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9187 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9188 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9195 @cindex coding system aliases
9196 @cindex preferred charset
9198 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9200 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9201 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9204 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9205 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9208 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9209 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9211 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9214 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9217 This will almost do the right thing.
9219 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9223 (codepage-setup 1251)
9224 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9228 @node Article Commands
9229 @section Article Commands
9236 @kindex A P (Summary)
9237 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9238 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9239 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9240 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9241 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9242 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9247 @node Summary Sorting
9248 @section Summary Sorting
9249 @cindex summary sorting
9251 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9252 can't really see why you'd want that.
9257 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9258 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9259 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9262 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9264 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9267 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9268 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9269 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9272 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9273 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9274 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9277 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9278 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9279 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9282 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9283 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9284 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9287 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9288 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9289 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9292 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9293 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9294 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9297 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9298 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9299 Sort using the default sorting method
9300 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9303 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9304 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9305 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9306 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9307 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9311 @node Finding the Parent
9312 @section Finding the Parent
9313 @cindex parent articles
9314 @cindex referring articles
9319 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9320 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9321 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9322 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9323 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9324 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9325 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9326 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9327 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9329 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9330 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9331 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9332 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9333 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9337 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9338 @kindex A R (Summary)
9339 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9340 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9343 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9344 @kindex A T (Summary)
9345 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9346 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9347 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9348 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9349 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9350 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9351 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9353 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9354 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9355 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9356 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9357 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9358 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9361 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9362 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9364 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9365 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9366 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9367 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9368 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9369 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9370 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9373 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9374 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9375 by giving this command a prefix.
9377 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9378 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9379 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9380 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9381 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9382 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9385 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9386 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9387 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9390 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9391 then ask Google if that fails:
9394 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9396 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9399 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9400 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9401 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9402 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9403 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9404 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9405 support this at all.
9408 @node Alternative Approaches
9409 @section Alternative Approaches
9411 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9412 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9415 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9416 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9421 @subsection Pick and Read
9422 @cindex pick and read
9424 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9425 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9426 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9427 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9429 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9430 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9431 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9432 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9433 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9434 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9436 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9441 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9442 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9443 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9444 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9445 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9446 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9447 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9448 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9451 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9452 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9453 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9454 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9458 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9459 Unpick the thread or article
9460 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9461 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9462 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9463 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9464 the thread or article at that line.
9468 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9469 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9470 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9471 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9472 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9473 will still be visible when you are reading.
9477 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9478 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9479 which is mapped to the same function
9480 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9482 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9485 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9488 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9489 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9491 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9492 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9493 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9495 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9496 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9497 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9498 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9499 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9500 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9501 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9505 @subsection Binary Groups
9506 @cindex binary groups
9508 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9509 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9510 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9511 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9512 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9513 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9514 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9517 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9518 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9519 command, when you have turned on this mode
9520 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9522 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9523 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9527 @section Tree Display
9530 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9531 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9532 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9533 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9536 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9539 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9540 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9541 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9543 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9544 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9545 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9546 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9547 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9549 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9550 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9551 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9552 default is @code{modeline}.
9554 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9555 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9556 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9557 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9558 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9559 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9560 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9566 The name of the poster.
9568 The @code{From} header.
9570 The number of the article.
9572 The opening bracket.
9574 The closing bracket.
9579 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9581 Variables related to the display are:
9584 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9585 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9586 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9587 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9588 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9589 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9591 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9592 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9593 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9594 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9598 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9599 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9600 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9601 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9602 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9603 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9604 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9605 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9606 other windows displayed next to it.
9608 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9612 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9613 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9616 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9617 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9618 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9619 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9620 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9621 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9622 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9626 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9629 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9639 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9643 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9644 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9646 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9648 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9653 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9654 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9655 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9658 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9659 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9660 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9661 (gnus-add-configuration
9665 (summary 0.75 point)
9670 @xref{Window Layout}.
9673 @node Mail Group Commands
9674 @section Mail Group Commands
9675 @cindex mail group commands
9677 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9678 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9680 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9681 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9686 @kindex B e (Summary)
9687 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9688 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9689 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9690 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9691 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9694 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9696 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9697 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9698 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9699 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9702 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9703 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9704 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9705 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9706 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9707 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9710 @kindex B m (Summary)
9712 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9713 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9714 Move the article from one mail group to another
9715 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9716 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9719 @kindex B c (Summary)
9721 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9722 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9723 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9724 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9725 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9728 @kindex B B (Summary)
9729 @cindex crosspost mail
9730 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9731 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9732 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9733 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9734 be properly updated.
9737 @kindex B i (Summary)
9738 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9739 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9740 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9741 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9744 @kindex B I (Summary)
9745 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9746 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9747 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9748 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9751 @kindex B r (Summary)
9752 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9753 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9754 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9755 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9756 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9757 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9758 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9759 (which is the default).
9763 @kindex B w (Summary)
9765 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9766 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9767 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9768 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9769 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9770 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9771 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9774 @kindex B q (Summary)
9775 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9776 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9777 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9778 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9781 @kindex B t (Summary)
9782 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9783 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9784 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9787 @kindex B p (Summary)
9788 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9789 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9790 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9791 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9792 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9793 article from your news server (or rather, from
9794 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9795 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9796 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9797 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9798 just not have arrived yet.
9801 @kindex K E (Summary)
9802 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9803 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9804 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9805 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9806 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9810 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9811 @cindex moving articles
9812 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9813 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9814 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9815 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9816 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9817 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9818 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9821 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9822 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9823 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9824 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9828 @node Various Summary Stuff
9829 @section Various Summary Stuff
9832 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9833 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9834 * Summary Generation Commands::
9835 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9839 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9840 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9841 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9842 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9843 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9844 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9846 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9847 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9848 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9850 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9851 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9852 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9853 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9854 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9855 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9858 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9859 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9860 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9861 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9862 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9864 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9865 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9866 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9869 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9870 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9871 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9872 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9873 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9874 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9875 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9876 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9877 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9878 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9880 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9881 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9882 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9883 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9884 list of articles to be selected.
9886 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9887 the list in one particular group:
9890 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9891 (if (string= group "some.group")
9892 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9896 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9897 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9898 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9899 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9900 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9901 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9902 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9903 buffers. For example:
9906 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9907 '(message-use-followup-to
9908 (gnus-visible-headers .
9909 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9915 @node Summary Group Information
9916 @subsection Summary Group Information
9921 @kindex H f (Summary)
9922 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9923 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9924 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9925 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9926 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9927 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9928 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9929 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9930 be used for fetching the file.
9933 @kindex H d (Summary)
9934 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9935 Give a brief description of the current group
9936 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9937 rereading the description from the server.
9940 @kindex H h (Summary)
9941 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9942 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9943 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9946 @kindex H i (Summary)
9947 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9948 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9952 @node Searching for Articles
9953 @subsection Searching for Articles
9958 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9959 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9960 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9961 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9964 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9965 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9966 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9967 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9971 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9972 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9973 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9974 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9975 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9976 search backward instead.
9978 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9979 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9982 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9983 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9984 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9985 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9988 @node Summary Generation Commands
9989 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9994 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9996 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9999 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10000 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10001 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10002 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10005 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10006 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10007 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10008 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10013 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10014 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10020 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10021 @kindex A D (Summary)
10022 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10023 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10024 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10025 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10026 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10027 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10028 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10029 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10033 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10034 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10035 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10036 several documents into one biiig group
10037 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10038 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10039 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10040 command understands the process/prefix convention
10041 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10044 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10045 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10046 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10047 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10048 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10049 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10052 @kindex = (Summary)
10053 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10054 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10055 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10058 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10059 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10060 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10061 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10064 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10065 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10066 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10067 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10072 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10073 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10074 @cindex summary exit
10075 @cindex exiting groups
10077 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10078 group and return you to the group buffer.
10084 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10085 @kindex q (Summary)
10086 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10087 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10088 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10089 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10090 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10091 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10092 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10093 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10094 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10095 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10096 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10097 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10101 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10102 @kindex Q (Summary)
10103 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10104 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10105 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10109 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10110 @kindex c (Summary)
10111 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10112 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10113 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10114 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10117 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10118 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10119 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10120 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10123 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10124 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10125 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10126 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10129 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10130 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10131 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10132 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10133 all articles, both read and unread.
10137 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10138 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10139 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10140 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10141 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10142 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10143 articles, both read and unread.
10146 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10147 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10148 Exit the group and go to the next group
10149 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10152 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10153 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10154 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10155 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10158 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10159 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10160 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10161 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10162 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10163 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10166 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10167 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10168 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10169 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10171 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10172 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10173 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10174 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10175 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10176 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10177 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10178 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10179 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10180 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10181 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10182 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10184 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10186 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10187 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10188 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10189 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10190 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10191 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10192 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10193 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10194 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10197 @node Crosspost Handling
10198 @section Crosspost Handling
10202 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10203 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10204 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10205 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10206 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10207 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10210 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10211 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10212 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10213 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10214 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10216 @cindex cross-posting
10219 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10220 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10221 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10222 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10223 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10224 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10225 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10226 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10227 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10228 the cross reference mechanism.
10230 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10231 @cindex overview.fmt
10232 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10233 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10234 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10235 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10236 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10237 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10240 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10241 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10242 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10247 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10250 @node Duplicate Suppression
10251 @section Duplicate Suppression
10253 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10254 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10255 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10256 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10261 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10262 is evil and not very common.
10265 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10266 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10269 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10270 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10273 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10276 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10277 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10279 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10280 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10281 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10282 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10283 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10284 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10285 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10288 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10289 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10290 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10291 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10292 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10293 saw the article in.
10296 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10297 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10298 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10300 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10301 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10302 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10303 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10304 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10305 session are suppressed.
10307 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10308 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10309 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10310 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10312 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10313 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10314 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10315 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10318 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10319 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10320 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10321 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10322 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10323 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10324 to you to figure out, I think.
10329 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10330 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10331 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10335 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10336 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10337 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10338 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10341 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10342 or newer is recommended.
10346 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10347 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10350 @item mm-verify-option
10351 @vindex mm-verify-option
10352 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10353 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10354 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10356 @item mm-decrypt-option
10357 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10358 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10359 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10360 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10363 @vindex mml1991-use
10364 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10365 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10366 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10369 @vindex mml2015-use
10370 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10371 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10372 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10377 @section Mailing List
10379 @kindex A M (summary)
10380 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10381 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10382 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10383 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10386 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10391 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10392 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10393 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10396 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10397 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10398 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10401 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10402 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10403 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10407 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10408 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10409 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10412 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10413 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10414 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10417 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10418 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10419 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10423 @node Article Buffer
10424 @chapter Article Buffer
10425 @cindex article buffer
10427 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10428 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10429 tell Gnus otherwise.
10432 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10433 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10434 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10435 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10436 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10440 @node Hiding Headers
10441 @section Hiding Headers
10442 @cindex hiding headers
10443 @cindex deleting headers
10445 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10446 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10448 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10449 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10450 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10451 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10452 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10453 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10454 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10455 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10456 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10458 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10462 @item gnus-visible-headers
10463 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10464 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10465 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10466 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10468 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10469 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10472 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10475 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10478 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10479 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10480 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10481 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10482 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10483 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10485 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10486 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10489 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10492 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10495 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10496 variable will have no effect.
10500 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10501 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10502 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10503 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10504 the headers are to be displayed.
10506 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10507 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10510 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10513 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10514 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10516 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10517 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10518 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10519 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10520 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10521 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10522 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10525 These conditions are:
10528 Remove all empty headers.
10530 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10531 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10533 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10534 @code{From} header.
10536 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10539 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10540 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10542 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10543 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10545 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10546 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10548 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10551 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10553 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10556 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10559 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10560 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10563 This is also the default value for this variable.
10567 @section Using MIME
10570 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10571 while people stand around yawning.
10573 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10574 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10576 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10577 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10578 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10580 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10581 @findex gnus-display-mime
10582 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10583 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10584 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10585 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10587 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10591 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10592 @item RET (Article)
10593 @kindex RET (Article)
10594 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10595 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10596 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10597 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10598 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10599 object is displayed inline.
10601 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10602 @item M-RET (Article)
10603 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10605 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10606 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10608 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10610 @kindex t (Article)
10611 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10612 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10614 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10616 @kindex C (Article)
10617 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10618 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10620 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10622 @kindex o (Article)
10623 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10624 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10626 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10627 @item C-o (Article)
10628 @kindex C-o (Article)
10629 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10630 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10631 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10632 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10633 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10634 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10636 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10638 @kindex c (Article)
10639 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10640 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10641 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10642 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10643 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10645 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10647 @kindex p (Article)
10648 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10649 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10650 @file{.mailcap} file.
10652 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10654 @kindex i (Article)
10655 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10656 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10657 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10658 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10659 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10662 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10664 @kindex E (Article)
10665 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10666 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10667 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10669 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10671 @kindex e (Article)
10672 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10673 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10675 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10677 @kindex | (Article)
10678 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10680 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10682 @kindex . (Article)
10683 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10684 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10688 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10689 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10692 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10693 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10694 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10695 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10696 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10697 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10698 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10699 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10700 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10702 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10704 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10707 @node Customizing Articles
10708 @section Customizing Articles
10709 @cindex article customization
10711 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10712 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10713 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10714 called automatically when you select the articles.
10716 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10717 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10718 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10719 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10721 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10722 for sensible values.
10726 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10729 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10732 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10735 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10738 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10742 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10743 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10744 regexps in the list.
10747 A list where the first element is not a string:
10749 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10750 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10751 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10755 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10760 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10761 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10762 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10763 considered to contain just a single part.
10765 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10766 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10767 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10768 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10769 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10770 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10771 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10773 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10774 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10775 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10776 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10779 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10780 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10782 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10784 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10785 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10786 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10787 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10788 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10789 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10790 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10791 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10792 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10793 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10795 @xref{Article Washing}.
10797 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10798 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10799 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10800 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10801 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10802 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10803 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10805 @xref{Article Date}.
10807 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10808 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10809 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10813 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10815 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10817 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10818 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10819 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10823 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10827 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10828 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10829 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10830 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10831 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10832 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10833 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10834 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10836 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10838 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10839 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10840 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10842 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10844 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10845 @item gnus-treat-translate
10846 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10848 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10849 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10850 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10851 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10853 @xref{Article Header}.
10858 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10859 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10860 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10861 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10862 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10866 @node Article Keymap
10867 @section Article Keymap
10869 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10870 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10871 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10872 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10875 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10880 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10881 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10882 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10883 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
10886 @kindex DEL (Article)
10887 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10888 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10889 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
10892 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10893 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10894 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10895 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10896 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10899 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10900 @findex gnus-article-mail
10901 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10902 given a prefix, include the mail.
10905 @kindex s (Article)
10906 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10907 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10908 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10911 @kindex ? (Article)
10912 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10913 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10914 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10917 @kindex TAB (Article)
10918 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10919 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10920 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10923 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10924 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10925 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10928 @kindex R (Article)
10929 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10930 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10931 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10932 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10936 @kindex F (Article)
10937 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10938 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10939 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10940 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10948 @section Misc Article
10952 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10953 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10954 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10955 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10958 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10959 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10961 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10962 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10964 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10965 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10966 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10967 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10968 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10969 the contents of the article buffer.
10971 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10972 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10973 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10975 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10976 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10977 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10978 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10980 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10981 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10982 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10983 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10984 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10990 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10991 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10992 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10997 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11000 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11003 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11004 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11005 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11008 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11011 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11014 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11019 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
11023 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11025 @item gnus-break-pages
11026 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11027 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11028 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11029 paging will not be done.
11031 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11032 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11033 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11038 @node Composing Messages
11039 @chapter Composing Messages
11040 @cindex composing messages
11043 @cindex sending mail
11048 @cindex using s/mime
11049 @cindex using smime
11051 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11052 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11053 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11054 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11055 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11056 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11059 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11060 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11061 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11062 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11063 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11064 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11065 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11066 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11069 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11070 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11076 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11079 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11080 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11081 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11082 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11083 @code{nil} include all headers.
11085 @item gnus-add-to-list
11086 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11087 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11088 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11090 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11091 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11092 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11093 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11094 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11095 confirmation is should be asked for.
11097 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11098 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11100 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11101 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11102 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11103 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11104 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11109 @node Posting Server
11110 @section Posting Server
11112 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11113 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11115 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11117 It can be quite complicated.
11119 @vindex gnus-post-method
11120 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11121 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11122 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11123 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11124 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11125 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11126 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11127 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11128 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11131 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11134 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11135 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11136 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11137 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11139 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11140 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11142 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11143 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11146 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11147 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11149 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11150 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11151 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11152 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11153 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11154 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11155 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11156 package correctly. An example:
11159 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11160 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11163 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11164 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11165 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11167 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11168 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11169 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11171 @node Mail and Post
11172 @section Mail and Post
11174 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11178 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11179 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11180 @cindex mailing lists
11182 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11183 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11184 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11185 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11186 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11187 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11188 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11189 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11190 still a pain, though.
11192 @item gnus-user-agent
11193 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11196 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11197 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11198 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11199 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11200 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11201 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11202 use a valid format, see RFC 2616."
11206 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11207 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11208 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11211 @findex ispell-message
11213 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11216 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11217 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11220 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11224 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11225 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11227 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11230 Modify to suit your needs.
11233 @node Archived Messages
11234 @section Archived Messages
11235 @cindex archived messages
11236 @cindex sent messages
11238 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11239 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11240 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11241 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11244 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11245 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11248 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11249 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11250 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11253 (nnfolder "archive"
11254 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11255 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11256 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11257 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11260 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11261 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11262 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11263 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11266 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11267 '(nnfolder "archive"
11268 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11269 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11270 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11273 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11275 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11276 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11277 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11279 This variable can be used to do the following:
11284 Messages will be saved in that group.
11286 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11287 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11288 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11289 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11290 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11291 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11292 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11293 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11297 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11299 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11300 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11303 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11308 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11310 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11313 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11315 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11318 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11320 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11321 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11322 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11323 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11326 More complex stuff:
11328 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11329 '((if (message-news-p)
11334 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11335 messages in one file per month:
11338 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11339 '((if (message-news-p)
11341 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11344 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11345 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11347 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11348 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11349 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11350 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11351 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11352 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11353 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11354 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11355 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11356 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11358 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11359 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11360 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11361 this will disable archiving.
11364 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11365 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11366 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11367 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11368 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11371 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11372 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11373 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11376 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11377 but the latter is the preferred method.
11379 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11380 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11381 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11383 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11384 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11385 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11386 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11387 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11388 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11389 changed in the future.
11394 @node Posting Styles
11395 @section Posting Styles
11396 @cindex posting styles
11399 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11401 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11402 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11403 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11406 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11407 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11408 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11409 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11410 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11415 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11416 (organization "What me?"))
11418 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11419 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11420 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11423 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11424 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11425 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11426 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11427 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11428 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11429 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11430 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11432 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11433 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11434 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11435 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11436 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11437 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11438 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11439 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11440 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11441 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11442 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11443 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11444 said to @dfn{match}.
11446 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11447 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11448 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11449 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11450 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11451 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11452 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11453 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11454 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11455 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11458 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11459 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11460 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11461 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11462 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11463 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11464 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11465 references chars lines xref extra.
11467 @vindex message-reply-headers
11469 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11470 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11471 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11473 @findex message-mail-p
11474 @findex message-news-p
11476 So here's a new example:
11479 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11481 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11483 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11484 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11486 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11487 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11488 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11489 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11490 (signature my-news-signature))
11491 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11492 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11493 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11494 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11495 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11496 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11497 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11498 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11499 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11500 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11502 (From (save-excursion
11503 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11504 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11506 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11509 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11510 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11511 if you fill many roles.
11518 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11519 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11520 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11521 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11522 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11524 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11525 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11526 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11527 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11528 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11532 @vindex nndraft-directory
11533 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11534 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11535 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11536 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11537 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11538 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11540 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11541 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11544 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11545 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11546 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11547 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11548 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11549 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11550 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11551 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11552 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11553 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11554 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11555 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11556 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11557 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11559 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11560 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11561 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11563 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11564 @kindex D e (Draft)
11565 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11566 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11567 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11569 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11572 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11573 @kindex D s (Draft)
11574 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11575 @kindex D S (Draft)
11576 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11577 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11578 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11579 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11580 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11583 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11584 @kindex D t (Draft)
11585 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11586 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11587 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11590 @node Rejected Articles
11591 @section Rejected Articles
11592 @cindex rejected articles
11594 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11595 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11596 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11597 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11599 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11600 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11601 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11602 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11603 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11605 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11606 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11607 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11609 @node Signing and encrypting
11610 @section Signing and encrypting
11612 @cindex using s/mime
11613 @cindex using smime
11615 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11616 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11617 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11618 (@pxref{Security}).
11620 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11621 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11622 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11623 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11624 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11625 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11626 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11627 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11628 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11629 automatically encrypted messages.
11631 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11632 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11633 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11638 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11639 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11641 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11644 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11645 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11647 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11650 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11651 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11653 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11656 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11657 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11659 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11662 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11663 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11665 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11668 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11669 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11671 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11674 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11675 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11676 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11680 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11682 @node Select Methods
11683 @chapter Select Methods
11684 @cindex foreign groups
11685 @cindex select methods
11687 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11688 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11689 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11690 personal mail group.
11692 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11693 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11694 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11695 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11696 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11697 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11699 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11700 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11702 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11705 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11706 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11707 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11708 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11709 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11711 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11714 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11715 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11716 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11717 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11718 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11719 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11720 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11721 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11725 @node Server Buffer
11726 @section Server Buffer
11728 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11729 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11730 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11731 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11732 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11733 back end represents a virtual server.
11735 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11736 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11737 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11738 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11740 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11741 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11742 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11743 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11744 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11745 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11746 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11748 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11749 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11752 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11753 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11754 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11755 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11756 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11757 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11758 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11761 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11762 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11765 @node Server Buffer Format
11766 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11767 @cindex server buffer format
11769 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11770 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11771 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11772 variable, with some simple extensions:
11777 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11780 The name of this server.
11783 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11786 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11789 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11790 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11791 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11792 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11802 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11805 @node Server Commands
11806 @subsection Server Commands
11807 @cindex server commands
11813 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11814 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11818 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11819 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11822 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11823 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11824 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11828 @findex gnus-server-exit
11829 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11833 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11834 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11838 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11839 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11843 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11844 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11848 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11849 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11853 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11854 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11855 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11860 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11861 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11862 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11863 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11868 @node Example Methods
11869 @subsection Example Methods
11871 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11874 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11877 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11883 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11884 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11887 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11888 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11890 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11891 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11895 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11898 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11899 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11901 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11902 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11903 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11907 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11910 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11913 Here's the method for a public spool:
11917 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11918 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11924 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11925 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11926 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11927 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11928 should probably look something like this:
11932 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11933 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11934 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11935 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11938 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11939 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11940 configuration to the example above:
11943 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11946 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11948 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11949 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11950 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11954 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11955 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11956 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11957 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11960 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11961 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11962 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11963 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11966 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11967 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11969 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11970 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11972 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11973 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11974 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11976 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11978 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11979 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11980 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11981 will contain the following:
11991 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11992 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11993 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11996 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11997 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11998 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12001 @node Server Variables
12002 @subsection Server Variables
12004 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12005 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12006 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12007 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12008 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12010 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12011 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12012 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12013 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12014 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12015 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12016 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12017 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12018 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12022 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12023 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12024 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12028 @node Servers and Methods
12029 @subsection Servers and Methods
12031 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12032 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12033 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12034 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12038 @node Unavailable Servers
12039 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12041 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12042 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12043 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12044 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12045 actually the case or not.
12047 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12048 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12049 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12050 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12051 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12052 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12053 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12054 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12056 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12057 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12059 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12060 with the following commands:
12066 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12067 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12068 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12072 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12073 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12074 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12078 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12079 Mark the current server as unreachable
12080 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12083 @kindex M-o (Server)
12084 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12085 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12086 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12089 @kindex M-c (Server)
12090 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12091 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12092 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12096 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12097 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12098 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12102 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12103 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12109 @section Getting News
12110 @cindex reading news
12111 @cindex news back ends
12113 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12114 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12115 or it can read from a local spool.
12118 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12119 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12127 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12128 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12129 server as the, uhm, address.
12131 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12132 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12133 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12134 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12136 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12137 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12138 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12140 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12145 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12146 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12147 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12149 @cindex authentification
12150 @cindex nntp authentification
12151 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12152 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12153 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12154 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12155 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12156 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12157 present in this hook.
12159 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12160 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12161 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12162 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12163 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12164 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12165 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12166 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12167 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12168 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12169 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12170 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12174 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12177 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12179 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12180 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12181 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12182 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12183 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12184 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12185 @samp{force} is explained below.
12189 Here's an example file:
12192 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12193 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12196 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12197 have to be first, for instance.
12199 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12200 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12201 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12202 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12203 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12204 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12205 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12207 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12208 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12214 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12215 previously mentioned.
12217 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12219 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12220 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12221 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12222 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12223 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12226 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12227 '(("innd" (ding))))
12230 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12232 The default value is
12235 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12236 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12237 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12240 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12241 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12243 @item nntp-maximum-request
12244 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12245 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12246 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12247 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12248 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12249 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12250 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12252 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12253 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12254 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12255 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12256 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12257 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12258 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12259 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12260 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12261 no timeouts are done.
12263 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12264 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12265 @c @cindex PPP connections
12266 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12267 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12268 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12269 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12270 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12271 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12272 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12273 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12274 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12275 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12277 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12278 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12279 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12280 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12281 @c described above.
12283 @item nntp-server-hook
12284 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12285 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12288 @item nntp-buggy-select
12289 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12290 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12292 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12293 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12294 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12295 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12298 @item nntp-xover-commands
12299 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12302 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12303 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12307 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12308 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12309 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12310 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12311 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12312 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12313 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12314 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12315 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12316 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12317 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12319 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12320 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12321 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12323 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12324 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12325 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12326 server closes connection.
12328 @item nntp-record-commands
12329 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12330 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12331 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12332 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12333 that doesn't seem to work.
12335 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12336 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12337 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12338 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12339 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12340 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12341 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12342 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12344 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12345 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12346 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12347 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12348 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12349 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12350 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12353 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12356 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12357 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12359 @item nntp-read-timeout
12360 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12361 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12362 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12363 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12364 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12370 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12371 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12372 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12376 @node Direct Functions
12377 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12378 @cindex direct connection functions
12380 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12381 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12382 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12383 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12386 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12387 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12388 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12391 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12392 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12393 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12394 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12395 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12396 define a server as follows:
12399 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12401 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12402 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12404 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12405 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12406 (nntp-port-number 563)
12407 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12410 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12411 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12412 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12413 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12414 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12415 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12416 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12417 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12421 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12422 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12423 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12426 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12427 session, which is not a good idea.
12431 @node Indirect Functions
12432 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12433 @cindex indirect connection functions
12435 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12436 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12437 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12438 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12439 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12440 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12443 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12444 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12445 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12446 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12447 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12449 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12452 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12453 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12454 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12455 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12457 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12458 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12459 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12460 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12461 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12462 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12463 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12464 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12467 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12468 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12469 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12470 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12472 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12475 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12476 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12477 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12480 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12481 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12482 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12483 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12485 @item nntp-via-user-password
12486 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12487 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12489 @item nntp-via-envuser
12490 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12491 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12492 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12493 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12495 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12496 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12497 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12498 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12505 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12510 @item nntp-via-user-name
12511 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12512 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12514 @item nntp-via-address
12515 @vindex nntp-via-address
12516 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12521 @node Common Variables
12522 @subsubsection Common Variables
12524 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12525 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12530 @item nntp-pre-command
12531 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12532 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12533 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12534 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12535 wrapper for instance.
12538 @vindex nntp-address
12539 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12541 @item nntp-port-number
12542 @vindex nntp-port-number
12543 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12544 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12545 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12546 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12548 @item nntp-end-of-line
12549 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12550 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12551 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12552 using a non native connection function.
12554 @item nntp-telnet-command
12555 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12556 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12557 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12558 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12560 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12561 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12562 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12569 @subsection News Spool
12573 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12574 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12575 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12578 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12579 anything else) as the address.
12581 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12582 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12583 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12584 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12588 @item nnspool-inews-program
12589 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12590 Program used to post an article.
12592 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12593 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12594 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12596 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12597 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12598 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12599 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12601 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12602 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12603 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12604 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12606 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12607 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12608 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12610 @item nnspool-active-file
12611 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12612 The name of the active file.
12614 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12615 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12616 The name of the group descriptions file.
12618 @item nnspool-history-file
12619 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12620 The name of the news history file.
12622 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12623 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12624 The name of the active date file.
12626 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12627 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12628 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12631 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12632 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12634 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12635 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12636 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12642 @section Getting Mail
12643 @cindex reading mail
12646 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12650 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12651 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12652 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12653 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12654 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12655 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12656 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12657 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12658 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12659 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12660 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12661 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12662 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12666 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12667 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12669 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12670 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12671 of a culture shock.
12673 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12674 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12676 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12677 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12678 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12679 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12681 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12683 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12684 deleted? How awful!
12686 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12687 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12688 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12689 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12692 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12693 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12694 they want to treat a message.
12696 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12697 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12698 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12699 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12700 archived somewhere else.
12702 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12703 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12704 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12705 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12706 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12708 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12709 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12710 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12712 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12713 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12716 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12717 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12718 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12719 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12720 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12722 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12723 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12724 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12725 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12726 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12727 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12731 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12732 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12734 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12735 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12736 and things will happen automatically.
12738 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12739 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12742 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12745 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12746 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12747 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12748 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12749 like any other group.
12751 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12754 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12755 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12756 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12760 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12761 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12762 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12765 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12766 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12767 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12770 @node Splitting Mail
12771 @subsection Splitting Mail
12772 @cindex splitting mail
12773 @cindex mail splitting
12775 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12776 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12777 to be split into groups.
12780 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12781 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12782 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12783 ("mail.other" "")))
12786 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12787 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12788 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12789 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12790 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12791 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12792 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12795 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12798 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12799 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12800 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12801 mail belongs in that group.
12803 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12804 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12805 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12806 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12807 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12808 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12810 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12811 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12812 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12813 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12814 thinks should carry this mail message.
12816 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12817 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12818 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12819 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12821 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12822 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12823 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12824 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12825 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
12827 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12830 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12831 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12832 links. If that's the case for you, set
12833 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12834 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12836 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12837 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12838 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12839 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12840 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12841 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12844 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12845 Header lines longer than the value of
12846 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12849 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12850 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12851 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
12852 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12853 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12854 can be turned off completely by binding
12855 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12856 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12858 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12859 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12860 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12861 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12862 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12863 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12864 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12867 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12868 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12869 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12870 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12871 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12872 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12873 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12874 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12875 month's rent money.
12879 @subsection Mail Sources
12881 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12882 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12886 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12887 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12888 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12892 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12893 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12895 @cindex mail server
12898 @cindex mail source
12900 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12901 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12906 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12909 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12910 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12911 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12914 The following mail source types are available:
12918 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12924 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12925 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12926 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12930 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12933 An example file mail source:
12936 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12939 Or using the default file name:
12945 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12946 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12947 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12950 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12954 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12957 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12961 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12964 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12966 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12969 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12973 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12974 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12975 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12976 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12977 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12978 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12979 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12980 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12981 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12982 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12984 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12985 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12986 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12987 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12993 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12997 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13001 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13002 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13003 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13004 predicate are considered.
13008 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13012 An example directory mail source:
13015 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13020 Get mail from a POP server.
13026 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13027 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13030 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13031 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13032 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13033 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13034 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13037 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13041 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13045 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13046 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13049 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13052 The valid format specifier characters are:
13056 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13057 included in this string.
13060 The name of the server.
13063 The port number of the server.
13066 The user name to use.
13069 The password to use.
13072 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13073 corresponding keywords.
13076 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13077 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13080 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13081 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13084 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13085 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13088 @item :authentication
13089 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13090 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13095 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13096 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13098 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13099 default user name, and default fetcher:
13105 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13108 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13109 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13112 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13115 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13119 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13120 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13121 contains exactly one mail.
13127 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13128 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13131 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13132 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13134 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13135 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13136 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13139 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13140 from locking problems).
13144 Two example maildir mail sources:
13147 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13148 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13152 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13157 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13158 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13159 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13160 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13163 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13164 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13170 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13171 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13174 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13175 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13178 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13182 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13186 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13187 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13188 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13189 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13191 @item :authentication
13192 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13193 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13194 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13195 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13198 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13199 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13200 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13206 The valid format specifier characters are:
13210 The name of the server.
13213 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13216 The port number of the server.
13219 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13220 corresponding keywords.
13223 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13224 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13227 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13228 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13229 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13230 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13231 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13232 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13235 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13236 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13237 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13238 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13241 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13242 after finishing the fetch.
13246 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13249 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13251 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13255 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13256 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13257 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13259 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13260 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13262 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13268 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13269 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13272 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13276 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13280 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13281 folder after finishing the fetch.
13285 An example webmail source:
13288 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13290 :password "secret")
13295 @item Common Keywords
13296 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13302 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13303 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13307 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13312 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13313 useful when you use local mail and news.
13318 @subsubsection Function Interface
13320 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13321 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13322 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13323 consider the following mail-source setting:
13326 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13327 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13330 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13331 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13332 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13333 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13334 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13336 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13339 @node Mail Source Customization
13340 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13342 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13343 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13347 @item mail-source-crash-box
13348 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13349 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13350 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13352 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13353 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13354 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13356 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13357 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13358 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13360 @item mail-source-directory
13361 @vindex mail-source-directory
13362 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13363 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13364 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13367 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13368 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13369 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13370 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13371 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13372 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13374 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13375 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13376 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13378 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13379 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13380 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13381 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13386 @node Fetching Mail
13387 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13389 @vindex mail-sources
13390 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13391 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13392 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13393 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13395 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13396 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13399 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13400 mail server, you'd say something like:
13405 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13406 :password "secret")))
13409 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13413 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13414 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13417 :password "secret")))
13421 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13422 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13423 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13424 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13425 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13426 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13430 @node Mail Back End Variables
13431 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13433 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13437 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13438 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13439 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13440 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13442 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13443 @item nnmail-split-hook
13444 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13445 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13446 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13447 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13448 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13449 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13450 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13451 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13452 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13455 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13456 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13457 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13458 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13459 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13460 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13461 starting to handle the new mail) and
13462 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13463 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13464 default file modes the new mail files get:
13467 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13468 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13470 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13471 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13474 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13475 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13476 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13477 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13478 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13479 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13480 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13482 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13483 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13484 @findex delete-file
13485 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13487 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13488 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13489 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13490 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13491 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13493 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13494 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13495 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13496 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13497 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13499 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13500 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13501 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13506 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13507 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13508 @cindex mail splitting
13509 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13511 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13512 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13513 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13514 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13515 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13516 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13518 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13521 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13522 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13523 ;; from real errors.
13524 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13526 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13527 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13528 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13529 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13530 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13531 ;; Other mailing lists...
13532 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13533 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13534 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13535 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13536 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13537 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13538 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13539 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13541 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13542 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13546 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13547 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13548 the five possible split syntaxes:
13553 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13554 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13558 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13559 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13560 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13561 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13562 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13563 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13564 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13565 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13568 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13569 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13570 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13571 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13574 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13575 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13578 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13579 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13582 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13583 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13584 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13585 function should return a @var{split}.
13588 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13589 body of the messages:
13592 (defun split-on-body ()
13594 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13595 (goto-char (point-min))
13596 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13600 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13601 when the @code{:} function is run.
13604 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13605 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13606 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13607 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13610 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13614 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13615 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13616 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13617 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13618 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13620 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13621 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13622 are expanded as specified by the variable
13623 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13624 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13627 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13628 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13629 when all this splitting is performed.
13631 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13632 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13633 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13636 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13639 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13640 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13642 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13643 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13644 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13645 groupings 1 through 9.
13647 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13648 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13649 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13650 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13651 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13652 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13653 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13654 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13655 it once per thread.
13657 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13658 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13659 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13662 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13663 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13665 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13666 ;; other splits go here
13670 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13671 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13672 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13673 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13674 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13675 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13676 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13677 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13678 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13679 unless the group name matches the regexp
13680 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13681 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13682 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13683 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13684 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13685 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13686 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13687 messages goes into the new group.
13689 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13690 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13691 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13692 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13693 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13697 @node Group Mail Splitting
13698 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13699 @cindex mail splitting
13700 @cindex group mail splitting
13702 @findex gnus-group-split
13703 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13704 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13705 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13706 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13707 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13708 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13709 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13710 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13712 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13713 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13714 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13715 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13717 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13718 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13719 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13720 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13721 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13722 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13723 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13725 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13726 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13727 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13728 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13729 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13730 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13731 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13733 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13734 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13735 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13736 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13737 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13738 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13739 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13740 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13741 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13742 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13743 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13744 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13745 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13747 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13752 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13753 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13755 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13756 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13757 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13758 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13760 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13763 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13764 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13765 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13768 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13769 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13770 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13774 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13775 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13776 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13780 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13783 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13784 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13785 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13786 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13787 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13788 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13789 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13790 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13791 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13793 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13794 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13795 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13796 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13797 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13798 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13799 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13800 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13801 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13803 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13804 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13805 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13806 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13807 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13808 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13811 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13814 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13815 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13816 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13817 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13818 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13821 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13822 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13823 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13824 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13826 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13827 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13828 @cindex incorporating old mail
13829 @cindex import old mail
13831 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13832 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13833 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13836 Doing so can be quite easy.
13838 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13839 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13840 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13841 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13842 your @code{nnml} groups.
13848 Go to the group buffer.
13851 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13852 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13855 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13858 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13859 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13862 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13863 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13866 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13867 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13868 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13869 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13870 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13872 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13873 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13874 using the new mail back end.
13877 @node Expiring Mail
13878 @subsection Expiring Mail
13879 @cindex article expiry
13881 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13882 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13883 different approach to mail reading.
13885 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13886 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13887 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13888 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13889 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13890 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13893 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13894 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13895 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13896 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13897 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13898 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13899 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13900 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13901 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13903 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13904 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13905 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13906 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13907 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13908 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13909 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13912 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13913 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13914 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13915 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13916 into its own group.)
13918 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13919 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13920 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13921 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13922 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13923 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13924 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13925 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13928 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13929 Groups that match the regular expression
13930 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13931 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13932 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13934 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13935 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13936 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13937 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13938 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13940 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13942 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13943 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13944 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13947 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13948 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13949 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13950 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13951 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13953 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13954 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13957 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13958 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13961 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13962 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13964 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13965 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13966 don't really mix very well.
13968 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13969 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13970 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13971 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13974 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13975 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13976 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13977 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13980 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13982 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13984 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13986 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13988 ((string= group "important")
13994 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13995 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13997 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13998 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13999 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14002 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14003 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14005 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14006 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14007 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14008 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14009 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14010 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14011 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14012 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14013 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14014 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14015 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14016 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
14017 name or @code{delete}.
14019 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14021 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14024 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14025 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14026 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14027 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14028 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14031 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14032 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14033 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14034 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14035 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14038 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14039 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14040 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14041 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14042 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14043 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14045 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14046 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14047 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14048 easier for procmail users.
14050 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14051 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14052 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14053 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14054 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14055 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14056 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14057 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14058 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14059 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14060 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14061 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14062 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14065 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14067 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14068 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14069 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14070 auto-expire turned on.
14074 @subsection Washing Mail
14075 @cindex mail washing
14076 @cindex list server brain damage
14077 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14079 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14080 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14081 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14082 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14083 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14084 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14086 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14087 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14088 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14091 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14092 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14093 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14094 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14097 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14098 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14099 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14100 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14101 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14104 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14105 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14106 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14107 Emacs running on MS machines.
14111 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14112 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14113 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14114 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14117 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14118 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14119 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14120 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14122 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14123 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14124 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14125 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14126 into a feature by documenting it.)
14128 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14129 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14130 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14131 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14132 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14133 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14134 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14137 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14138 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14141 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14142 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14145 This can also be done non-destructively with
14146 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14148 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14149 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14150 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14152 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14153 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14155 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14156 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14157 @code{References} headers.
14161 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14162 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14163 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14167 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14168 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14169 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14176 @subsection Duplicates
14178 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14179 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14180 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14181 @cindex duplicate mails
14182 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14183 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14184 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14185 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14186 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14187 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14188 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14189 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14190 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14191 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14192 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14193 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14194 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14196 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14197 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14198 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14199 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14201 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14204 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14205 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14209 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14210 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14211 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14212 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14213 (any mail "mail.misc")
14220 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14221 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14226 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14227 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14228 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14229 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14230 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14233 @node Not Reading Mail
14234 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14236 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14237 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14238 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14240 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14241 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14242 mail, which should help.
14244 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14245 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14246 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14247 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14248 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14249 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14250 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14251 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14252 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14253 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14254 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14256 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14257 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14261 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14262 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14264 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14265 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14266 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14268 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14269 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14270 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14271 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14272 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14273 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14274 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14277 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14278 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14279 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14280 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14281 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14282 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14286 @node Unix Mail Box
14287 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14289 @cindex unix mail box
14291 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14292 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14293 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14294 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14295 which group it belongs in.
14297 Virtual server settings:
14300 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14301 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14302 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14305 @item nnmbox-active-file
14306 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14307 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14308 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14310 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14311 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14312 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14313 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14318 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14322 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14323 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14324 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14325 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14326 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14328 Virtual server settings:
14331 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14332 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14333 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14335 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14336 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14337 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14338 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14340 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14341 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14342 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14348 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14350 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14352 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14353 format. It should be used with some caution.
14355 @vindex nnml-directory
14356 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14357 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14358 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14359 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14361 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14364 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14365 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14366 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14367 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14368 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14369 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14370 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14371 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14373 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14374 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14375 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14376 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14378 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14380 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14381 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14382 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14383 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14384 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14385 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14386 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14387 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14390 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14391 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14392 them next time it starts.
14394 Virtual server settings:
14397 @item nnml-directory
14398 @vindex nnml-directory
14399 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14400 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14403 @item nnml-active-file
14404 @vindex nnml-active-file
14405 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14406 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14408 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14409 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14410 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14411 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14413 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14414 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14415 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14418 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14419 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14420 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14421 default is @code{nil}.
14423 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14424 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14425 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14427 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14428 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14429 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14431 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14432 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14433 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14434 default is @code{nil}.
14436 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14437 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14438 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14440 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14441 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14442 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14447 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14448 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14449 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14450 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14451 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14452 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14453 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14458 @subsubsection MH Spool
14460 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14462 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14463 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14464 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14465 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14467 Virtual server settings:
14470 @item nnmh-directory
14471 @vindex nnmh-directory
14472 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14473 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14476 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14477 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14478 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14482 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14483 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14484 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14485 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14486 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14487 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14488 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14493 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14495 @cindex mbox folders
14496 @cindex mail folders
14498 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14499 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14500 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14503 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14505 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14506 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14507 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14508 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14509 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14510 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14511 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14512 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14513 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14514 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14516 Virtual server settings:
14519 @item nnfolder-directory
14520 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14521 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14522 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14525 @item nnfolder-active-file
14526 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14527 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14529 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14530 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14531 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14532 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
14534 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14535 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14536 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14539 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14540 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14541 @cindex backup files
14542 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14543 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14544 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14545 your @file{.emacs} file:
14548 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14549 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14551 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14554 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14555 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14556 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14557 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14558 extract some information from it before removing it.
14560 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14561 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14562 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14563 default is @code{nil}.
14565 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14566 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14567 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14569 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14570 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14571 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14572 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14574 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14575 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14576 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14577 default is @code{nil}.
14579 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14580 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14581 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14583 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14584 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14585 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14586 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14591 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14592 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14593 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14594 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14595 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14596 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14599 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14600 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14602 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14603 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14604 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14605 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14606 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14608 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14609 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14610 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14611 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14612 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14613 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14614 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14615 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14618 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14619 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14620 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14621 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14626 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14627 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14628 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14629 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14630 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14631 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14632 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14633 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14634 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14635 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14636 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14637 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14638 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14643 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14644 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14645 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14646 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14647 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14648 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14649 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14650 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14651 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14652 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14653 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14654 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14655 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14656 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14658 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14659 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14664 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14665 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14666 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14667 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14668 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14669 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14670 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14671 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14672 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14673 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14674 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14675 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14676 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14677 provided by the active file and overviews.
14679 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14680 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14681 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14682 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14683 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14686 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14687 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14692 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14693 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14694 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14695 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14696 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14697 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14698 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14702 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14703 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14704 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14705 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14706 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14707 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14708 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14709 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14710 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14712 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14713 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14714 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14715 friendly mail back end all over.
14719 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14720 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14721 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14722 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14723 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14724 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14725 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14726 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14729 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14730 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14731 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14732 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14733 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14734 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14735 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14736 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14737 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14738 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14739 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14741 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14742 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14743 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14744 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14745 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14746 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14747 This will probably be changed in the future.
14749 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14750 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14751 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14752 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14753 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14756 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14757 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14759 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14760 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14761 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14762 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14763 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14764 would) to make it use less memory.
14766 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14767 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14768 depending in part on your file system.
14770 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14771 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14776 @node Browsing the Web
14777 @section Browsing the Web
14779 @cindex browsing the web
14783 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14784 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14785 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14786 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14787 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14788 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14789 even know what a news group is.
14791 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14792 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14793 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14794 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14795 you mad in the end.
14797 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14800 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14801 interfaces to these sources.
14805 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14806 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14807 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14808 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14809 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14810 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14813 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14815 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14816 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14817 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14818 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14819 though, you should be ok.
14821 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14822 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14823 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14824 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14825 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14827 @node Archiving Mail
14828 @subsection Archiving Mail
14829 @cindex archiving mail
14830 @cindex backup of mail
14832 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14833 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14834 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14835 marks is fairly simple.
14837 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14838 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14841 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14842 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14843 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14844 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14845 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14846 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14847 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14848 before you restore the data.
14850 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14851 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14852 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14853 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14854 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14855 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14856 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14857 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14858 is unnecessary in that case.
14861 @subsection Web Searches
14866 @cindex Usenet searches
14867 @cindex searching the Usenet
14869 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14870 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14871 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14872 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14873 searches without having to use a browser.
14875 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14876 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14877 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14878 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14879 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14881 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14882 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14883 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14884 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14885 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14886 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14887 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14888 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14889 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14890 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14893 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14894 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14895 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14896 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14897 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14898 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14900 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14901 to use @code{nnweb}.
14903 Virtual server variables:
14908 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14909 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14910 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14913 @vindex nnweb-search
14914 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14916 @item nnweb-max-hits
14917 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14918 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14921 @item nnweb-type-definition
14922 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14923 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14924 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14929 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14933 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14936 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14939 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14943 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14950 @subsection Slashdot
14954 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14955 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14956 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14958 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14959 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14962 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14963 '((nnslashdot "")))
14966 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14967 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14968 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14969 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14970 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14973 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14974 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14976 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14977 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14978 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14979 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14980 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14981 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14984 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14987 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14988 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14989 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14990 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14991 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14992 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14993 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
14995 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14996 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14997 The login name to use when posting.
14999 @item nnslashdot-password
15000 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15001 The password to use when posting.
15003 @item nnslashdot-directory
15004 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15005 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15006 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15008 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15009 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15010 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15011 news articles and comments. The default is
15012 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15014 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15015 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15016 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15018 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15020 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15021 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15022 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15024 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15026 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15027 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15028 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15030 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15031 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15032 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15033 updated. The default is 0.
15040 @subsection Ultimate
15042 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15044 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
15045 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15046 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15047 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15049 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15050 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15051 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15052 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15053 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15054 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15055 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15057 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15060 @item nnultimate-directory
15061 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15062 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15063 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15068 @subsection Web Archive
15070 @cindex Web Archive
15072 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15073 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15074 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15075 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15078 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15079 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15080 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15081 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15082 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15083 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15084 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15085 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15087 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15090 @item nnwarchive-directory
15091 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15092 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15093 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15095 @item nnwarchive-login
15096 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15097 The account name on the web server.
15099 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15100 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15101 The password for your account on the web server.
15109 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15110 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15111 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15114 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15115 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15118 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15121 @item nnrss-directory
15122 @vindex nnrss-directory
15123 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15124 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15128 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15129 the summary buffer.
15132 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15133 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15135 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15137 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15138 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15141 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15144 (require 'browse-url)
15146 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15148 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15151 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15152 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15155 (browse-url (cdr url))
15156 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15157 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15159 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15160 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15161 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15162 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15165 @node Customizing w3
15166 @subsection Customizing w3
15172 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15173 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15174 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15176 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15177 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15178 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15181 (eval-after-load "w3"
15183 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15184 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15185 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15186 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15188 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15191 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15192 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15201 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15202 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15203 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15204 specify the network address of the server.
15206 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15207 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15208 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15209 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15210 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15212 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15213 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15214 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15215 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15217 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15218 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15219 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15220 usage explained in this section.
15222 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15223 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15224 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15227 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15228 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15229 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15231 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15232 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15233 ; a UW server running on localhost
15235 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15236 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15237 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15238 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15239 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15240 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15241 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15242 (nnimap-stream network))
15243 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15245 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15246 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15247 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15250 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15251 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15252 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15253 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15255 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15260 @item nnimap-address
15261 @vindex nnimap-address
15263 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15264 server name if not specified.
15266 @item nnimap-server-port
15267 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15268 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15270 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15273 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15274 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15277 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15278 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15279 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15280 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15281 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15282 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15283 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15285 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15286 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15287 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15290 Example server specification:
15293 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15294 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15295 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15298 @item nnimap-stream
15299 @vindex nnimap-stream
15300 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15301 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15302 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15303 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15305 Example server specification:
15308 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15309 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15312 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15316 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15317 @samp{imtest} program.
15319 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15321 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15322 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15325 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15326 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15328 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15330 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15333 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15334 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15335 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15336 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15337 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15338 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15339 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15340 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15341 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15344 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15345 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15346 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15347 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15348 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15349 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15350 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15353 @vindex imap-shell-program
15354 @vindex imap-shell-host
15355 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15356 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15358 @item nnimap-authenticator
15359 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15361 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15362 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15364 Example server specification:
15367 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15368 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15371 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15375 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15376 external program @code{imtest}.
15378 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15381 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15382 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15384 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15386 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15388 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15391 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15393 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15394 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15395 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15396 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15397 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15398 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15401 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15402 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15403 running in circles yet?
15405 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15406 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15409 The possible options are:
15414 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15417 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15418 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15419 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15420 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15422 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15427 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15428 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15430 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15431 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15432 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15433 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15434 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15437 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15438 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15441 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15442 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15443 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15444 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15447 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15448 as ticked for other users.
15450 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15452 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15454 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15455 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15456 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15457 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15459 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15460 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15461 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15462 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15464 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15465 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15467 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15468 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15469 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15475 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15476 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15477 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15478 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
15479 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15484 @node Splitting in IMAP
15485 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15486 @cindex splitting imap mail
15488 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15489 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15490 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15491 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15492 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15496 Here are the variables of interest:
15500 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15501 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15503 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15505 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15506 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15508 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15510 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15511 @cindex splitting, inbox
15513 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15515 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15516 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15520 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15521 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15524 No nnmail equivalent.
15526 @item nnimap-split-rule
15527 @cindex Splitting, rules
15528 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15530 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15533 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15534 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15535 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15536 Neither did I, we need examples.
15539 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15541 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15542 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15543 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15546 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15547 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15548 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15550 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15551 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15555 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15558 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15559 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15561 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15562 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15563 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15564 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15566 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15567 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15568 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15569 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15570 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15571 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15573 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15574 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
15575 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
15577 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15578 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15579 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15581 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15583 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15584 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15585 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15588 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15589 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15590 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15591 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15592 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15593 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15596 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15597 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15598 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15599 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15600 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15601 group/function elements.
15603 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15605 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15607 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15609 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15610 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15612 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15613 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15614 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15617 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15618 @cindex splitting, fancy
15619 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15620 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15622 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15623 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15624 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15626 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15627 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15628 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15629 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15634 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15635 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15638 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15640 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15641 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15642 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15644 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15645 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15646 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15647 analyses the body to split the article.
15651 @node Expiring in IMAP
15652 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15653 @cindex expiring imap mail
15655 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
15656 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
15657 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
15658 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
15659 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
15660 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
15663 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15664 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15665 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15666 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15667 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15668 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15669 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15670 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15674 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15675 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15677 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15678 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
15680 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15682 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15683 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15684 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15685 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15689 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15690 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15691 @cindex editing imap acls
15692 @cindex Access Control Lists
15693 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15695 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15697 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15698 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15699 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15702 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15703 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15704 editing window with detailed instructions.
15706 Some possible uses:
15710 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15711 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15712 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15714 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15715 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
15716 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15720 @node Expunging mailboxes
15721 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15725 @cindex Manual expunging
15727 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15729 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15730 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15731 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15733 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15736 @node A note on namespaces
15737 @subsection A note on namespaces
15738 @cindex IMAP namespace
15741 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15742 following text in the RFC:
15745 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15747 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15748 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15749 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15750 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15752 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15753 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15754 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15755 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15756 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15757 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15760 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15761 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15762 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15764 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15765 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15766 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15767 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15768 the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15769 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15770 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15771 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15773 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15774 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15775 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15777 @node Other Sources
15778 @section Other Sources
15780 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15781 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15785 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15786 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15787 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15788 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15789 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15793 @node Directory Groups
15794 @subsection Directory Groups
15796 @cindex directory groups
15798 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15799 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15802 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15803 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15804 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15805 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15807 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15808 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15809 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15810 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15811 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15813 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15815 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15816 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15817 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15818 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15821 @node Anything Groups
15822 @subsection Anything Groups
15825 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15826 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15827 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15830 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15831 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15832 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15833 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15834 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15835 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15836 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15837 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15838 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15839 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15842 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15843 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15844 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15845 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15847 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15848 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15849 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15850 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15852 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15853 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15854 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15855 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15856 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15857 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15858 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15859 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15864 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15865 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15866 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15867 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15869 @item nneething-exclude-files
15870 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15871 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15872 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15874 @item nneething-include-files
15875 @vindex nneething-include-files
15876 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15877 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15879 @item nneething-map-file
15880 @vindex nneething-map-file
15881 Name of the map files.
15885 @node Document Groups
15886 @subsection Document Groups
15888 @cindex documentation group
15891 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15892 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15899 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15904 The standard Unix mbox file.
15906 @cindex MMDF mail box
15908 The MMDF mail box format.
15911 Several news articles appended into a file.
15914 @cindex rnews batch files
15915 The rnews batch transport format.
15916 @cindex forwarded messages
15919 Forwarded articles.
15922 Netscape mail boxes.
15925 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15927 @item standard-digest
15928 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15931 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15933 @item lanl-gov-announce
15934 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15936 @item rfc822-forward
15937 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15940 The Outlook mail box.
15943 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15946 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15949 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15952 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15958 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15961 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15967 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15968 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15969 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15972 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15973 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15974 group. And that's it.
15976 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15977 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15978 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15979 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15980 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15981 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15982 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15983 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15984 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15985 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15987 Virtual server variables:
15990 @item nndoc-article-type
15991 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15992 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15993 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15994 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15995 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15996 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15998 @item nndoc-post-type
15999 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16000 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16001 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16006 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16010 @node Document Server Internals
16011 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16013 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16014 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16015 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16016 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16018 First, here's an example document type definition:
16022 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16023 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16026 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16027 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16028 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16029 types can be defined with very few settings:
16032 @item first-article
16033 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16034 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16037 @item article-begin
16038 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16039 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16041 @item head-begin-function
16042 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16045 @item nndoc-head-begin
16046 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16049 @item nndoc-head-end
16050 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16051 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16053 @item body-begin-function
16054 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16058 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16061 @item body-end-function
16062 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16066 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16069 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16070 regexp will be totally ignored.
16074 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16075 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16076 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16077 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16078 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16081 @item prepare-body-function
16082 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16083 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16084 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16086 @item article-transform-function
16087 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16088 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16089 body of the article.
16091 @item generate-head-function
16092 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16093 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16094 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16095 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16099 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16104 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16105 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16106 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16107 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16108 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16109 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16110 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16111 (subtype digest guess))
16114 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16115 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16116 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16117 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16118 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16120 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16121 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16122 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16123 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16124 The alist is traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is
16125 called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is
16126 called to see whether a document is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on.
16127 These type predicates should return @code{nil} if the document is not
16128 of the correct type; @code{t} if it is of the correct type; and a
16129 number if the document might be of the correct type. A high number
16130 means high probability; a low number means low probability with
16131 @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16139 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16140 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16141 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16143 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16144 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16145 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16148 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16149 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16150 that interested in doing things properly.
16152 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16153 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16156 First some terminology:
16161 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16162 get news and/or mail from.
16165 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16166 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16169 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16173 @item message packets
16174 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16175 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16176 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16178 @item response packets
16179 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16180 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16181 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16191 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16192 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16193 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16194 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16197 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16200 You put the packet in your home directory.
16203 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16204 the native or secondary server.
16207 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16208 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16211 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16215 You transfer this packet to the server.
16218 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16221 You then repeat until you die.
16225 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16226 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16229 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16230 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16231 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16235 @node SOUP Commands
16236 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16238 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16242 @kindex G s b (Group)
16243 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16244 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16245 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16246 process/prefix convention.
16249 @kindex G s w (Group)
16250 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16251 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16254 @kindex G s s (Group)
16255 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16256 Send all replies from the replies packet
16257 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16260 @kindex G s p (Group)
16261 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16262 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16265 @kindex G s r (Group)
16266 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16267 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16270 @kindex O s (Summary)
16271 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16272 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16273 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16274 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16279 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16284 @item gnus-soup-directory
16285 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16286 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16287 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16289 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16290 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16291 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16292 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16294 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16295 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16296 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16297 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16299 @item gnus-soup-packer
16300 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16301 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16302 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16304 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16305 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16306 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16307 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16309 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16310 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16311 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16313 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16314 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16315 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16316 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16322 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16325 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16326 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16327 you can read them at leisure.
16329 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16333 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16334 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16335 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16336 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16338 @item nnsoup-directory
16339 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16340 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16341 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16343 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16344 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16345 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16346 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16348 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16349 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16350 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16351 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16352 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16354 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16355 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16356 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16357 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16359 @item nnsoup-active-file
16360 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16361 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16362 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16363 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16364 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16366 @item nnsoup-packer
16367 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16368 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16369 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16371 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16372 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16373 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16374 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16376 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16377 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16378 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16381 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16382 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16383 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16386 @item nnsoup-always-save
16387 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16388 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16394 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16396 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16397 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16398 more for that to happen.
16400 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16401 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16402 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16405 In specific, this is what it does:
16408 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16409 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16412 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16413 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16414 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16417 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16418 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16419 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16422 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16423 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16424 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16426 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16432 @item nngateway-address
16433 @vindex nngateway-address
16434 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16436 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16437 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16438 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16439 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16440 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16441 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16442 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16445 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16446 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16447 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16450 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16453 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16456 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16459 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16461 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16464 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16465 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16466 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16468 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16470 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16471 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16472 @code{nngateway-address}.
16477 (setq gnus-post-method
16479 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16480 (nngateway-header-transformation
16481 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16489 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16492 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16497 @node Combined Groups
16498 @section Combined Groups
16500 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16504 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16505 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16509 @node Virtual Groups
16510 @subsection Virtual Groups
16512 @cindex virtual groups
16513 @cindex merging groups
16515 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16518 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16519 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16520 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16522 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16523 regexp to match component groups.
16525 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16526 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16527 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16528 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16529 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16530 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16531 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16532 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16534 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16535 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16538 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16541 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16542 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16544 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16545 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16546 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16547 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16550 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16553 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16554 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16555 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16557 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16558 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16559 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16560 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16561 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16563 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16564 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16565 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16567 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16568 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16569 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16570 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16571 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16572 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16573 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16574 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16575 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16576 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16577 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16579 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16580 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16581 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16582 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16583 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16584 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16585 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16587 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16588 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16590 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16591 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16595 @node Kibozed Groups
16596 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16600 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16601 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16602 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16603 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16605 @kindex G k (Group)
16606 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16609 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16610 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16611 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16612 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16614 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16615 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16616 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16618 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16619 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16620 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16621 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16622 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16623 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16624 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16625 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16627 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16628 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16629 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16630 Stranger things have happened.
16632 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16633 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16635 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16636 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16637 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16638 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16639 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16640 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16642 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16643 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16646 @node Gnus Unplugged
16647 @section Gnus Unplugged
16652 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16654 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16655 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16656 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16657 read news. Believe it or not.
16659 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16660 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16661 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16662 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16663 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16665 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16666 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16667 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16668 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16669 reading news on a machine.
16671 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16672 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16674 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16677 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16678 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16679 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16680 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16681 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16682 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
16683 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16684 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16685 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16686 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16687 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16688 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16693 @subsection Agent Basics
16695 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16697 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16698 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16699 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16700 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16702 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16703 connected to the net continuously.
16705 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16706 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16708 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16713 @findex gnus-unplugged
16714 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16715 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16716 already fetched while in this mode.
16719 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16720 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16721 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16722 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16723 Source Specifiers}).
16726 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16727 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16728 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16729 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16730 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16733 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16734 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16735 then you read the news offline.
16738 And then you go to step 2.
16741 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16747 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16748 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16749 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16750 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16751 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16752 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16753 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16754 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16757 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16760 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
16764 @node Agent Categories
16765 @subsection Agent Categories
16767 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16768 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16769 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16770 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16771 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16772 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16773 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16775 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16776 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16777 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16778 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16779 managing categories.
16782 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16783 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16784 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16788 @node Category Syntax
16789 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16791 A category consists of two things.
16795 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16796 are eligible for downloading; and
16799 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16800 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16801 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16804 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16805 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16806 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16807 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16809 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16810 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16811 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16813 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16814 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16815 operators sprinkled in between.
16817 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16819 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16820 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16826 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16827 short (for some value of ``short'').
16829 Here's a more complex predicate:
16838 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16839 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16842 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16843 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16844 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16846 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16847 you want to do, you can write your own.
16851 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16852 lines; default 100.
16855 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16856 lines; default 200.
16859 True iff the article has a download score less than
16860 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16863 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16864 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16867 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16868 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16869 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16878 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16879 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16880 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16883 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16884 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16885 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16886 something along the lines of the following:
16889 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16890 "Say whether an article is old."
16891 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16892 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16895 with the predicate then defined as:
16898 (not my-article-old-p)
16901 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16902 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16906 (require 'gnus-agent)
16907 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16908 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16909 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16912 and simply specify your predicate as:
16918 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16919 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16920 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16921 just don't give a damn.
16923 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
16924 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16925 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16926 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16927 parameters like so:
16930 (agent-predicate . short)
16933 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16934 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16935 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16937 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16940 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16943 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16944 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16945 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16948 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16949 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16950 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16951 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16952 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16953 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16955 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16956 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16957 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16958 if it's to be specific to that group.
16960 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16967 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16968 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16974 Category specification
16978 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16984 Group Parameter specification
16987 (agent-score ("from"
16988 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16993 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16999 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17000 keywords stated above.
17006 Category specification
17009 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17015 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17019 Group Parameter specification
17022 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17025 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17030 Use @code{normal} score files
17032 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17033 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17034 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17035 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17037 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17038 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17039 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17040 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17044 Category Specification
17051 Group Parameter specification
17054 (agent-score . file)
17059 @node Category Buffer
17060 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17062 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17063 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17064 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17066 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17070 @kindex q (Category)
17071 @findex gnus-category-exit
17072 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17075 @kindex k (Category)
17076 @findex gnus-category-kill
17077 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17080 @kindex c (Category)
17081 @findex gnus-category-copy
17082 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17085 @kindex a (Category)
17086 @findex gnus-category-add
17087 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17090 @kindex p (Category)
17091 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17092 Edit the predicate of the current category
17093 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17096 @kindex g (Category)
17097 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17098 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17099 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17102 @kindex s (Category)
17103 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17104 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17105 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17108 @kindex l (Category)
17109 @findex gnus-category-list
17110 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17114 @node Category Variables
17115 @subsubsection Category Variables
17118 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17119 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17120 Hook run in category buffers.
17122 @item gnus-category-line-format
17123 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17124 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17125 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17129 The name of the category.
17132 The number of groups in the category.
17135 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17136 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17137 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17139 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17140 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17141 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17143 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17144 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17145 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17147 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17148 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17149 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17152 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17153 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17154 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17160 @node Agent Commands
17161 @subsection Agent Commands
17162 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17163 @kindex J j (Agent)
17165 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17166 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17167 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17171 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17172 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17173 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17179 @node Group Agent Commands
17180 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17184 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17185 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17186 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17187 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17190 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17191 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17192 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17195 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17196 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17197 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17198 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17201 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17202 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17203 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17204 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17207 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17208 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17209 Add the current group to an Agent category
17210 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17211 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17214 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17215 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17216 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17217 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17218 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17221 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17222 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17223 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17229 @node Summary Agent Commands
17230 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17234 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17235 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17236 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17239 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17240 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17241 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17242 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17246 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17247 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17248 Toggle whether to download the article
17249 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17253 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17254 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17255 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17258 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17259 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17260 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17261 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17264 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17265 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17266 Download all processable articles in this group.
17267 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17270 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17271 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17272 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17273 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17278 @node Server Agent Commands
17279 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17283 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17284 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17285 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17286 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17289 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17290 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17291 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17292 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17297 @node Agent as Cache
17298 @subsection Agent as Cache
17300 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17301 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17302 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17303 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17304 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17305 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17306 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17307 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17308 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17310 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17311 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17314 @subsection Agent Expiry
17316 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17317 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17318 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17319 @cindex Agent expiry
17320 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17323 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17324 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17325 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17326 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17327 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17328 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17330 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17331 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17332 synchronized with the group.
17334 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17335 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17336 expiry in different groups.
17339 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17345 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17346 method---it must always match all groups. Also, for a regexp to match,
17347 it must match from the beginning of the group's name.
17349 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17350 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17351 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17352 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17353 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17355 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17356 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17357 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17359 @node Agent Regeneration
17360 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17362 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17363 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17364 @cindex regeneration
17366 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17367 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17368 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17369 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17370 internal inconsistencies.
17372 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17373 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17374 know about articles downloaded prior to the connection failure.
17375 Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17376 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17377 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17379 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17380 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17381 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17382 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17383 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17384 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17386 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17387 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17388 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17389 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17390 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17391 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17394 @node Agent and IMAP
17395 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17397 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17398 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17399 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17400 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17402 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17403 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17404 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17405 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17407 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17408 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17409 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17410 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17412 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17413 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17414 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17415 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17416 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17417 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17419 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17420 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17421 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17422 in the group buffer.
17424 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17425 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17430 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17433 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17437 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
17438 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17439 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17440 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17441 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17442 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
17443 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17444 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17447 @node Outgoing Messages
17448 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17450 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17451 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17452 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17454 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17455 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17456 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17457 messages in the draft group.
17461 @node Agent Variables
17462 @subsection Agent Variables
17465 @item gnus-agent-directory
17466 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17467 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17468 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17470 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17471 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17472 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17473 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17474 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17477 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17478 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17479 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17481 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17482 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17483 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17485 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17486 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17487 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17489 @item gnus-agent-cache
17490 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17491 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17492 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17493 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17495 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17496 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17497 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17498 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17499 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17500 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17501 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17504 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17505 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17506 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
17507 mark articles as unread after downloading. The default is t.
17509 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17510 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17511 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
17512 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
17513 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
17515 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17516 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17517 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
17518 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
17519 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
17520 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
17521 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
17522 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
17523 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
17524 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
17525 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
17526 available while unplugged).
17528 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17529 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17530 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17531 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17532 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17533 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17534 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17535 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17536 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17541 @node Example Setup
17542 @subsection Example Setup
17544 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17545 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17546 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17549 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17550 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17551 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17553 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17554 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17555 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17557 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17558 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17560 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17561 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17562 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17565 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17566 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17569 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17570 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17571 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17572 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17573 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17576 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17577 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17578 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17579 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17580 back all the killed groups.)
17582 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17583 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17584 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17587 @node Batching Agents
17588 @subsection Batching Agents
17589 @findex gnus-agent-batch
17591 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17592 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17593 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17595 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17596 following incantation:
17600 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17604 @node Agent Caveats
17605 @subsection Agent Caveats
17607 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17608 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17612 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17614 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
17615 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
17616 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
17618 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17620 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
17624 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17625 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
17626 locally stored articles.
17633 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17634 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17635 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17638 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17639 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17640 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17641 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17642 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17644 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17645 before generating the summary buffer.
17647 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17648 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17649 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17651 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17652 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17653 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17654 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17657 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17658 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17659 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17660 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17661 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17662 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17663 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17664 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17665 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17666 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17667 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17668 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17669 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17670 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17671 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17672 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17673 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17677 @node Summary Score Commands
17678 @section Summary Score Commands
17679 @cindex score commands
17681 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17682 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17683 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17684 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17685 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17687 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17688 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17689 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17690 score file the current one.
17692 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17697 @kindex V s (Summary)
17698 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17699 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17702 @kindex V S (Summary)
17703 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17704 Display the score of the current article
17705 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17708 @kindex V t (Summary)
17709 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17710 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17711 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17714 @kindex V w (Summary)
17715 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17716 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17719 @kindex V R (Summary)
17720 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17721 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17722 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17723 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17724 effect you're having.
17727 @kindex V c (Summary)
17728 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17729 Make a different score file the current
17730 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17733 @kindex V e (Summary)
17734 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17735 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17736 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17740 @kindex V f (Summary)
17741 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17742 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17743 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17746 @kindex V F (Summary)
17747 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17748 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17749 after editing score files.
17752 @kindex V C (Summary)
17753 @findex gnus-score-customize
17754 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17755 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17759 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17764 @kindex V m (Summary)
17765 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17766 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17767 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17770 @kindex V x (Summary)
17771 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17772 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17773 expunge all articles below this score
17774 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17777 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17778 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17781 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17782 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17786 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17787 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17789 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17790 keys are available:
17794 Score on the author name.
17797 Score on the subject line.
17800 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17803 Score on the @code{References} line.
17809 Score on the number of lines.
17812 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17815 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17816 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17819 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17820 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17821 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17830 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17836 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17837 what headers you are scoring on.
17849 Substring matching.
17852 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17881 Greater than number.
17886 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17887 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17888 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17893 Temporary score entry.
17896 Permanent score entry.
17899 Immediately scoring.
17903 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17904 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17905 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17909 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17910 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17911 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17912 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17914 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17915 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17916 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17917 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17918 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17920 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17921 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17922 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17923 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17924 current score file.
17926 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17927 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17928 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17931 @node Group Score Commands
17932 @section Group Score Commands
17933 @cindex group score commands
17935 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17940 @kindex W f (Group)
17941 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17942 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17943 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17944 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17948 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17950 @findex gnus-batch-score
17951 @cindex batch scoring
17953 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17957 @node Score Variables
17958 @section Score Variables
17959 @cindex score variables
17963 @item gnus-use-scoring
17964 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17965 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17966 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17968 @item gnus-kill-killed
17969 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17970 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17971 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17972 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17973 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17974 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17975 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17977 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17978 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17979 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17980 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17981 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17983 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17984 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17985 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17986 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
17988 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17989 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17990 @cindex score cache
17991 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17992 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17993 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
17994 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
17995 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17996 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17997 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18000 @item gnus-save-score
18001 @vindex gnus-save-score
18002 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18003 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18004 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18006 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18007 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18008 across group visits.
18010 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18011 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18012 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18013 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18014 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18015 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18016 manually entered data.
18018 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18019 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18020 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18022 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18023 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18024 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18025 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18026 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18027 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18029 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18030 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18031 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18032 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18034 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18035 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18036 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18037 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18039 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18040 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18041 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18042 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18044 Predefined functions available are:
18047 @item gnus-score-find-single
18048 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18049 Only apply the group's own score file.
18051 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18052 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18053 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18054 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18055 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18056 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18057 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18058 then a regexp match is done.
18060 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18061 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18063 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18064 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18065 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18066 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18068 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18069 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18070 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18071 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18072 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18076 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18077 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18078 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18079 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18080 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18081 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18082 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18085 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18086 overall score file, you could use the value
18088 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18089 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18092 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18093 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18094 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18095 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18096 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18098 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18099 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18100 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18101 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18102 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18103 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18104 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18105 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18107 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18108 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18109 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18111 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18112 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18113 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18114 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18115 threading---according to the current value of
18116 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18117 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18118 simplified in this manner.
18123 @node Score File Format
18124 @section Score File Format
18125 @cindex score file format
18127 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18128 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18129 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18131 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18135 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18137 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18139 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18141 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18146 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18150 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18151 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18152 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18153 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18157 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18158 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18160 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18161 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18162 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18164 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18169 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18170 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18171 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18172 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18173 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18174 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18175 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18176 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18177 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18178 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18179 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18180 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18181 to articles that matches these score entries.
18183 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18184 score entry has one to four elements.
18188 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18189 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18193 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18194 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18195 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18196 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18197 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18198 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18201 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18202 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18203 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18204 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18205 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18208 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18209 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18210 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18211 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18214 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18215 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18216 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18217 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18218 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18219 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18220 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18221 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18222 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18223 instead, if you feel like.
18226 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18227 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18228 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18229 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18230 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18231 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18234 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18238 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18239 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18241 These predicates are true if
18244 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18247 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18248 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18255 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18256 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18257 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18258 it's not. I think.)
18260 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18261 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18262 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18263 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18266 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18267 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18268 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18269 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18270 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18271 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18272 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18276 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18277 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18278 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18279 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18280 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18281 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18282 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18283 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18286 @item Head, Body, All
18287 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18291 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18292 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18293 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18294 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18295 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18296 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18297 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18301 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18302 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18303 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18304 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18305 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18306 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18307 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18308 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18309 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18310 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18311 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18315 @cindex Score File Atoms
18317 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18318 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18321 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18322 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18324 @item mark-and-expunge
18325 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18326 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18329 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18330 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18331 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18332 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18333 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18336 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18337 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18340 @item exclude-files
18341 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18342 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18346 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18347 ignored when handling global score files.
18350 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18351 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18352 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18353 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18356 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18357 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18358 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18359 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18361 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18365 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18368 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18369 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18370 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18371 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18372 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18374 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18375 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18376 scoring rules exist.
18379 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18380 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18381 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18382 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18383 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18384 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18385 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18386 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18387 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18388 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18389 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18393 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18394 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18395 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18396 file for a number of groups.
18399 @cindex local variables
18400 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
18401 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
18402 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
18403 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
18404 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
18409 @node Score File Editing
18410 @section Score File Editing
18412 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18413 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18414 with a mode for that.
18416 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18417 additional commands:
18422 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18423 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18424 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18425 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18428 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18429 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18430 Insert the current date in numerical format
18431 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18432 you were wondering.
18435 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18436 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18437 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18438 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18439 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18444 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18446 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18447 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18449 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18450 e} to begin editing score files.
18453 @node Adaptive Scoring
18454 @section Adaptive Scoring
18455 @cindex adaptive scoring
18457 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18458 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18459 stupidity, to be precise.
18461 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18462 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18463 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18464 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18465 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18466 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18467 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18468 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18469 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18471 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18472 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18473 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18474 might look something like this:
18477 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18478 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18479 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18480 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18481 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18482 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18483 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18484 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18485 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18486 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18487 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18488 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18491 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18492 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18493 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18494 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18495 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18496 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18499 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18500 will be applied to each article.
18502 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18503 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18504 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18505 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18507 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18508 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18509 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18510 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18512 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18513 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18514 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18515 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18517 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18518 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18519 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18520 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18521 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18522 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18524 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18525 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18526 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18528 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18529 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18530 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18532 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18533 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18534 let you use different rules in different groups.
18536 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18537 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18538 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18541 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18542 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18543 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18544 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18545 the length of the match is less than
18546 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18547 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18550 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18551 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18552 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18553 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18554 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18557 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18558 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18559 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18560 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18561 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18564 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18565 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18566 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18567 score with 30 points.
18569 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18570 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18571 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18572 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18573 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18575 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18576 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18577 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18578 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18579 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18581 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18582 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18583 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18584 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18586 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18587 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18588 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18589 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18591 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18592 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18593 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18594 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18595 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18597 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18598 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18599 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18601 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18602 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18603 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18604 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18607 @node Home Score File
18608 @section Home Score File
18610 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18611 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18612 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18613 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18615 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18616 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18617 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18619 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18620 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18625 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18629 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18630 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18634 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18638 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18639 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18642 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18643 the home score file.
18646 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18649 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18654 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18657 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18658 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18661 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18662 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18664 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18666 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18667 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18670 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18671 Other functions include
18674 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18675 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18676 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18677 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18681 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18682 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18683 their own home score files:
18686 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18687 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18688 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18689 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18690 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18693 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18694 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18695 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18696 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18697 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18699 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18700 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18701 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18702 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18703 precedence over this variable.
18706 @node Followups To Yourself
18707 @section Followups To Yourself
18709 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18710 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18711 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18712 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18713 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18714 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18718 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18719 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18720 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18723 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18724 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18725 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18729 @vindex message-sent-hook
18730 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18731 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18733 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18737 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18738 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18742 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18743 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18746 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18747 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18752 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18756 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18757 is system-dependent.
18760 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18761 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18762 @cindex scoring on other headers
18764 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18765 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18766 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18767 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18768 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18770 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18771 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18772 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18773 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18774 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18776 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18779 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18780 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18783 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18784 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18785 time if you have much mail.
18787 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18788 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18794 @section Scoring Tips
18795 @cindex scoring tips
18801 @cindex scoring crossposts
18802 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18803 the @code{Xref} header.
18805 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18808 @item Multiple crossposts
18809 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18810 more than, say, 3 groups:
18813 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18817 @item Matching on the body
18818 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18819 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18820 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18821 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18822 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18823 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18824 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18827 @item Marking as read
18828 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18829 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18830 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18834 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18836 @item Negated character classes
18837 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18838 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18839 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18843 @node Reverse Scoring
18844 @section Reverse Scoring
18845 @cindex reverse scoring
18847 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18848 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18849 like this in your score file:
18853 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18858 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18859 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18862 @node Global Score Files
18863 @section Global Score Files
18864 @cindex global score files
18866 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18867 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18868 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18870 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18871 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18872 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18874 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18875 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18876 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18877 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18878 files are applicable to which group.
18880 To use the score file
18881 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18882 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18886 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18887 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18888 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18891 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18893 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18894 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18895 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18896 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18898 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18899 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18901 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18902 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18903 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18904 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18905 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18906 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18908 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18914 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18916 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18918 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18920 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18921 lowered out of existence.
18923 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18924 articles completely.
18927 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18928 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18929 old articles for a long time.
18932 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18933 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18934 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18935 holding our breath yet?
18939 @section Kill Files
18942 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18943 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18944 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18946 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18947 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18948 files into score files.
18950 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18951 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18952 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18953 that isn't a very good idea.
18955 Normal kill files look like this:
18958 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18959 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18963 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18964 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18966 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18967 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18970 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18975 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18976 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18977 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18980 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18981 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18982 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18985 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18990 @kindex M-k (Group)
18991 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18992 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18995 @kindex M-K (Group)
18996 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18997 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19000 Kill file variables:
19003 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19004 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19005 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19006 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19007 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19008 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19009 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19011 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19012 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19013 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19014 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19017 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19018 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19019 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19020 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19021 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19022 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19023 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19024 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19025 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19027 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19028 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19029 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19034 @node Converting Kill Files
19035 @section Converting Kill Files
19037 @cindex converting kill files
19039 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19040 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19041 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19044 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19045 You can fetch it from
19046 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19048 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19049 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19050 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19058 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
19059 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19060 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19061 news articles generated every day.
19063 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19064 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19065 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19066 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19067 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19068 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19069 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19070 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19073 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19074 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19077 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19078 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19079 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19080 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19084 @node Using GroupLens
19085 @subsection Using GroupLens
19087 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19089 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19090 better bit in town at the moment.
19092 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19096 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19097 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19098 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19099 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19101 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19102 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19103 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19104 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19106 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19107 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19108 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19112 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19113 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19114 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19115 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19116 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19117 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19120 @node Rating Articles
19121 @subsection Rating Articles
19123 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19124 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19125 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19126 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19129 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19134 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19135 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19136 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19139 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19140 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19141 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19142 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19143 threads in rec.humor.
19147 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19148 the score of the article you're reading.
19153 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19154 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19155 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19158 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19159 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19160 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19164 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19165 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19168 @node Displaying Predictions
19169 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19171 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19172 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19173 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19174 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19175 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19177 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19178 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19179 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19180 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19181 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19182 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19183 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19184 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19185 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19186 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19187 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19188 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19189 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19191 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19192 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19193 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19194 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19196 The following are valid values for that variable.
19199 @item prediction-spot
19200 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19203 @item confidence-interval
19204 A numeric confidence interval.
19206 @item prediction-bar
19207 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19209 @item confidence-bar
19210 Numerical confidence.
19212 @item confidence-spot
19213 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19215 @item prediction-num
19216 Plain-old numeric value.
19218 @item confidence-plus-minus
19219 Prediction +/- confidence.
19224 @node GroupLens Variables
19225 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19229 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19230 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19231 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19232 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19235 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19236 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19239 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19240 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19242 @item grouplens-score-offset
19243 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19244 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19247 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19248 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19249 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19254 @node Advanced Scoring
19255 @section Advanced Scoring
19257 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19258 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19259 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19260 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19261 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19263 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19267 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19268 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19269 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19273 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19274 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19276 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19277 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19278 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19279 non-@code{nil} value.
19281 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19282 operator, and various match operators.
19289 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19290 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19291 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19296 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19297 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19298 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19303 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19304 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19308 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19309 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19310 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19311 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19312 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19313 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19314 the ancestry you want to go.
19316 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19317 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19318 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19319 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19320 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19323 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19324 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19326 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19327 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19330 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19331 when he's talking about Gnus:
19335 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19336 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19342 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19346 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19353 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19354 really don't want to read what he's written:
19358 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19359 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19363 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19364 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19365 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19372 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19373 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19374 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19375 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19379 The possibilities are endless.
19382 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19383 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19385 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19386 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19387 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19388 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19389 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19390 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19391 @samp{subject}) first.
19393 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19394 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19405 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19406 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19412 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19419 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19420 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19425 @section Score Decays
19426 @cindex score decays
19429 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19430 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19431 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19432 use them in any sensible way.
19434 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19435 @findex gnus-decay-score
19436 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19437 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19438 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19439 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19440 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19441 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19442 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19443 definition of that function:
19446 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19448 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19449 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19452 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19454 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19456 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19459 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19460 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19461 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19462 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19466 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19469 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19472 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19476 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19477 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19478 the new score, which should be an integer.
19480 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19481 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19486 @include message.texi
19487 @chapter Emacs MIME
19488 @include emacs-mime.texi
19490 @include sieve.texi
19500 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19501 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19502 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19503 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19504 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19505 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19506 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19507 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19508 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19509 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19510 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19511 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19512 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19513 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19514 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19515 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19516 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19517 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19518 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19522 @node Process/Prefix
19523 @section Process/Prefix
19524 @cindex process/prefix convention
19526 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19527 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19529 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19530 command to be performed on.
19534 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19535 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19536 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19537 with the current one.
19539 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19540 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19541 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19543 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19544 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19547 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19548 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19550 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19553 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19554 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19555 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19556 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19558 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19559 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19560 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19561 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19562 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19563 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19564 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19565 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19567 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19568 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19569 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19570 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19571 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
19575 @section Interactive
19576 @cindex interaction
19580 @item gnus-novice-user
19581 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19582 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19583 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19584 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19585 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19588 @item gnus-expert-user
19589 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19590 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19591 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19592 matter how strange.
19594 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19595 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19596 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19597 is @code{t} by default.
19599 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19600 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19601 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19606 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19607 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19608 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19610 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19611 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19612 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19613 rule of 900 to the current article.
19615 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19616 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19617 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19618 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19619 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19620 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19621 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19623 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19624 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19625 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19626 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19627 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19628 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19629 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19630 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19631 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19633 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19634 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19635 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19637 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19641 @node Formatting Variables
19642 @section Formatting Variables
19643 @cindex formatting variables
19645 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19646 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19647 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19648 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19649 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19652 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19653 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19654 lots of percentages everywhere.
19657 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19658 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19659 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19660 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19661 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19662 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19663 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19664 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19667 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19668 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19669 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19670 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19671 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19672 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19673 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19674 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19676 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19677 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19679 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19680 @findex gnus-update-format
19681 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19682 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19683 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19684 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19688 @node Formatting Basics
19689 @subsection Formatting Basics
19691 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19692 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19693 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19695 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19696 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19697 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19698 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19699 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19702 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19703 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19704 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19705 less than 4 characters wide.
19707 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19708 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19711 @node Mode Line Formatting
19712 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19714 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19715 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19716 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19717 with the following two differences:
19722 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19725 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19726 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19727 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19728 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19729 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19730 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19731 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19736 @node Advanced Formatting
19737 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19739 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19740 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19741 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19742 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19744 These are the valid modifiers:
19749 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19753 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19758 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19761 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19766 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19769 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19772 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19775 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19781 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19786 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19787 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19788 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19789 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19790 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19791 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19792 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19794 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19795 last operation, padding.
19797 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
19798 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
19799 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
19800 @xref{Compilation}.
19803 @node User-Defined Specs
19804 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19806 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19807 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19808 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19809 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19810 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19811 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19812 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19813 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19814 should protect against that.
19816 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19817 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19819 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19820 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19821 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19822 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19826 @node Formatting Fonts
19827 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19829 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19830 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19831 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19832 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19835 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19836 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19837 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19838 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19839 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19840 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19842 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19843 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19844 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19845 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19846 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19847 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19848 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19849 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19850 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19851 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19853 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19856 ;; Create three face types.
19857 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19858 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19860 ;; We want the article count to be in
19861 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19862 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19863 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19865 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19866 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19868 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19869 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19870 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19873 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19874 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19876 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19877 mode-line variables.
19879 @node Positioning Point
19880 @subsection Positioning Point
19882 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19883 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19884 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19886 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19888 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19889 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19890 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19892 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19893 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
19894 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19899 @subsection Tabulation
19901 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19902 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19903 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19904 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19906 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19907 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19909 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19910 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19911 This is the soft tabulator.
19913 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19914 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19915 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19918 @node Wide Characters
19919 @subsection Wide Characters
19921 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19922 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19923 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19925 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19926 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19927 these countries, that's not true.
19929 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19930 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19931 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19932 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19936 @node Window Layout
19937 @section Window Layout
19938 @cindex window layout
19940 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19942 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19943 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19944 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19945 @code{t} by default.
19947 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19948 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19950 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19951 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19952 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19955 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19956 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19957 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19961 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19962 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19963 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19964 possible names is listed below.
19966 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19967 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19970 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19974 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19975 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19976 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19977 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19978 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19979 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19980 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19981 size spec per split.
19983 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19984 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19985 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19986 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19987 present) gets focus.
19989 Here's a more complicated example:
19992 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19993 (summary 0.25 point)
19994 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19998 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19999 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20000 occupy, not a percentage.
20002 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20003 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20004 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20005 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20006 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20009 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20012 (article (horizontal 1.0
20017 (summary 0.25 point)
20022 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20023 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20025 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20026 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20027 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20028 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20029 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20031 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20032 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20033 lines from the splits.
20035 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20039 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20040 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20041 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20042 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20043 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20044 size = number | frame-params
20045 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20048 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20049 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20050 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20051 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20053 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20054 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20055 @cindex window height
20056 @cindex window width
20057 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20058 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20059 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20060 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20061 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20062 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20064 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20065 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20066 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20067 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20069 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20070 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20071 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20072 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20073 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20074 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20075 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20076 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20077 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20078 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20079 configuration list.
20082 (gnus-configure-frame
20086 (article 0.3 point))
20094 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20095 @code{frame} split:
20098 (gnus-configure-frame
20101 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20103 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20104 (user-position . t)
20105 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20110 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20111 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20112 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20113 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20114 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20115 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20116 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20117 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20119 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20120 be found in its default value.
20122 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20123 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20124 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20128 (message (horizontal 1.0
20129 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20131 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20136 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20137 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20138 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20143 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20144 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20145 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20146 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20147 (name . "Message"))
20148 (message 1.0 point))))
20151 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20152 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20153 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20154 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20155 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20158 (gnus-add-configuration
20159 '(article (vertical 1.0
20161 (summary .25 point)
20165 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20166 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20167 Gnus has been loaded.
20169 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20170 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20171 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20172 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20173 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20175 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20176 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20177 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20180 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20184 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20185 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20200 (gnus-add-configuration
20203 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20205 (summary 0.16 point)
20208 (gnus-add-configuration
20211 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20212 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20218 @node Faces and Fonts
20219 @section Faces and Fonts
20224 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20225 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20226 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20231 @section Compilation
20232 @cindex compilation
20233 @cindex byte-compilation
20235 @findex gnus-compile
20237 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20238 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20239 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
20240 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20241 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20242 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20245 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20246 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20247 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20248 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
20249 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
20250 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
20251 them into the @file{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
20255 @section Mode Lines
20258 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20259 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20260 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20261 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20262 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20263 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20264 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20267 @cindex display-time
20269 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20270 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20271 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20272 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20273 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20274 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20275 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20276 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20279 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20281 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20282 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20284 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20285 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20286 (length display-time-string)))))
20289 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20290 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20291 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20292 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20293 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20296 @node Highlighting and Menus
20297 @section Highlighting and Menus
20299 @cindex highlighting
20302 @vindex gnus-visual
20303 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20304 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20305 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20308 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20309 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20312 @item group-highlight
20313 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20314 @item summary-highlight
20315 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20316 @item article-highlight
20317 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20319 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20321 Create menus in the group buffer.
20323 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20325 Create menus in the article buffer.
20327 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20329 Create menus in the server buffer.
20331 Create menus in the score buffers.
20333 Create menus in all buffers.
20336 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20337 buffers, you could say something like:
20340 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20343 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20346 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20349 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20350 in all Gnus buffers.
20352 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20355 @item gnus-mouse-face
20356 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20357 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20358 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20362 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20366 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20367 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20368 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20370 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20371 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20372 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20374 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20375 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20376 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20378 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20379 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20380 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20382 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20383 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20384 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20386 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20387 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20388 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20399 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20400 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20401 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20402 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20403 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20407 @vindex gnus-carpal
20408 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20409 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20410 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20415 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20416 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20417 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20419 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20420 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20421 Face used on buttons.
20423 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20424 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20425 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20427 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20428 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20429 Buttons in the group buffer.
20431 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20432 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20433 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20435 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20436 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20437 Buttons in the server buffer.
20439 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20440 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20441 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20444 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20445 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20446 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20454 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20455 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20456 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20457 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20458 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20460 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20461 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20462 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20464 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20465 been idle for thirty minutes:
20468 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20471 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20475 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20478 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20479 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20480 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20482 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20483 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20484 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20485 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20487 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20488 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20489 @var{idle} minutes.
20491 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20492 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20495 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20496 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20497 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20499 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20500 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20501 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20502 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20504 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20505 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20507 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20509 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20512 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20513 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20514 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20515 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20516 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20517 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20518 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20519 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20520 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20521 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20522 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20524 @findex gnus-demon-init
20525 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20526 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20527 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20528 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20529 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20531 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20532 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20533 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20542 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20543 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20545 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20546 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20547 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20548 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20551 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20552 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20553 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20554 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20556 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20557 this will make spam disappear.
20559 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20562 @item gnus-use-nocem
20563 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20564 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20567 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20568 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20569 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20570 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20571 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20573 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20574 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20575 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20576 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20577 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20578 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20580 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20581 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20583 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20584 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20585 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20586 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20587 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20588 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20589 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20590 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20591 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20592 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20594 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20595 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20598 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20601 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20602 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20605 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20608 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20611 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20612 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20614 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20615 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20616 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20617 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20619 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20620 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20623 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20625 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20633 This might be dangerous, though.
20635 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20636 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20637 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20638 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20640 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20641 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20642 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20643 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20644 might then see old spam.
20646 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20647 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20648 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20649 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20650 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20653 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20654 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20655 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20656 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20660 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20661 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20662 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20663 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20670 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20671 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20672 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20674 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20675 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20676 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20677 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20678 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20679 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20680 @code{undo} function.
20682 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20683 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20684 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20685 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20686 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20687 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20688 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20689 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20690 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20691 never be totally undoable.
20693 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20694 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20696 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20697 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20698 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20699 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20703 @node Predicate Specifiers
20704 @section Predicate Specifiers
20705 @cindex predicate specifiers
20707 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20708 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20709 to type all that much.
20711 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20716 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20717 gnus-article-unread-p)
20720 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20721 functions all take one parameter.
20723 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20724 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20725 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20726 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20731 @section Moderation
20734 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20735 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20736 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20739 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20743 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20746 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20748 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20753 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20754 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20755 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20758 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20759 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20762 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20763 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20767 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20770 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20771 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20775 @node Image Enhancements
20776 @section Image Enhancements
20778 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20779 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20782 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20783 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20784 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20785 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20798 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20799 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20800 over your shoulder as you read news.
20802 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20811 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20812 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20813 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20814 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20815 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20816 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20817 @code{GIF} formats.
20820 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
20821 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
20822 point your Web browser at
20823 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
20825 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20826 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20828 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
20829 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
20832 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
20836 @item gnus-picon-databases
20837 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
20838 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
20839 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20840 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
20841 "/usr/local/faces")}.
20843 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
20844 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
20845 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
20846 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20848 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
20849 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
20850 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
20851 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
20853 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
20854 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
20855 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
20856 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20857 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20859 @item gnus-picon-file-types
20860 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
20861 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20862 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
20867 @subsection Smileys
20872 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20877 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20878 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20880 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20881 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20884 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20887 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
20888 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20889 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20890 text and maps that to file names.
20892 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
20893 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
20894 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
20895 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
20896 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
20899 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20904 @item smiley-data-directory
20905 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20906 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20908 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
20909 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
20910 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
20919 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20920 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20921 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20925 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20926 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20927 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20928 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20936 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20937 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20938 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20939 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20941 The variable that controls this is the
20942 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20943 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20944 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20945 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20946 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20948 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20949 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20950 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20951 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20954 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20955 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20956 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20957 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20958 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20959 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20960 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20961 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20963 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20966 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20967 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20969 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20970 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
20971 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
20972 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
20973 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20974 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20975 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20976 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
20977 header data as a string.
20979 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
20980 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
20981 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
20982 randomly generated data.
20984 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
20985 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
20986 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
20987 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20988 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20990 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
20991 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20994 (setq message-required-news-headers
20995 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20996 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20999 Using the last function would be something like this:
21002 (setq message-required-news-headers
21003 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21004 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21005 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21006 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21011 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21014 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21015 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21016 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21017 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21018 unusual directory structure.
21020 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21021 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21022 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21023 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21025 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21026 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21027 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21028 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21029 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21030 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21032 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21033 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21034 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21039 @subsubsection Toolbar
21043 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21044 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21045 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21046 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21047 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21049 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21050 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21051 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21053 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21054 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21055 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21057 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21058 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21059 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21070 @node Fuzzy Matching
21071 @section Fuzzy Matching
21072 @cindex fuzzy matching
21074 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21075 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21077 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21078 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21079 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21081 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21082 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21083 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21084 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21085 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21088 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21089 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21093 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21095 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21096 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21097 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21098 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21099 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21100 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21101 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21102 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21105 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21106 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21107 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21108 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21109 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21110 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21112 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21115 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21116 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21117 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21118 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21119 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21120 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21123 @node The problem of spam
21124 @subsection The problem of spam
21126 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21127 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21129 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21131 First, some background on spam.
21133 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21134 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21135 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21136 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21137 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21138 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21139 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21140 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21142 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21143 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21144 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21145 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21146 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21147 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21148 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21149 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21150 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21153 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21154 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21155 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21156 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21157 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21158 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21159 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21160 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21161 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21162 mail can be useful.
21164 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21165 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21166 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21167 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21168 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21169 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21170 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21171 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21172 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21174 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21175 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21176 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21177 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21178 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21179 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21180 because of the incident.
21182 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21183 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21184 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21185 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21186 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21187 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21188 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21189 to store the database of spam analyses.
21191 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21192 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21196 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21198 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21199 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21201 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21202 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21203 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21204 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21205 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21206 part of the mail address.)
21209 (setq message-default-news-headers
21210 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21213 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21214 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21219 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21220 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21221 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21227 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21228 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21229 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21230 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21232 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21233 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21234 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21235 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21236 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21237 your fancy split rule in this way:
21242 (to "larsi" "misc")
21246 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21247 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21248 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21249 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21250 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21252 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21253 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21254 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21255 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21256 cosmic balance somewhat.
21258 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21259 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21260 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21261 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21266 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21267 @cindex SpamAssassin
21268 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21271 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21272 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21273 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21274 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21275 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21276 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21277 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21279 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21280 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21281 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21282 Specifiers}) follows.
21286 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21289 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21292 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21293 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21294 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21297 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21301 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21304 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21305 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21309 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21310 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21311 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21312 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21315 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21317 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21319 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21320 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21322 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21324 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21325 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21329 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21330 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21331 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21334 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21335 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21337 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21338 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21339 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21343 @subsection Hashcash
21346 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21347 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21348 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21349 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21350 in smaller communities.
21352 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21353 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21354 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21355 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21356 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21357 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21358 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21359 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21360 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21361 one of them separately.
21364 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21365 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21366 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21367 header. For more details, and for the external application
21368 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21369 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21370 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21372 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21376 (require 'hashcash)
21377 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21380 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21381 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21382 development contrib directory.
21384 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21388 @item hashcash-default-payment
21389 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21390 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21391 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21392 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21394 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21395 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21396 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21397 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
21398 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
21399 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
21400 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
21401 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
21402 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21406 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21410 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21411 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21412 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21413 a useful contribution, however.
21415 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21416 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21417 @cindex spam filtering
21420 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21421 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21422 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21423 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21426 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21427 the following keyboard commands:
21437 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21438 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21440 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
21441 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21442 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21443 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21449 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21450 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21452 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21458 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21459 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21462 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21463 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21464 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21465 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21466 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21467 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21468 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21469 will be detected later.
21471 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21472 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21473 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21474 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21475 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21476 by customizing the corresponding variable
21477 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21478 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21479 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21480 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21481 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21482 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21483 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21486 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21487 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21488 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
21489 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
21490 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
21491 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21492 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21493 will study them as spam samples.
21495 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21496 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21497 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21498 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21499 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21500 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21501 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21502 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21504 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21505 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21506 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21507 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21510 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21511 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21512 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21515 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21516 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21517 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21518 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21519 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21520 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
21523 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21524 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21525 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21526 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21527 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21528 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21529 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21530 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21531 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21532 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21533 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21535 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21536 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21538 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21539 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21540 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21541 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21542 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21543 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21544 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21545 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21546 the spam articles are only expired.
21548 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21549 must add the following to your fancy split list
21550 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21556 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21557 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21558 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21560 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21561 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21562 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21563 but you can customize it.
21565 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21567 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21568 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21569 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21570 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21571 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21572 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21573 because it will slow IMAP down.
21575 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21577 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21578 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21579 longer spam or ham.}
21581 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21582 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21585 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21586 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21589 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21590 * BBDB Whitelists::
21592 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
21594 * ifile spam filtering::
21595 * spam-stat spam filtering::
21596 * Extending the spam elisp package::
21599 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21600 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21601 @cindex spam filtering
21602 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21603 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21606 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21608 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
21609 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
21610 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
21611 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
21616 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21618 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
21619 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
21620 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
21621 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
21622 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
21626 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
21628 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
21629 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
21630 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
21634 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
21636 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21637 customizing the group parameters or the
21638 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21639 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21640 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
21644 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
21646 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21647 customizing the group parameters or the
21648 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21649 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21650 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21651 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21652 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21656 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21657 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21658 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21659 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
21660 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21662 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21663 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
21664 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
21665 Emacs regular expression syntax.
21667 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
21668 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
21669 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
21670 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
21671 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21672 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21674 @node BBDB Whitelists
21675 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21676 @cindex spam filtering
21677 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21678 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21681 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
21683 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21684 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
21685 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
21686 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
21687 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
21688 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
21689 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
21693 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
21695 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
21696 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
21697 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
21698 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
21699 classified as spammers.
21703 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
21705 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21706 customizing the group parameters or the
21707 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21708 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21709 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21710 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21711 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21716 @subsubsection Blackholes
21717 @cindex spam filtering
21718 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21721 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21723 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21724 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21725 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21726 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21727 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21728 contains outdated servers.
21730 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21731 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21732 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21733 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21734 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21735 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21739 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
21741 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
21745 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
21747 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
21748 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
21752 @defvar spam-use-dig
21754 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
21755 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
21759 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
21760 ham processor for blackholes.
21762 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
21763 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
21764 @cindex spam filtering
21765 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
21768 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
21770 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
21771 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
21772 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
21773 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
21774 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
21775 message is spam or ham, respectively.
21779 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
21781 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
21782 the message, positively identify it as spam.
21786 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
21788 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
21789 the message, positively identify it as ham.
21793 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
21794 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
21797 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21798 @cindex spam filtering
21799 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21802 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21804 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21807 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
21808 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21809 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21810 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
21811 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
21812 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
21814 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
21815 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
21818 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
21819 processing will be turned off.
21821 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
21825 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
21827 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21828 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
21829 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
21830 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
21831 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
21832 installation documents for details.
21834 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
21838 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
21839 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21840 customizing the group parameters or the
21841 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21842 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
21843 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
21846 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
21847 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21848 customizing the group parameters or the
21849 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21850 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21851 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
21852 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21853 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21856 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
21858 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
21859 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
21860 database directory.
21864 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
21865 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21866 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
21867 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
21868 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
21869 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
21871 @node ifile spam filtering
21872 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
21873 @cindex spam filtering
21874 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21877 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21879 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
21880 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
21884 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
21886 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
21887 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
21888 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
21892 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
21894 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
21895 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
21896 the default value of @samp{spam}.
21899 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
21901 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
21902 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
21906 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
21907 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21908 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
21909 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
21912 @node spam-stat spam filtering
21913 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
21914 @cindex spam filtering
21915 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
21919 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
21921 @defvar spam-use-stat
21923 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
21924 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
21928 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
21929 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21930 customizing the group parameters or the
21931 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21932 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
21933 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
21936 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
21937 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21938 customizing the group parameters or the
21939 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21940 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21941 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
21942 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21943 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21946 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
21947 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
21948 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
21949 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
21952 @node Extending the spam elisp package
21953 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
21954 @cindex spam filtering
21955 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
21956 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
21958 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
21959 incoming mail, provide the following:
21967 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21968 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21973 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21975 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21980 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21981 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21982 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21984 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
21985 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
21986 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
21990 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
21997 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
21998 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22001 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22002 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22003 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22005 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22006 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22007 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22015 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22016 (spam-generic-register-routine
22017 ;; the spam function
22019 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22020 (when (stringp from)
22021 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22022 ;; the ham function
22025 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22026 (spam-generic-register-routine
22027 ;; the spam function
22029 ;; the ham function
22031 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22032 (when (stringp from)
22033 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22036 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22037 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22038 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22039 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22040 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22041 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22046 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22047 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22048 @cindex Paul Graham
22049 @cindex Graham, Paul
22050 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22051 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22052 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22054 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22055 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22056 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22057 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22058 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22059 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22060 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22061 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22062 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22065 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22066 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22067 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22068 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22069 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22070 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22071 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22072 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22074 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22075 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22076 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22077 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22078 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22081 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22082 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22083 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22086 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22087 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22089 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22090 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22091 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22092 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22093 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22095 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22096 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22097 per mail. Use the following:
22099 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22100 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22101 is treated as one spam mail.
22104 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22105 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22106 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22109 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22110 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22111 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22112 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22113 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22114 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22116 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22117 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22118 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22119 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22120 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22123 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22124 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22125 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22126 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22129 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22130 reset the dictionary.
22132 @defun spam-stat-reset
22133 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22136 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22137 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22138 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22139 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22140 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22141 only non-spam mails.
22143 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22144 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22145 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22148 @defun spam-stat-save
22149 Save the dictionary.
22152 @defvar spam-stat-file
22153 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22154 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22157 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22158 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22160 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22161 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22164 (require 'spam-stat)
22168 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22171 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22172 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22173 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22174 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22176 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22177 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22178 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22179 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22182 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22183 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22187 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22188 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22191 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22192 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22193 expression are considered potential spam.
22196 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22197 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22198 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22202 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22203 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22204 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22205 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22206 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22209 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22210 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22211 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22215 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22216 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22217 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22218 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22219 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22223 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22224 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22225 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22226 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22231 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22232 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22234 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22236 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22237 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22238 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22241 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22242 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22243 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22246 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22247 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22248 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22249 already been processed as non-spam.
22252 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22253 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22254 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22255 been processed as spam.
22258 @defun spam-stat-save
22259 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22260 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22263 @defun spam-stat-load
22264 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22265 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22268 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22269 Return the spam score for a word.
22272 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22273 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22276 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22277 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22278 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22281 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22282 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22285 (require 'spam-stat)
22289 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22292 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22293 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22294 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22295 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22296 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22297 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22298 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22299 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22300 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22301 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22302 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22303 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22304 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22305 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22308 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22311 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22312 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22313 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22314 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22315 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22316 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22319 @node Various Various
22320 @section Various Various
22326 @item gnus-home-directory
22327 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22328 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22329 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22331 @item gnus-directory
22332 @vindex gnus-directory
22333 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22334 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22335 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22337 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22338 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22339 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22340 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22342 @item gnus-default-directory
22343 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22344 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22345 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22346 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22347 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22348 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22349 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22352 @vindex gnus-verbose
22353 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22354 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22355 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22356 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22357 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22359 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22360 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22361 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22362 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22364 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22365 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22366 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22367 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22368 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22369 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22370 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22371 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22372 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22373 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22375 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22376 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22377 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22378 read when doing the operation described above.
22380 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22381 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22383 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22384 @cindex characters in file names
22385 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22386 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22387 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22390 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22394 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22395 Windows (phooey) systems.
22397 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22398 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22399 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22400 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22401 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22403 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22404 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22405 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22406 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22407 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22409 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22410 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22411 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22413 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22414 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22416 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22417 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22418 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22419 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22422 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22430 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22431 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22433 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22435 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22441 Not because of victories @*
22444 but for the common sunshine,@*
22446 the largess of the spring.
22450 but for the day's work done@*
22451 as well as I was able;@*
22452 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22453 but at the common table.@*
22458 @chapter Appendices
22461 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22462 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22463 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22464 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22465 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22466 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22467 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22468 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22469 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22476 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22478 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22479 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22480 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22481 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22482 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22483 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22490 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22491 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22493 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22494 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22495 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22496 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22497 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22499 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22500 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22501 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22502 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22503 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22504 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22506 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22507 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22508 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22509 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22512 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22513 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22514 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22515 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22516 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22517 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22518 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22519 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22520 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22524 @node Gnus Versions
22525 @subsection Gnus Versions
22527 @cindex September Gnus
22529 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22530 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22534 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22535 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22536 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22538 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22539 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22541 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22542 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22544 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22545 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22547 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22548 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22551 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22553 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22554 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22555 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22556 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22557 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22558 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22561 @node Other Gnus Versions
22562 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22565 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22566 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22567 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22568 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22570 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22571 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22572 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22573 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22580 What's the point of Gnus?
22582 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22583 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22584 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22585 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22586 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22587 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22588 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22589 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22590 keep track of millions of people who post?
22592 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22593 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22594 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22595 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22596 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22597 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22598 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22599 every one of you to explore and invent.
22601 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22602 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22605 @node Compatibility
22606 @subsection Compatibility
22608 @cindex compatibility
22609 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22610 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22611 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22616 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22620 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22623 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22626 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22627 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22628 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22629 important variables have their values copied into their global
22630 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22631 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22633 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22634 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22635 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22636 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22637 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22641 @cindex highlighting
22642 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22643 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22644 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22645 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22646 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22647 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22650 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22651 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22652 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22653 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22655 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22656 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22657 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22658 to stop doing it the old way.
22660 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22662 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22664 @cindex reporting bugs
22666 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22667 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22668 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22670 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22671 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22672 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22673 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22678 @subsection Conformity
22680 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22681 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22689 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22693 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22695 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22696 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22697 We do have some breaches to this one.
22703 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22704 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22705 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22706 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22707 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22712 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22713 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22714 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22715 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22717 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22719 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22721 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22722 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22724 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22727 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22728 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22729 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22730 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22731 decoding (verification and decryption).
22733 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22734 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22735 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22736 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22738 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22739 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22741 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22742 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22743 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22744 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22745 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22746 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22747 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22751 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22752 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22757 @subsection Emacsen
22763 Gnus should work on :
22771 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
22775 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22776 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22779 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22780 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22781 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22785 @node Gnus Development
22786 @subsection Gnus Development
22788 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22789 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22790 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22791 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22792 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22793 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22794 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22795 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22797 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22798 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22799 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22800 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22801 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22804 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22805 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22806 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22807 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22808 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22810 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22811 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22812 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22813 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22814 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22815 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22816 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22817 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22818 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22819 can't be assumed to do so.
22824 @subsection Contributors
22825 @cindex contributors
22827 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22828 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22829 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22830 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22831 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22832 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22833 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22834 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22835 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22836 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22838 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
22844 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22847 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22848 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22849 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22850 functionality and stuff.
22853 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22854 well as numerous other things).
22857 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22860 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22863 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22866 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22869 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22870 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22873 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22876 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22877 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22880 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22883 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22886 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22889 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22892 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22893 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22896 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22899 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22902 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22905 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22909 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22912 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22915 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22918 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22919 well as autoconf support.
22923 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22924 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22926 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22935 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22939 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22949 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22964 Massimo Campostrini,
22969 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22970 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22974 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22977 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22983 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22988 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22992 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23000 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23002 Michelangelo Grigni,
23006 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23008 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
23010 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23017 François Felix Ingrand,
23018 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23019 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23021 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23032 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23033 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23035 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23036 Thor Kristoffersen,
23039 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23057 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23058 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23065 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23070 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23074 John McClary Prevost,
23080 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23085 Christian von Roques,
23088 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23095 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23097 Randal L. Schwartz,
23111 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23116 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23132 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23137 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23138 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23139 (550kB and counting).
23141 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23144 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23145 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23149 @subsection New Features
23150 @cindex new features
23153 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23154 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23155 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23156 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23157 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23160 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23161 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23162 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23165 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23167 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23172 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23173 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23176 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23177 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23180 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23183 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23184 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23185 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23188 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23189 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23190 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23191 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23194 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23195 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23198 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23199 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23200 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23203 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23204 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23207 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23208 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23209 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23212 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23213 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23214 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23217 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23218 the @file{.emacs} file.
23221 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23222 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23225 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23226 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23229 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23230 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23233 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23234 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23237 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23238 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23241 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23244 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23245 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23248 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23249 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23252 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23253 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23256 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23259 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23260 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23263 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23267 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23271 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23272 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23275 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23281 @node September Gnus
23282 @subsubsection September Gnus
23286 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23290 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23295 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23296 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23300 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23301 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23305 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23309 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23310 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23313 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23317 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23320 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23323 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23326 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23330 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23331 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23334 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23338 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23342 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23346 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23350 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23353 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23354 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23357 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23361 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23362 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23365 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23368 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23369 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23370 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23373 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23377 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23380 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23384 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23385 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23388 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23389 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23392 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23393 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23396 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23397 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23398 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23401 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23402 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23405 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23408 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23411 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23414 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23417 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23418 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23421 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23425 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23428 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23433 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23436 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23440 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23443 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23447 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23450 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23453 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23454 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23457 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23458 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23462 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23463 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23466 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23470 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23471 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23474 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23477 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23481 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23485 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23486 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23489 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23493 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23494 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23497 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23498 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23501 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23505 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23508 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23511 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23517 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23519 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23523 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23530 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23533 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23534 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23537 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23538 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23542 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23543 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23546 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23549 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23550 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23553 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23557 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23558 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23562 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23563 Server Internals}).
23566 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23570 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23573 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23574 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23577 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23578 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23579 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23582 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23583 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23586 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23587 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23590 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23594 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23595 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23598 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23599 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23602 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23606 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23609 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23613 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23614 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23617 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23618 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23621 A new command for reading collections of documents
23622 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23623 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23626 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23630 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23631 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23634 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23635 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23636 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23639 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23640 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23644 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23648 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23652 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23657 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23661 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23665 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23666 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23669 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23675 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23677 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23682 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23683 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23684 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23687 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23688 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23689 group, which is created automatically.
23692 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23696 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23699 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23700 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23703 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23707 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23710 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23711 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23714 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23717 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section ``Symbolic
23718 Prefixes'' in the Gnus manual for details.
23721 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23722 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
23725 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23726 control over simplification.
23729 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23732 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23736 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23739 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23742 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23743 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23744 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23747 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23748 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23751 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23755 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23756 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23759 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23760 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23763 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23767 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23770 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23773 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23774 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23777 A new function for citing in Message has been
23778 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23781 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23784 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23788 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23789 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23792 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
23793 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23796 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23799 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23803 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23804 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23806 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23811 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23812 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23814 If you used procmail like in
23817 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23818 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23819 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23820 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23823 this now has changed to
23827 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23831 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23832 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23835 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23836 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23839 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23840 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23843 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23844 called to position point.
23847 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23848 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23851 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23852 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23855 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23856 subtly different manner.
23859 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23860 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23861 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23864 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23872 @section The Manual
23876 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23877 either @code{texi2dvi}
23879 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23880 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23882 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23884 The following conventions have been used:
23889 This is a @samp{string}
23892 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23895 This is a @file{file}
23898 This is a @code{symbol}
23902 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23906 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23909 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23912 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23915 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23916 ever get them confused.
23920 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23921 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23922 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23923 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23924 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23925 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23926 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23932 @node On Writing Manuals
23933 @section On Writing Manuals
23935 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23936 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23937 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23938 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23939 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23940 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23943 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23944 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23945 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23948 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23949 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23954 @section Terminology
23956 @cindex terminology
23961 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23962 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23963 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23964 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23965 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23969 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23970 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23971 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23972 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23976 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23980 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23985 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23986 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23987 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23988 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23989 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23990 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23991 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23992 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23993 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23995 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23996 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23997 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23998 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23999 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24002 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24003 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24004 access the articles.
24006 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24007 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24008 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24013 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24014 default, way of getting news.
24018 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24019 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24024 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24025 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24029 A message that has been posted as news.
24032 @cindex mail message
24033 A message that has been mailed.
24037 A mail message or news article
24041 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24046 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24051 A line from the head of an article.
24055 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24056 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24060 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24061 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24062 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24063 normal @sc{head} format.
24067 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24068 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24069 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24070 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24071 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24072 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24074 @item killed groups
24075 @cindex killed groups
24076 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24077 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24079 @item zombie groups
24080 @cindex zombie groups
24081 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24084 @cindex active file
24085 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24086 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24087 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24090 @cindex bogus groups
24091 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24092 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24093 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24096 @cindex activating groups
24097 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24098 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24099 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24103 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24105 @item select method
24106 @cindex select method
24107 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24110 @item virtual server
24111 @cindex virtual server
24112 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24113 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24114 whole is a virtual server.
24118 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24119 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24122 @item ephemeral groups
24123 @cindex ephemeral groups
24124 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24125 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24126 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24129 @cindex solid groups
24130 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24131 group buffer are solid groups.
24133 @item sparse articles
24134 @cindex sparse articles
24135 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24136 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24140 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24141 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24145 @cindex thread root
24146 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24147 articles in the thread.
24151 An article that has responses.
24155 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24159 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24160 specified by RFC 1153.
24166 @node Customization
24167 @section Customization
24168 @cindex general customization
24170 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24171 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24172 for some quite common situations.
24175 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24176 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24177 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24178 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24182 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24183 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24185 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24186 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24187 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24191 @item gnus-read-active-file
24192 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24193 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24194 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24195 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24196 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24198 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24199 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24200 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24201 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24205 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24206 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24208 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24209 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24210 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24214 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24215 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24216 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24217 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24218 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24220 @item gnus-visible-headers
24221 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24222 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24223 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24224 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24226 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24228 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24229 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24230 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24233 @item gnus-use-full-window
24234 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24235 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24236 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24237 want to read them anyway.
24239 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24240 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24244 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24245 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24246 lines, which might save some time.
24250 @node Little Disk Space
24251 @subsection Little Disk Space
24254 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24255 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24259 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24260 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24261 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24262 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24265 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24266 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24267 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24268 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24271 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24272 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24273 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24274 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24275 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24281 @subsection Slow Machine
24282 @cindex slow machine
24284 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24285 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24287 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24288 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24290 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24291 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24292 summary buffer faster.
24296 @node Troubleshooting
24297 @section Troubleshooting
24298 @cindex troubleshooting
24300 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24308 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24311 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24312 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24316 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24317 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
24318 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
24319 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24322 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24326 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24327 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24328 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24329 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24330 something like that.
24333 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24336 @cindex reporting bugs
24338 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24340 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24341 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24342 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24343 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24345 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24346 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24347 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24348 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24351 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24352 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24353 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24354 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24355 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24356 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24358 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24359 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24360 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24364 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24365 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24368 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24369 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24370 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24371 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24372 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24373 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24374 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24375 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24376 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24377 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24378 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24379 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24380 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24381 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24386 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24387 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24388 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-j} when things are
24389 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24390 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24391 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24392 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24393 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24394 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24395 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET message}. Then perform
24396 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24397 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24398 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24399 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24400 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24401 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24402 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24403 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24405 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24406 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24408 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24409 @cindex ding mailing list
24410 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@email{ding@@gnus.org}.
24411 Write to @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24415 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24416 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24418 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24419 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24420 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24421 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24424 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24425 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24426 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24427 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24428 and general methods of operation.
24431 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24432 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24433 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24434 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24435 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24436 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24437 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24438 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24439 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24443 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24444 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24445 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24446 @cindex utility functions
24448 @cindex internal variables
24450 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24451 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24452 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24456 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24457 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24458 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24460 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24461 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24462 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24464 @item gnus-group-real-name
24465 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24466 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24469 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24470 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24471 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24472 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24474 @item gnus-get-info
24475 @findex gnus-get-info
24476 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24478 @item gnus-group-unread
24479 @findex gnus-group-unread
24480 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24484 @findex gnus-active
24485 The active entry for @var{group}.
24487 @item gnus-set-active
24488 @findex gnus-set-active
24489 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24491 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24492 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24493 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24496 @item gnus-continuum-version
24497 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24498 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24499 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24502 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24503 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24504 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24506 @item gnus-news-group-p
24507 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24508 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24510 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24511 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24512 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24514 @item gnus-server-to-method
24515 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24516 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24518 @item gnus-server-equal
24519 @findex gnus-server-equal
24520 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24522 @item gnus-group-native-p
24523 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24524 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24526 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24527 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24528 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24530 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24531 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24532 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24534 @item group-group-find-parameter
24535 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24536 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24537 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24539 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24540 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24541 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24543 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24544 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24545 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24547 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24548 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24549 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24550 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24553 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24557 @item gnus-read-method
24558 @findex gnus-read-method
24559 Prompts the user for a select method.
24564 @node Back End Interface
24565 @subsection Back End Interface
24567 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24568 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24569 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24570 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24571 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24572 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24574 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24575 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24576 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24577 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24578 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24579 been opened, the function should fail.
24581 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24582 name. Take this example:
24586 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24587 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24590 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24591 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24593 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24594 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24595 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24597 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24598 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24599 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24601 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24602 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24603 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24604 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24605 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24606 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24609 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24610 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24611 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24612 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24615 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24616 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24617 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24618 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24619 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24620 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24621 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24622 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24623 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24624 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24626 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24627 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24628 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24629 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24630 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24631 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24632 of numbers as long as possible.
24634 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24635 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24636 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24638 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24641 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24644 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24645 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24646 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24647 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24648 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24649 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24653 @node Required Back End Functions
24654 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24658 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24660 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24661 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24662 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24663 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24665 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24666 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24667 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24668 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24670 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
24671 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24672 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24673 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24674 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24675 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24676 number, do maximum fetches.
24678 Here's an example HEAD:
24681 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24682 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24683 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24684 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24685 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24686 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24687 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24689 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24690 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24691 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24695 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24696 these in the data buffer.
24698 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24702 head = error / valid-head
24703 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24704 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24705 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24706 header = <text> eol
24709 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24710 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24714 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24715 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24716 field = <text except TAB>
24719 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24723 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24725 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24726 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24728 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24729 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24730 server. In fact, it should do so.
24732 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24733 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24736 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24738 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24739 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24742 There should be no data returned.
24745 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24747 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24748 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24749 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24750 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24752 There should be no data returned.
24755 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24757 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24758 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24759 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24760 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24762 There should be no data returned.
24765 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24767 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24769 There should be no data returned.
24772 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24774 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24775 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24776 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24777 it would be nice if that were possible.
24779 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24780 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24781 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24782 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24783 into its article buffer.
24785 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24786 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24787 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24788 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24789 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24790 on successful article retrieval.
24793 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24795 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24796 making @var{group} the current group.
24798 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24801 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24804 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24807 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24808 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24809 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24810 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24811 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24812 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24813 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24814 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24815 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24819 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24820 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24821 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24825 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24827 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24828 a no-op on most back ends.
24830 There should be no data returned.
24833 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24835 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24838 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24841 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24842 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24845 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24846 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24847 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24848 and the highest as 0.
24851 active-file = *active-line
24852 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24854 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24857 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24858 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24859 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24862 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24864 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24865 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24866 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24867 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24868 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24869 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24871 There should be no result data from this function.
24876 @node Optional Back End Functions
24877 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24881 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24883 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24884 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24885 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24887 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24888 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24889 former is in the same format as the data from
24890 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24891 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24894 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24898 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24900 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24901 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24902 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24903 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24904 should return a non-nil value.
24906 There should be no result data from this function.
24909 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24911 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24912 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24913 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24914 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24915 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24916 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24917 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24918 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24920 There should be no result data from this function.
24923 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24925 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24926 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24927 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24928 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24929 propagate the mark information to the server.
24931 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24934 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24937 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
24938 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
24939 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
24940 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
24941 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24942 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24943 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24944 possible, not limit itself to these.
24946 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24947 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24948 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24949 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24951 An example action list:
24954 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24955 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24956 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24959 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24960 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24962 There should be no result data from this function.
24964 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24966 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24967 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24968 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24969 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24970 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24972 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24973 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24974 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24977 There should be no result data from this function.
24980 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24982 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24983 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24984 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24985 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24986 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24987 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24988 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24990 There should be no result data from this function.
24993 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24995 The result data from this function should be a description of
24999 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25001 description = <text>
25004 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25006 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25007 groups available on the server.
25010 description-buffer = *description-line
25014 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25016 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25017 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25018 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25019 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25020 in the active buffer format.
25022 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25023 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25024 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25025 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25026 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25027 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25028 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25031 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25033 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25035 There should be no return data.
25038 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25040 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25041 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25042 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25043 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25044 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25047 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25050 There should be no result data returned.
25053 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
25055 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25056 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25058 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25059 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25060 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25061 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25062 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25063 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25065 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25066 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25069 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25070 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25072 There should be no data returned.
25075 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25077 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25078 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25079 this function in short order.
25081 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25082 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25084 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25085 article for that group.
25087 There should be no data returned.
25090 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25092 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25093 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25095 There should be no data returned.
25098 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25100 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25101 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25102 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25104 There should be no data returned.
25107 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25109 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25110 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25112 There should be no data returned.
25117 @node Error Messaging
25118 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25120 @findex nnheader-report
25121 @findex nnheader-get-report
25122 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25123 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25124 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25125 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25126 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25127 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25130 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25132 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25135 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25136 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25137 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25138 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25140 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25141 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25142 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25145 @node Writing New Back Ends
25146 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25148 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25149 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25150 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25151 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25152 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25155 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25156 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25157 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25159 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25160 package called @code{nnoo}.
25162 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25163 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25169 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25170 parameters. For instance:
25173 (nnoo-declare nndir
25177 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25178 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25181 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25182 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25183 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25185 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25186 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25187 a function in those back ends.
25190 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25191 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25192 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25195 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25196 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25197 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25199 @item nnoo-define-basics
25200 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25204 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25208 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25209 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25210 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25212 @item nnoo-map-functions
25213 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25214 functions from the parent back ends.
25217 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25218 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25219 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25222 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25223 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25224 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25225 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25228 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25229 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25230 haven't already been defined.
25236 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25240 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25241 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25242 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25247 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25250 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25251 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25255 (require 'nnheader)
25259 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25261 (nnoo-declare nndir
25264 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25265 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25266 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25268 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25269 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25272 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25274 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25275 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25276 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25278 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25279 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25281 ;;; Interface functions.
25283 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25285 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25286 (setq nndir-directory
25287 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25289 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25290 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25291 (push `(nndir-current-group
25292 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25293 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25295 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25296 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25298 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25300 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25301 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25302 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25303 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25304 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25308 nnmh-status-message
25310 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25316 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25317 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25319 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25320 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25321 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25322 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25323 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25325 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25326 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25331 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25334 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25336 The abilities can be:
25340 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25342 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25344 This back end supports both mail and news.
25346 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25349 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25350 articles and groups.
25352 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25353 true for almost all back ends.
25354 @item prompt-address
25355 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25356 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25357 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25361 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25362 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25364 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25365 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25366 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25367 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25370 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25371 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25372 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25375 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25376 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25379 This function takes four parameters.
25383 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25386 @item exit-function
25387 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25389 @item temp-directory
25390 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25393 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25394 performed for one group only.
25397 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25398 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25399 find the article number assigned to this article.
25401 The function also uses the following variables:
25402 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25403 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25404 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25405 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25409 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25410 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25414 @node Score File Syntax
25415 @subsection Score File Syntax
25417 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25418 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25419 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25421 Here's a typical score file:
25425 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25432 BNF definition of a score file:
25435 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25436 element = rule / atom
25437 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25438 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25439 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25440 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25442 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25443 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25444 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25445 date-header = "date"
25446 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25447 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25448 score = "nil" / <integer>
25449 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25450 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25451 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25452 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25453 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25454 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25455 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25456 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25457 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25458 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25459 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25460 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25461 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25462 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25463 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25464 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25465 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25466 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25467 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25468 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25469 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25470 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25471 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25472 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25473 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25474 eval = "eval" space <form>
25475 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25478 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25481 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25482 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25483 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25484 one looong line, then that's ok.
25486 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25487 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25491 @subsection Headers
25493 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25494 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25495 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25496 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25498 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25499 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25500 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25501 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25502 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25503 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25504 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25506 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25507 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25508 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25509 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25510 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25512 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25513 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25519 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25520 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25522 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25523 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25524 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25525 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25527 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25531 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25534 is transformed into
25537 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25540 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25541 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25544 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25547 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25548 is slightly tricky:
25551 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25557 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25560 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25566 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25573 and is equal to the previous range.
25575 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25576 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25577 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25581 range = simple-range / normal-range
25582 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25583 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25584 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25585 number *[ " " contents ]
25588 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25589 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25590 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25591 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25592 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25597 @subsection Group Info
25599 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25600 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25601 describes the group.
25603 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25604 second is a more complex one:
25607 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25609 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25610 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25612 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25615 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25616 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25617 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25618 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25619 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25620 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25621 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25622 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25623 this section is about.
25625 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25626 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25627 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25629 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25632 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25633 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25634 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25635 group = quote <string> quote
25636 ralevel = rank / level
25637 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25638 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25639 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25641 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25642 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25643 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25644 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25647 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25648 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25651 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25652 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25655 @item gnus-info-group
25656 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25657 @findex gnus-info-group
25658 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25659 Get/set the group name.
25661 @item gnus-info-rank
25662 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25663 @findex gnus-info-rank
25664 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25665 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25667 @item gnus-info-level
25668 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25669 @findex gnus-info-level
25670 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25671 Get/set the group level.
25673 @item gnus-info-score
25674 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25675 @findex gnus-info-score
25676 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25677 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25679 @item gnus-info-read
25680 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25681 @findex gnus-info-read
25682 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25683 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25685 @item gnus-info-marks
25686 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25687 @findex gnus-info-marks
25688 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25689 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25691 @item gnus-info-method
25692 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25693 @findex gnus-info-method
25694 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25695 Get/set the group select method.
25697 @item gnus-info-params
25698 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25699 @findex gnus-info-params
25700 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25701 Get/set the group parameters.
25704 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25705 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25707 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25708 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25709 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25710 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25713 @node Extended Interactive
25714 @subsection Extended Interactive
25715 @cindex interactive
25716 @findex gnus-interactive
25718 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25719 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25720 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25723 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25724 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25729 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25730 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25731 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25732 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25733 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25734 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25735 @code{interactive}.
25737 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25742 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25743 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25747 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25748 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25749 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25752 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25756 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25760 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25766 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25767 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25771 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25772 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25773 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25775 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25776 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25777 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25778 Gnus, that's very useful.
25780 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25781 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25782 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25783 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25784 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25785 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25786 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25787 following function:
25790 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25794 (,function ,@@args))
25798 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25799 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25800 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25803 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25804 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25805 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25807 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25808 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25809 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25812 @node Various File Formats
25813 @subsection Various File Formats
25816 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25817 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25821 @node Active File Format
25822 @subsubsection Active File Format
25824 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25825 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25828 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25831 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25832 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25833 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25834 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25835 no.general 1000 900 y
25838 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25841 active = *group-line
25842 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25843 group = <non-white-space string>
25845 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25846 low-number = <positive integer>
25847 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25850 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25851 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25854 @node Newsgroups File Format
25855 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25857 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25858 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25859 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25862 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25863 Here's the definition:
25867 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25868 group = <non-white-space string>
25870 description = <string>
25875 @node Emacs for Heathens
25876 @section Emacs for Heathens
25878 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25879 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25880 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25881 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25882 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25883 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25884 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25888 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25889 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25894 @subsection Keystrokes
25898 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25901 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25904 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25905 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25906 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25907 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25908 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25909 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25911 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25912 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25913 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25914 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25915 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25916 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25917 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25919 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25920 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25921 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25922 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25923 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25924 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25925 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25927 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25928 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25929 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25930 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25931 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25937 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25939 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25940 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25941 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25942 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25944 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25945 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25946 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25947 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25948 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25949 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25950 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25953 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25954 write the following:
25957 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25960 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25961 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25962 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25965 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
25966 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25967 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25968 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25969 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25971 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25972 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25973 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25977 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25981 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25984 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25985 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25988 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25991 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25992 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25995 @include gnus-faq.texi
26015 @c Local Variables:
26017 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26019 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26020 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26021 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26022 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26023 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref