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334 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
339 @setchapternewpage odd
346 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
354 @top The Gnus Newsreader
358 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
359 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
360 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
363 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.3.
374 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
375 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
377 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
378 being accused of plagiarism:
380 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
381 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
382 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
383 can even read news with it!
385 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
386 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
387 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
388 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
389 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
395 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
396 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
397 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
398 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
399 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
400 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
401 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
402 * Various:: General purpose settings.
403 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
404 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
405 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
406 * Key Index:: Key Index.
408 Other related manuals
410 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
411 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
412 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
413 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
414 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
417 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
421 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
422 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
423 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
424 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
425 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
426 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
427 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
428 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
429 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
430 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
431 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
435 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
436 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
437 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
441 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
442 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
443 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
444 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
445 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
446 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
447 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
448 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
449 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
450 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
451 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
452 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
453 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
454 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
455 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
456 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
457 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
461 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
462 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
463 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
467 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
468 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
469 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
470 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
471 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
475 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
476 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
477 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
478 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
479 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
483 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
484 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
485 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
486 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
487 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
488 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
489 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
490 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
491 * Threading:: How threads are made.
492 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
493 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
494 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
495 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
496 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
497 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
498 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
499 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
500 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
501 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
502 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
503 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
504 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
505 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
506 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
507 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
508 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
509 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
510 or reselecting the current group.
511 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
512 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
513 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
514 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
516 Summary Buffer Format
518 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
519 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
520 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
521 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
525 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
526 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
528 Reply, Followup and Post
530 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
531 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
532 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
533 * Canceling and Superseding::
537 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
538 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
539 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
540 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
541 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
542 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
546 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
547 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
549 Customizing Threading
551 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
552 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
553 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
554 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
558 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
559 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
560 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
561 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
562 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
563 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
567 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
568 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
569 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
573 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
574 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
575 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
576 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
577 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
578 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
579 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
580 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
581 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
582 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
583 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
585 Alternative Approaches
587 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
588 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
590 Various Summary Stuff
592 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
593 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
594 * Summary Generation Commands::
595 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
599 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
600 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
601 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
602 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
603 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
607 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
608 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
609 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
610 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
611 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
612 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
613 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
614 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
615 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
619 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
620 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
621 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
622 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
623 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
624 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
625 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
626 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
627 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
631 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
632 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
633 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
634 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
635 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
636 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
637 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
641 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
642 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
646 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
647 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
648 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
649 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
653 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
654 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
655 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
656 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
657 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
658 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
659 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
660 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
661 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
662 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
663 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
664 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
665 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
669 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
670 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
671 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
673 Choosing a Mail Back End
675 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
676 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
677 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
678 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
679 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
680 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
681 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
686 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
687 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
688 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
689 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
690 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
691 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
695 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
696 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
697 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
698 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
699 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
700 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
704 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
705 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
706 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
707 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
708 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
712 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
716 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
717 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
718 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
722 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
723 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
727 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
728 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
729 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
733 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
734 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
735 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
737 The Gnus Diary Library
739 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
740 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
741 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
742 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
746 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
747 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
748 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
749 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
750 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
751 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
752 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
753 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
754 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
755 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
756 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
757 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
758 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
759 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
763 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
764 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
765 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
769 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
770 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
771 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
775 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
776 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
777 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
778 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
779 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
780 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
781 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
782 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
783 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
784 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
785 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
786 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
787 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
788 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
789 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
790 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
794 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
795 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
796 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
800 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
801 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
802 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
803 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
804 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
805 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
806 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
807 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
808 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
809 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
810 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
811 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
812 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
813 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
814 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
815 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
816 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
817 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
818 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
819 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
823 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
824 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
825 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
826 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
827 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
828 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
829 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
830 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
834 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
835 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
836 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
837 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
838 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
842 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
843 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
844 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
845 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
846 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
847 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
849 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
851 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
852 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
853 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
854 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
855 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
857 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
858 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
860 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
862 * SpamAssassin back end::
863 * ifile spam filtering::
864 * spam-stat spam filtering::
866 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
868 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
870 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
871 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
872 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
876 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
877 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
878 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
879 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
880 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
881 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
882 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
883 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
884 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
888 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
889 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
890 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
891 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
892 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
893 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
894 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
895 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
896 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
900 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
901 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
902 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
903 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
904 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
905 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
906 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
910 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
911 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
912 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
913 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
917 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
918 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
919 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
920 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
921 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
922 * Group Info:: The group info format.
923 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
924 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
925 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
929 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
930 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
931 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
932 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
933 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
934 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
938 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
939 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
943 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
944 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
950 @chapter Starting Gnus
955 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
956 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
959 @findex gnus-other-frame
960 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
961 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
962 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
964 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
965 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
966 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
968 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
969 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
972 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
973 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
974 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
975 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
976 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
977 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
978 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
979 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
980 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
981 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
985 @node Finding the News
986 @section Finding the News
989 @vindex gnus-select-method
991 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
992 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
993 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
994 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
997 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
998 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1001 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1004 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1007 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1010 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1011 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1012 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1013 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1015 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1017 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1018 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1019 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1020 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1021 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1022 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1023 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1025 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1026 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1027 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1028 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1030 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1031 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1032 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1033 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1034 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1035 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1036 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1037 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1038 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1041 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1043 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1044 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1045 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1046 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1047 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1048 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1050 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1052 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1053 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1054 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1055 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1056 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1057 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1060 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1061 you would typically set this variable to
1064 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1067 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1068 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1069 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1070 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1073 @node The First Time
1074 @section The First Time
1075 @cindex first time usage
1077 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1078 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1080 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1081 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1082 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1083 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1086 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1087 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1088 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1090 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1091 help you with most common problems.
1093 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1094 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1098 @node The Server is Down
1099 @section The Server is Down
1100 @cindex server errors
1102 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1103 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1104 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1106 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1107 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1108 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1109 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1110 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1111 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1112 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1114 @findex gnus-no-server
1115 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1117 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1118 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1119 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1120 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1121 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1122 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1123 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1127 @section Slave Gnusae
1130 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1131 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1132 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1133 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1135 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1136 @file{.newsrc} file.
1138 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1139 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1140 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1141 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1142 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1143 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1144 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1147 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1148 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1149 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1150 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1151 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1152 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1153 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1154 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1156 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1157 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1159 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1160 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1161 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1162 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1163 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1170 @cindex subscription
1172 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1173 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1174 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1175 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1176 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1177 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1178 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1179 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1180 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1183 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1184 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1185 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1189 @node Checking New Groups
1190 @subsection Checking New Groups
1192 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1193 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1194 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1195 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1196 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1197 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1198 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1199 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1200 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1201 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1203 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1204 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1205 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1206 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1207 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1208 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1209 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1210 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1211 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1212 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1213 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1215 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1216 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1217 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1218 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1219 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1220 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1223 @node Subscription Methods
1224 @subsection Subscription Methods
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1227 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1228 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1230 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1231 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1233 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1239 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1240 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1241 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1245 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1246 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1250 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1254 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1255 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1256 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1257 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1258 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1259 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1260 up. Or something like that.
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1264 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1265 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1266 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1270 Kill all new groups.
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1274 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1275 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1276 topic parameter that looks like
1282 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1285 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1290 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1291 A closely related variable is
1292 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1293 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1294 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1295 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1298 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1299 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1301 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1304 @node Filtering New Groups
1305 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1307 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1308 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1309 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1312 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1315 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1316 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1317 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1318 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1319 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1320 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1321 subscribing these groups.
1322 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1323 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1325 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1326 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1327 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1328 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1329 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1330 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1331 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1332 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1334 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1335 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1336 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1337 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1338 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1339 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1340 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1341 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1342 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1343 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1346 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1347 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1350 @node Changing Servers
1351 @section Changing Servers
1352 @cindex changing servers
1354 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1355 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1356 very flaky and you want to use another.
1358 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1359 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1363 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1364 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1365 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1366 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1369 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1370 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1371 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1372 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1374 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1375 @findex gnus-change-server
1376 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1377 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1378 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1379 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1380 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1382 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1383 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1384 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1385 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1386 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1388 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1389 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1390 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1391 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1392 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1393 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1395 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1396 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1397 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1398 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1400 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1401 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1402 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1403 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1404 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1405 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1406 cache for all groups).
1410 @section Startup Files
1411 @cindex startup files
1416 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1417 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1418 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1421 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1422 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1423 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1424 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1425 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1426 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1427 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1429 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1430 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1431 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1432 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1433 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1434 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1436 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1437 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1438 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1439 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1440 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1441 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1442 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1443 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1444 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1445 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1446 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1449 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1450 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1451 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1452 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1453 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1454 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1455 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1456 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1457 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1458 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1459 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1460 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1462 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1463 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1464 @vindex version-control
1465 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1466 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1467 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1468 If you want version control for this file, set
1469 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1470 @code{version-control} variable.
1472 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1473 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1474 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1475 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1476 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1477 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1478 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1479 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1480 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1481 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1484 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1485 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1487 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1488 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1491 @vindex gnus-init-file
1492 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1493 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1494 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1495 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1496 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1497 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1498 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1499 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1500 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1501 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1502 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1503 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1504 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1509 @cindex dribble file
1512 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1513 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1514 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1515 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1516 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1519 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1520 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1523 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1525 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1527 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1528 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1529 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1530 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1531 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1532 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1534 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1535 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1536 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1539 @node The Active File
1540 @section The Active File
1542 @cindex ignored groups
1544 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1545 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1546 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1548 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1549 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1550 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1551 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1552 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1553 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1554 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1557 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1558 @c if you set it to anything else.
1560 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1562 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1563 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1564 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1566 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1567 you actually subscribe to.
1569 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1570 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1571 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1572 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1574 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1575 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1576 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1577 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1578 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1579 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1581 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1582 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1583 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1586 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1587 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1588 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1589 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1590 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1591 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1593 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1594 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1596 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1597 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1599 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1600 secondary select methods.
1603 @node Startup Variables
1604 @section Startup Variables
1608 @item gnus-load-hook
1609 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1610 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1611 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1612 times you start Gnus.
1614 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1615 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1616 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1618 @item gnus-startup-hook
1619 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1620 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1622 @item gnus-started-hook
1623 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1624 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1627 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1629 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1630 generating the group buffer.
1632 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1633 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1634 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1635 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1636 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1637 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1638 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1639 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1641 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1642 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1643 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1644 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1645 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1646 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1648 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1649 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1650 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1652 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1653 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1654 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1656 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1657 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1658 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1659 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1665 @chapter Group Buffer
1666 @cindex group buffer
1668 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1670 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1671 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1672 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1673 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1674 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1675 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1676 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1677 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1678 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1679 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1680 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1681 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1682 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1683 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1684 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1685 @c human rights at 9...
1688 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1689 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1690 long as Gnus is active.
1694 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1695 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1696 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1697 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1698 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1699 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1700 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1701 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1707 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1708 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1709 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1710 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1711 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1712 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1713 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1714 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1715 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1716 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1717 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1718 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1719 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1720 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1721 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1722 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1723 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1727 @node Group Buffer Format
1728 @section Group Buffer Format
1731 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1732 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1733 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1737 @node Group Line Specification
1738 @subsection Group Line Specification
1739 @cindex group buffer format
1741 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1742 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1744 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1747 25: news.announce.newusers
1748 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1753 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1754 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1755 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1756 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1758 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1759 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1760 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1761 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1762 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1763 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1765 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1767 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1768 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1769 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1770 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1771 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1773 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1774 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1775 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1777 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1782 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1785 Whether the group is subscribed.
1788 Level of subscribedness.
1791 Number of unread articles.
1794 Number of dormant articles.
1797 Number of ticked articles.
1800 Number of read articles.
1803 Number of unseen articles.
1806 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1807 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1809 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1810 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1811 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1812 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1813 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1814 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1815 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1816 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1819 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1822 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1831 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1832 comment element in the group parameters.
1835 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1836 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1837 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1841 @samp{m} if moderated.
1844 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1850 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1856 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1860 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1863 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1864 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1865 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1866 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1867 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1870 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1872 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1876 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1879 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1883 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1884 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1885 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1886 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1889 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1890 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1891 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1892 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1893 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1894 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1899 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1900 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1901 group, or a bogus native group.
1904 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1905 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1906 @cindex group mode line
1908 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1909 The mode line can be changed by setting
1910 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1911 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1915 The native news server.
1917 The native select method.
1921 @node Group Highlighting
1922 @subsection Group Highlighting
1923 @cindex highlighting
1924 @cindex group highlighting
1926 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1927 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1928 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1929 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1930 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1932 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1936 (cond (window-system
1937 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1938 (defface my-group-face-1
1939 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1940 (defface my-group-face-2
1941 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1942 "Second group face")
1943 (defface my-group-face-3
1944 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1945 (defface my-group-face-4
1946 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1947 (defface my-group-face-5
1948 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1950 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1951 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1952 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1953 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1954 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1955 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1958 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1960 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1967 The number of unread articles in the group.
1971 Whether the group is a mail group.
1973 The level of the group.
1975 The score of the group.
1977 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1979 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1980 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1982 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1983 topic being inserted.
1986 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1987 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1988 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1990 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1991 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1992 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1993 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1994 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1997 @node Group Maneuvering
1998 @section Group Maneuvering
1999 @cindex group movement
2001 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2002 expected, hopefully.
2008 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2009 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2010 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2017 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2018 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2023 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2027 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2028 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2032 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2033 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2034 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2039 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2040 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2043 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2049 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2050 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2051 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2056 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2057 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2058 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2062 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2063 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2064 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2067 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2068 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2069 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2070 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2074 @node Selecting a Group
2075 @section Selecting a Group
2076 @cindex group selection
2081 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2082 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2083 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2084 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2085 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2086 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2087 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2088 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2089 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2090 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2092 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2093 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2094 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2096 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2097 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2102 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2103 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2104 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2105 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2106 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2110 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2111 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2112 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2113 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2114 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2115 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2116 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2117 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2118 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2119 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2122 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2123 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2124 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2125 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2126 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2129 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2130 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2131 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2132 doing any processing of its contents
2133 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2134 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2135 manner will have no permanent effects.
2139 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2140 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2141 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2142 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2143 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2144 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2145 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2146 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2147 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2148 most recently will be fetched.
2150 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2151 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2152 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2155 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2156 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2157 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2158 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2159 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2160 Which article this is is controlled by the
2161 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2167 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2170 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2173 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2175 @item unseen-or-unread
2176 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2177 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2181 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2185 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2186 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2188 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2189 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2190 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2191 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2195 @node Subscription Commands
2196 @section Subscription Commands
2197 @cindex subscription
2205 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2206 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2207 Toggle subscription to the current group
2208 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2214 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2215 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2216 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2217 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2223 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2224 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2225 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2231 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2232 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2235 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2236 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2237 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2238 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2239 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2245 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2246 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2250 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2251 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2254 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2255 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2256 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2257 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2258 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2259 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2260 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2261 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2262 @file{.newsrc} file.
2266 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2276 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2277 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2278 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2279 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2280 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2281 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2286 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2287 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2288 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2292 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2293 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2294 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2296 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2297 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2298 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2299 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2300 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2301 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2308 @section Group Levels
2312 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2313 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2314 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2315 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2316 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2318 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2324 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2325 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2326 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2327 prompted for a level.
2330 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2331 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2332 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2333 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2334 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2335 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2336 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2337 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2338 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2339 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2340 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2341 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2342 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2343 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2344 reasons of efficiency.
2346 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2347 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2349 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2350 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2351 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2352 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2353 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2354 groups are hidden, in a way.
2356 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2357 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2358 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2359 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2360 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2361 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2363 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2364 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2365 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2366 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2367 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2368 list of killed groups.)
2370 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2371 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2372 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2374 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2375 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2376 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2377 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2378 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2379 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2380 relevant valid ranges.
2382 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2383 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2384 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2385 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2386 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2387 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2390 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2391 one with the best level.
2393 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2394 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2395 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2398 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2399 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2400 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2401 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2404 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2405 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2406 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2407 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2409 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2410 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2411 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2412 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2413 to 5. The default is 6.
2417 @section Group Score
2422 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2423 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2424 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2427 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2428 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2429 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2430 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2431 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2432 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2433 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2434 least significant part.))
2436 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2437 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2438 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2439 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2440 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2441 action after each summary exit, you can add
2442 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2443 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2444 slow things down somewhat.
2447 @node Marking Groups
2448 @section Marking Groups
2449 @cindex marking groups
2451 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2452 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2453 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2454 bidding on those groups.
2456 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2457 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2458 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2466 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2467 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2474 Remove the mark from the current group
2475 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2480 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2485 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2489 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2490 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2494 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2495 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2496 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2499 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2501 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2502 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2503 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2504 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2505 the command to be executed.
2508 @node Foreign Groups
2509 @section Foreign Groups
2510 @cindex foreign groups
2512 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2513 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2514 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2515 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2522 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2523 @cindex making groups
2524 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2525 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2526 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2531 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2532 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2536 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2537 @cindex renaming groups
2538 Rename the current group to something else
2539 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2540 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2546 @findex gnus-group-customize
2547 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2551 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2552 @cindex renaming groups
2553 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2554 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2558 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2559 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2560 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2564 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2565 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2566 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2572 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2573 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2579 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2583 @cindex (ding) archive
2584 @cindex archive group
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2586 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2587 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2588 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2589 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2590 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2591 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2597 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2598 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2599 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2600 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2604 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2606 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2607 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2608 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2613 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2615 Make a group based on some file or other
2616 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2617 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2618 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2619 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2620 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2621 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2622 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2623 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2624 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2628 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2630 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2635 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2639 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2640 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2641 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2642 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2643 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2644 @xref{Web Searches}.
2646 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2647 to a particular group by using a match string like
2648 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2652 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2653 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2654 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2658 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2659 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2660 This function will delete the current group
2661 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2662 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2663 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2664 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2665 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2670 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2671 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2675 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2676 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2677 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2680 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2683 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2684 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2685 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2686 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2687 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2688 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2692 @node Group Parameters
2693 @section Group Parameters
2694 @cindex group parameters
2696 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2697 Here's an example group parameter list:
2700 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2704 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2705 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2706 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2707 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2709 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2710 is an alist of regexps and values.
2712 The following group parameters can be used:
2717 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2720 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2723 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2724 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2725 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2726 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2727 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2729 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2730 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2731 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2732 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2733 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2734 list address instead.
2736 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2740 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2743 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2746 It is totally ignored
2747 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2748 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2750 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2751 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2752 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2753 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2754 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2756 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2757 @cindex mail list groups
2758 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2759 entering summary buffer.
2761 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2766 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2767 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2768 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2769 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2770 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2771 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2772 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2773 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2776 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2777 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2780 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2781 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2785 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2786 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2787 of whether it has any unread articles.
2789 @item broken-reply-to
2790 @cindex broken-reply-to
2791 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2792 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2793 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2794 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2795 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2796 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2800 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2801 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2805 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2806 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2807 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2812 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2813 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2814 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2815 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2816 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2817 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2818 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2820 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2821 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2822 doesn't accept articles.
2826 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2827 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2828 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2830 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2833 @cindex total-expire
2834 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2835 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2836 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2837 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2840 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2844 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2845 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2846 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2847 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2848 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2849 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2850 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2853 @cindex expiry-target
2854 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2855 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2858 @cindex score file group parameter
2859 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2860 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2861 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2864 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2865 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2866 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2867 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2870 @cindex admin-address
2871 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2872 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2873 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2874 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2878 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2879 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2883 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2886 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2887 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2890 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2894 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2896 Here are some examples:
2900 Display only unread articles.
2903 Display everything except expirable articles.
2905 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2906 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2910 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2911 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2912 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2913 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2914 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2918 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2919 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2920 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2924 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2925 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2926 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2930 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2931 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2932 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2934 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2936 @item ignored-charsets
2937 @cindex ignored-charset
2938 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2939 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2940 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2942 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2945 @cindex posting-style
2946 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2947 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2948 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2949 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2950 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2952 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2953 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2954 like this in the group parameters:
2959 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2960 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2965 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2966 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2970 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2971 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2972 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2973 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2974 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2978 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2979 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2980 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2981 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2983 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2984 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2985 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2986 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2989 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
2990 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
2994 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
2995 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
2996 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
2997 like the following is generated:
3000 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3001 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3005 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3006 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3008 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3009 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3011 @item (agent parameters)
3012 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3013 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3014 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3015 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3016 minimize the configuration effort.
3018 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3019 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3020 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3021 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3022 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3023 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3024 @code{eval}ed there.
3026 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3027 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3028 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3029 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3030 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3031 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3032 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3033 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3036 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3039 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3040 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3041 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3044 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3047 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3048 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3049 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3050 into the group parameters for the group.
3052 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3053 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3054 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3055 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3058 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3059 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3060 following is added to a group parameter
3063 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3064 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3067 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3072 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3073 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3074 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3075 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3076 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3078 @vindex gnus-parameters
3079 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3080 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3084 (setq gnus-parameters
3086 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3087 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3088 (gnus-summary-line-format
3089 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3093 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3097 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3101 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3104 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3105 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3107 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3108 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3109 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3110 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3111 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3112 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3113 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3114 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3115 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3116 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3117 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3118 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3121 @node Listing Groups
3122 @section Listing Groups
3123 @cindex group listing
3125 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3133 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3134 List all groups that have unread articles
3135 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3136 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3137 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3138 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3145 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3146 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3147 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3148 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3149 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3150 unsubscribed groups).
3154 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3155 List all unread groups on a specific level
3156 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3157 with no unread articles.
3161 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3162 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3163 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3164 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3169 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3170 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3174 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3175 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3176 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3180 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3181 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3185 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3186 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3187 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3188 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3189 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3190 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3191 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3192 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3196 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3197 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3198 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3202 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3203 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3204 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3208 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3209 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3213 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3214 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3218 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3219 List groups limited within the current selection
3220 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3224 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3225 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3229 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3230 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3234 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3235 @cindex visible group parameter
3236 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3237 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3238 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3239 get the same effect.
3241 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3242 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3243 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3244 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3245 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3248 @node Sorting Groups
3249 @section Sorting Groups
3250 @cindex sorting groups
3252 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3253 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3254 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3255 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3256 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3257 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3262 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3263 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3264 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3266 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3267 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3268 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3270 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3271 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3272 Sort by group level.
3274 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3275 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3276 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3278 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3279 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3280 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3281 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3283 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3284 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3285 Sort by number of unread articles.
3287 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3288 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3289 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3291 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3292 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3293 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3298 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3299 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3303 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3304 some sorting criteria:
3308 @kindex G S a (Group)
3309 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3310 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3311 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3314 @kindex G S u (Group)
3315 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3316 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3317 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3320 @kindex G S l (Group)
3321 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3322 Sort the group buffer by group level
3323 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3326 @kindex G S v (Group)
3327 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3328 Sort the group buffer by group score
3329 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3332 @kindex G S r (Group)
3333 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3334 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3335 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3338 @kindex G S m (Group)
3339 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3340 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3341 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3344 @kindex G S n (Group)
3345 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3346 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3347 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3351 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3352 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3354 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3355 commands will sort in reverse order.
3357 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3361 @kindex G P a (Group)
3362 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3363 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3364 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3367 @kindex G P u (Group)
3368 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3369 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3370 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3373 @kindex G P l (Group)
3374 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3375 Sort the groups by group level
3376 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3379 @kindex G P v (Group)
3380 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3381 Sort the groups by group score
3382 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3385 @kindex G P r (Group)
3386 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3387 Sort the groups by group rank
3388 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3391 @kindex G P m (Group)
3392 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3393 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3394 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3397 @kindex G P n (Group)
3398 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3399 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3400 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3403 @kindex G P s (Group)
3404 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3405 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3409 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3413 @node Group Maintenance
3414 @section Group Maintenance
3415 @cindex bogus groups
3420 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3421 Find bogus groups and delete them
3422 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3426 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3427 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3428 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3429 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3430 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3434 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3435 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3436 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3437 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3438 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3439 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3442 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3443 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3444 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3445 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3450 @node Browse Foreign Server
3451 @section Browse Foreign Server
3452 @cindex foreign servers
3453 @cindex browsing servers
3458 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3459 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3460 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3461 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3464 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3465 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3466 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3467 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3469 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3474 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3475 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3479 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3480 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3483 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3484 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3485 Enter the current group and display the first article
3486 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3489 @kindex RET (Browse)
3490 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3491 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3495 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3496 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3497 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3503 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3504 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3508 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3509 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3513 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3514 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3515 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3520 @section Exiting Gnus
3521 @cindex exiting Gnus
3523 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3528 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3529 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3530 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3531 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3535 @findex gnus-group-exit
3536 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3537 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3541 @findex gnus-group-quit
3542 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3543 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3546 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3547 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3548 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3549 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3550 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3551 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3557 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3558 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3559 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3565 @section Group Topics
3568 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3569 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3570 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3571 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3572 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3573 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3577 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3578 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3589 2: alt.religion.emacs
3592 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3594 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3595 13: comp.sources.unix
3598 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3600 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3601 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3602 is a toggling command.)
3604 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3605 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3606 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3607 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3610 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3611 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3612 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3615 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3619 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3620 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3621 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3622 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3623 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3627 @node Topic Commands
3628 @subsection Topic Commands
3629 @cindex topic commands
3631 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3632 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3633 definitions slightly.
3635 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3636 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3637 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3638 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3639 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3640 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3642 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3649 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3650 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3651 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3655 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3657 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3658 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3659 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3660 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3663 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3664 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3665 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3666 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3670 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3671 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3672 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3673 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3679 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3680 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3681 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3685 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3686 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3687 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3690 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3691 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3692 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3693 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3694 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3696 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3697 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3701 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3702 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3709 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3711 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3712 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3713 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3714 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3715 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3716 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3720 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3726 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3727 Move the current group to some other topic
3728 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3729 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3733 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3734 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3738 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3739 Copy the current group to some other topic
3740 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3741 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3745 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3746 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3747 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3751 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3752 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3753 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3757 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3758 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3759 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3760 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3761 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3762 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3763 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3766 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3767 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3771 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3772 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3773 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3777 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3778 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3779 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3783 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3784 Toggle hiding empty topics
3785 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3789 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3790 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3791 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3792 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3795 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3796 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3797 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3798 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3799 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3802 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3803 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3804 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3805 expiry process (if any)
3806 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3810 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3811 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3814 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3815 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3816 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3820 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3821 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3822 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3825 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3826 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3827 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3830 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3831 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3832 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3836 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3837 @cindex group parameters
3838 @cindex topic parameters
3840 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3841 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3846 @node Topic Variables
3847 @subsection Topic Variables
3848 @cindex topic variables
3850 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3851 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3853 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3854 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3855 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3868 Number of groups in the topic.
3870 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3872 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3875 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3876 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3877 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3880 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3881 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3883 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3884 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3885 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3889 @subsection Topic Sorting
3890 @cindex topic sorting
3892 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3898 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3899 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3900 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3901 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3904 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3905 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3906 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3907 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3910 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3911 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3912 Sort the current topic by group level
3913 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3916 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3917 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3918 Sort the current topic by group score
3919 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3922 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3923 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3924 Sort the current topic by group rank
3925 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3928 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3929 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3930 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3931 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3934 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3935 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3936 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3937 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3940 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3941 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3942 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3943 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3944 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3948 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3949 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3953 @node Topic Topology
3954 @subsection Topic Topology
3955 @cindex topic topology
3958 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3965 2: alt.religion.emacs
3968 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3970 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3971 13: comp.sources.unix
3975 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3976 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3977 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3982 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3983 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3987 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3988 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3989 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3990 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3991 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3992 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3994 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3995 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3996 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3999 @node Topic Parameters
4000 @subsection Topic Parameters
4001 @cindex topic parameters
4003 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4004 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4005 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4006 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4007 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4009 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4014 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4015 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4016 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4019 @item subscribe-level
4020 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4021 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4022 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4026 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4027 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4028 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4029 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4036 2: alt.religion.emacs
4040 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4042 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4043 13: comp.sources.unix
4048 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4049 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4050 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4051 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4052 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4053 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4055 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4056 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4057 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4058 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4059 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4061 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4062 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4063 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4064 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4065 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4066 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4067 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4068 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4071 @node Misc Group Stuff
4072 @section Misc Group Stuff
4075 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4076 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4077 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4078 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4079 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4086 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4087 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4088 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4092 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4093 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4094 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4095 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4096 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4097 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4098 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4102 @findex gnus-group-mail
4103 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4104 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4105 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4106 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4110 @findex gnus-group-news
4111 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4112 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4113 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4115 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4116 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4117 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4118 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4119 for this to work though.
4123 Variables for the group buffer:
4127 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4128 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4129 is called after the group buffer has been
4132 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4133 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4134 is called after the group buffer is
4135 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4138 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4139 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4140 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4141 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4143 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4144 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4145 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4146 whether they are empty or not.
4148 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4149 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4150 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4151 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4155 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4156 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4159 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4160 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4161 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4162 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4163 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4164 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4165 default is @code{nil}.
4169 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4170 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4175 @node Scanning New Messages
4176 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4177 @cindex new messages
4178 @cindex scanning new news
4184 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4185 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4186 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4187 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4188 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4189 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4194 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4195 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4196 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4197 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4198 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4199 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4200 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4202 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4203 @cindex activating groups
4205 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4206 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4211 @findex gnus-group-restart
4212 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4213 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4214 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4218 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4219 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4221 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4222 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4226 @node Group Information
4227 @subsection Group Information
4228 @cindex group information
4229 @cindex information on groups
4236 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4237 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4240 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4241 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4242 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4243 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4244 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4245 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4246 used for fetching the file.
4248 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4249 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4253 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4254 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4256 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4257 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4260 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4261 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4262 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4266 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4267 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4268 @cindex control message
4269 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4270 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4271 group if given a prefix argument.
4273 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4274 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4275 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4276 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4278 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4279 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4280 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4284 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4286 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4287 @cindex describing groups
4288 @cindex group description
4289 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4290 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4291 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4295 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4296 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4297 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4304 @findex gnus-version
4305 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4309 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4310 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4313 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4316 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4317 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4321 @node Group Timestamp
4322 @subsection Group Timestamp
4324 @cindex group timestamps
4326 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4327 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4328 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4331 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4334 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4336 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4337 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4340 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4341 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4344 This will result in lines looking like:
4347 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4348 0: custom 19961002T012713
4351 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4352 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4356 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4357 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4360 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4361 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4365 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4366 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4367 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4368 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4370 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4376 @subsection File Commands
4377 @cindex file commands
4383 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4384 @vindex gnus-init-file
4385 @cindex reading init file
4386 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4387 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4391 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4392 @cindex saving .newsrc
4393 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4394 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4395 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4398 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4399 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4400 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4405 @node Sieve Commands
4406 @subsection Sieve Commands
4407 @cindex group sieve commands
4409 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4410 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4411 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4412 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4413 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4415 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4416 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4417 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4418 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4419 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4420 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4421 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4422 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4423 regenerate the Sieve script.
4425 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4426 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4427 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4428 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4429 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4430 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4431 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4432 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4433 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4434 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4437 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4438 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4443 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4449 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4450 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4451 @cindex generating sieve script
4452 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4453 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4457 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4458 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4459 @cindex updating sieve script
4460 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4461 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4462 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4467 @node Summary Buffer
4468 @chapter Summary Buffer
4469 @cindex summary buffer
4471 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4472 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4474 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4475 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4477 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4480 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4481 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4482 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4483 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4484 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4485 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4486 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4487 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4488 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4489 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4490 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4491 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4492 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4493 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4494 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4495 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4496 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4497 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4498 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4499 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4500 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4501 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4502 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4503 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4504 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4505 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4506 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4507 or reselecting the current group.
4508 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4509 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4510 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4511 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4515 @node Summary Buffer Format
4516 @section Summary Buffer Format
4517 @cindex summary buffer format
4521 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4522 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4523 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4535 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4536 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4537 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4538 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4539 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4540 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4541 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4542 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4543 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4544 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4545 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4548 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4549 'mail-extract-address-components)
4552 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4553 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4554 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4555 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4558 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4559 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4561 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4562 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4563 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4564 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4565 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4567 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4568 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4569 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4570 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4571 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4572 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4574 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4576 The following format specification characters and extended format
4577 specification(s) are understood:
4583 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4584 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4586 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4587 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4588 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4590 Full @code{From} header.
4592 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4594 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4597 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4598 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4599 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4600 may be more thorough.
4602 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4605 Number of lines in the article.
4607 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4608 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4610 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4611 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4613 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4615 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4616 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4629 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4630 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4631 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4632 line-drawing glyphs.
4634 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4635 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4636 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4637 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4639 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4640 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4641 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4642 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4644 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4645 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4646 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4647 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4649 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4650 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4651 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4653 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4654 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4655 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4657 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4658 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4659 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4661 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4662 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4663 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4668 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4669 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4671 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4672 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4674 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4675 for adopted articles.
4677 One space for each thread level.
4679 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4681 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4684 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4685 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4686 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4689 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4691 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4692 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4693 default level. If the difference between
4694 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4695 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4703 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4705 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4711 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4712 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4714 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4715 article has any children.
4721 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4722 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4724 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4725 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4726 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4727 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4728 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4729 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4732 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4733 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4734 There can only be one such area.
4736 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4737 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4738 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4739 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4740 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4741 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4743 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4744 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4746 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4749 @node To From Newsgroups
4750 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4754 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4755 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4756 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4757 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4758 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4762 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4763 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4764 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4768 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4769 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4772 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4773 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4776 @findex gnus-extra-header
4777 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4778 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4779 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4782 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4786 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4787 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4788 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4789 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4790 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4791 headers are used instead.
4793 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
4794 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
4795 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
4796 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
4797 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
4798 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
4802 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4803 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4804 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4805 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4806 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4807 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4810 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4811 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4812 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4813 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4815 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4819 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4821 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4822 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4823 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4824 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4828 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4831 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4832 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4835 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4836 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4837 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4843 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4844 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4847 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4848 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4850 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4851 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4852 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4853 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4855 Here are the elements you can play with:
4861 Unprefixed group name.
4863 Current article number.
4865 Current article score.
4869 Number of unread articles in this group.
4871 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4874 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4875 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4876 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4877 and no unselected ones.
4879 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4880 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4882 Subject of the current article.
4884 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4886 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4888 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4890 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4892 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4894 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4898 @node Summary Highlighting
4899 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4903 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4904 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4905 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4906 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4907 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4909 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4910 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4911 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4912 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4914 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4915 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4916 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4917 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4919 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4920 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4921 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4922 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4923 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4924 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4927 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4928 ((> score default) . bold))
4930 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4931 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4935 @node Summary Maneuvering
4936 @section Summary Maneuvering
4937 @cindex summary movement
4939 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4940 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4942 None of these commands select articles.
4947 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4948 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4949 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4950 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4951 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4955 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4956 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4957 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4958 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4959 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4962 @kindex G g (Summary)
4963 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4964 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4965 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4968 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4969 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4970 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4971 to the group buffer.
4973 Variables related to summary movement:
4977 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4978 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4979 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4980 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4981 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4982 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4983 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4984 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4985 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4986 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4987 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4988 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4989 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4990 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4992 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4993 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4994 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4995 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4996 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4997 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4998 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5000 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5002 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5003 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5004 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5005 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5006 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5008 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5009 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5010 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5011 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5012 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5013 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5014 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5015 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5018 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5019 the given number of lines from the top.
5024 @node Choosing Articles
5025 @section Choosing Articles
5026 @cindex selecting articles
5029 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5030 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5034 @node Choosing Commands
5035 @subsection Choosing Commands
5037 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5038 and they all select and display an article.
5040 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5041 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5045 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5046 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5047 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5048 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5050 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5051 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5052 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5057 @kindex G n (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5059 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5060 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5065 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5066 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5067 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5072 @kindex G N (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5074 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5079 @kindex G P (Summary)
5080 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5081 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5084 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5086 Go to the next article with the same subject
5087 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5090 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5091 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5092 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5093 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5097 @kindex G f (Summary)
5099 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5100 Go to the first unread article
5101 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5105 @kindex G b (Summary)
5107 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5108 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5109 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5110 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5115 @kindex G l (Summary)
5116 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5117 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5120 @kindex G o (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5123 @cindex article history
5124 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5126 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5127 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5128 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5129 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5134 @kindex G j (Summary)
5135 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5136 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5137 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5142 @node Choosing Variables
5143 @subsection Choosing Variables
5145 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5148 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5149 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5150 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5151 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5152 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5153 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5155 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5156 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5157 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
5158 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
5159 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
5162 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5163 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5164 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5165 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5166 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5167 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5168 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5169 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5170 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
5171 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5172 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5173 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5174 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5175 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5180 @node Paging the Article
5181 @section Scrolling the Article
5182 @cindex article scrolling
5187 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5189 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5190 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5191 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5193 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5194 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5195 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5196 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5197 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5198 what is considered uninteresting with
5199 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5200 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5203 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5205 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5208 @kindex RET (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5210 Scroll the current article one line forward
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5214 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5216 Scroll the current article one line backward
5217 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5221 @kindex A g (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5224 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5225 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5226 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5227 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5228 the way it came from the server.
5230 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5231 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5232 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5235 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5240 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5245 @kindex A < (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5247 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5248 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5253 @kindex A > (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5255 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5259 @kindex A s (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5262 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5263 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5267 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5268 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5273 @node Reply Followup and Post
5274 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5277 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5278 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5279 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5280 * Canceling and Superseding::
5284 @node Summary Mail Commands
5285 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5287 @cindex composing mail
5289 Commands for composing a mail message:
5295 @kindex S r (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5298 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5299 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5300 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5301 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5306 @kindex S R (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5308 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5309 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5310 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5311 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5314 @kindex S w (Summary)
5315 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5316 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5317 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5318 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5319 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5320 present, that's used instead.
5323 @kindex S W (Summary)
5324 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5325 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5326 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5327 the process/prefix convention.
5330 @kindex S v (Summary)
5331 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5332 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5333 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5334 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5335 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5336 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5339 @kindex S V (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5341 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5342 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5343 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5346 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5347 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5348 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5349 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5350 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5351 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5352 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5353 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5356 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5357 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5358 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5359 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5360 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5364 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5365 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5367 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5368 Forward the current article to some other person
5369 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5370 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5371 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5372 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5373 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5374 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5375 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5376 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5377 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5383 @kindex S m (Summary)
5384 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5385 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5386 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5387 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5388 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5393 @kindex S i (Summary)
5394 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5395 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5396 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5397 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5399 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5400 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5401 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5402 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5403 for this to work though.
5406 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5407 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5408 @cindex bouncing mail
5409 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5410 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5411 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5412 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5413 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5414 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5415 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5416 very well fail, though.
5419 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5420 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5421 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5422 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5423 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5424 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5425 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5426 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5427 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5428 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5430 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5431 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5432 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5433 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5434 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5436 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5437 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5440 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5441 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5443 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5444 if it were a new message before resending.
5447 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5448 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5449 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5450 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5451 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5454 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5455 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5456 @cindex crossposting
5457 @cindex excessive crossposting
5458 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5459 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5461 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5462 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5463 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5464 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5465 command understands the process/prefix convention
5466 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5470 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5471 Manual}, for more information.
5474 @node Summary Post Commands
5475 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5477 @cindex composing news
5479 Commands for posting a news article:
5485 @kindex S p (Summary)
5486 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5487 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5488 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5489 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5490 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5495 @kindex S f (Summary)
5496 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5497 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5498 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5502 @kindex S F (Summary)
5504 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5505 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5506 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5507 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5508 process/prefix convention.
5511 @kindex S n (Summary)
5512 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5513 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5514 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5517 @kindex S N (Summary)
5518 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5519 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5520 message through mail and include the original message
5521 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5522 the process/prefix convention.
5525 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5526 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5527 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5528 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5529 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5530 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5531 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5532 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5533 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5534 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5535 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5536 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5537 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5540 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5541 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5543 @cindex making digests
5544 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5545 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5546 process/prefix convention.
5549 @kindex S u (Summary)
5550 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5551 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5552 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5553 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5556 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5557 Manual}, for more information.
5560 @node Summary Message Commands
5561 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5565 @kindex S y (Summary)
5566 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5567 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5568 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5569 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5570 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5575 @node Canceling and Superseding
5576 @subsection Canceling Articles
5577 @cindex canceling articles
5578 @cindex superseding articles
5580 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5581 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5583 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5585 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5588 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5589 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5590 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5591 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5592 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5594 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5595 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5598 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5599 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5600 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5602 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5603 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5604 message, Message Manual}).
5606 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5607 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5608 your original article.
5610 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5612 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5613 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5614 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5617 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5618 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5619 have posted almost the same article twice.
5621 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5622 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5623 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5624 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5625 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5626 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5627 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5628 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5629 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5630 canceled/superseded.
5632 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5634 @node Delayed Articles
5635 @section Delayed Articles
5636 @cindex delayed sending
5637 @cindex send delayed
5639 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5640 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5641 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5642 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5645 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5648 @findex gnus-delay-article
5649 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5650 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5651 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5652 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5656 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5657 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5658 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5659 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5662 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5663 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5664 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5667 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5668 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5669 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5670 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5671 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5672 that means a time tomorrow.
5675 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5676 couple of variables:
5679 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5680 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5681 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5682 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5684 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5685 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5686 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5687 formats described above.
5689 @item gnus-delay-group
5690 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5691 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5692 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5693 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5695 @item gnus-delay-header
5696 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5697 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5698 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5699 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5702 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5703 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5704 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5705 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5706 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5708 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5709 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5710 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5711 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5712 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5713 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5714 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5717 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5718 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5719 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5720 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5721 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5722 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5723 argument is ignored.
5725 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5726 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5727 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5731 @node Marking Articles
5732 @section Marking Articles
5733 @cindex article marking
5734 @cindex article ticking
5737 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5739 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5740 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5741 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5743 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5746 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5750 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5751 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5752 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5753 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5754 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5755 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5759 @node Unread Articles
5760 @subsection Unread Articles
5762 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5767 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5768 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5770 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5771 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5772 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5773 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5774 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5775 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5776 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5779 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5780 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5782 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5783 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5784 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5785 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5789 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5790 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5792 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5797 @subsection Read Articles
5798 @cindex expirable mark
5800 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5805 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5806 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5807 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5810 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5811 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5814 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5815 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5816 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5819 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5820 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5823 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5824 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5827 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5828 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5831 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5832 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5835 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5836 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5839 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5840 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5843 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5844 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5848 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5849 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5850 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5854 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5855 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5857 One more special mark, though:
5861 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5862 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5864 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5865 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5866 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5867 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5873 @subsection Other Marks
5874 @cindex process mark
5877 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5883 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5884 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5885 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5886 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5887 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5890 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5891 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5892 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5893 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5896 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5897 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5898 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5901 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5902 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5903 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5906 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5907 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5908 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5909 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5912 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5913 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5914 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5915 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5916 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5917 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5920 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5921 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5922 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5923 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5926 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5927 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5928 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5929 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5930 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5934 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5935 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5936 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5937 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5938 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5939 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5942 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5943 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5944 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5945 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5946 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5947 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5951 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5952 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5953 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5954 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5955 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5958 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5959 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5960 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5961 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5962 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5963 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5967 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5968 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5969 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5971 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5972 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5973 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5977 @subsection Setting Marks
5978 @cindex setting marks
5980 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5985 @kindex M c (Summary)
5986 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5988 @cindex mark as unread
5989 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5990 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5996 @kindex M t (Summary)
5997 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5998 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5999 @xref{Article Caching}.
6004 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6006 Mark the current article as dormant
6007 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6011 @kindex M d (Summary)
6013 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6014 Mark the current article as read
6015 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6019 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6020 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6021 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6026 @kindex M k (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6028 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6029 and then select the next unread article
6030 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6034 @kindex M K (Summary)
6035 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6037 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6038 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6041 @kindex M C (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6043 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6044 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6047 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6048 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6049 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6050 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6053 @kindex M H (Summary)
6054 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6055 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6056 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6059 @kindex M h (Summary)
6060 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6061 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6062 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6065 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6066 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6067 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6068 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6071 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6072 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6073 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6074 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6078 @kindex M e (Summary)
6080 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6081 Mark the current article as expirable
6082 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6085 @kindex M b (Summary)
6086 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6087 Set a bookmark in the current article
6088 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6091 @kindex M B (Summary)
6092 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6093 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6094 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6097 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6098 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6099 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6100 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6103 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6104 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6105 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6106 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6109 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6110 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6111 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6112 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6113 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6116 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6117 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6118 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6119 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6120 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6121 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6122 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6123 The default is @code{t}.
6126 @node Generic Marking Commands
6127 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6129 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6130 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6131 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6132 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6133 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6136 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6137 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6140 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6141 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6142 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6143 to list in this manual.
6145 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6146 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6147 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6148 article, you could say something like:
6152 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6153 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6154 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6162 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6163 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6167 @node Setting Process Marks
6168 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6169 @cindex setting process marks
6171 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6172 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6173 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6174 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6175 commands into the cache. For more information,
6176 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6183 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6185 Mark the current article with the process mark
6186 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6187 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6191 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6192 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6193 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6194 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6197 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6199 Remove the process mark from all articles
6200 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6203 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6205 Invert the list of process marked articles
6206 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6209 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6211 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6212 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6215 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6216 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6217 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6218 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6221 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6223 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6226 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6227 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6228 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6231 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6233 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6234 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6237 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6239 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6240 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6243 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6245 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6246 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6249 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6251 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6254 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6255 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6256 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6257 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6260 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6261 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6262 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6265 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6266 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6267 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6268 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6271 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6272 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6273 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6274 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6277 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6278 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6279 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6283 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6285 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6286 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6290 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6291 set process marks based on article body contents.
6298 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6299 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6300 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6303 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6304 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6305 additional articles.
6311 @kindex / / (Summary)
6312 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6313 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6314 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6318 @kindex / a (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6320 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6321 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6325 @kindex / R (Summary)
6326 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6327 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6328 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6332 @kindex / x (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6334 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6335 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6336 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6341 @kindex / u (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6344 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6345 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6346 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6347 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6350 @kindex / m (Summary)
6351 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6352 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6353 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6356 @kindex / t (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6358 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6359 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6360 articles younger than that number of days.
6363 @kindex / n (Summary)
6364 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6365 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6366 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6367 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6370 @kindex / w (Summary)
6371 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6372 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6373 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6377 @kindex / . (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6379 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6383 @kindex / v (Summary)
6384 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6385 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6386 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6389 @kindex / p (Summary)
6390 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6391 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6392 group parameter predicate
6393 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6394 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6397 @kindex / r (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6399 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6400 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6405 @kindex M S (Summary)
6406 @kindex / E (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6408 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6409 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6412 @kindex / D (Summary)
6413 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6414 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6415 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6418 @kindex / * (Summary)
6419 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6420 Include all cached articles in the limit
6421 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6424 @kindex / d (Summary)
6425 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6426 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6427 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6430 @kindex / M (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6432 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6435 @kindex / T (Summary)
6436 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6437 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6440 @kindex / c (Summary)
6441 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6442 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6443 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6446 @kindex / C (Summary)
6447 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6448 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6449 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6450 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6453 @kindex / N (Summary)
6454 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6455 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6456 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6459 @kindex / o (Summary)
6460 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6461 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6462 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6470 @cindex article threading
6472 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6473 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6474 hierarchical fashion.
6476 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6477 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6478 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6479 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6480 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6481 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6482 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6484 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6488 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6491 A tree-like article structure.
6494 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6497 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6498 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6499 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6500 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6501 called loose threads.
6503 @item thread gathering
6504 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6506 @item sparse threads
6507 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6508 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6514 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6515 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6519 @node Customizing Threading
6520 @subsection Customizing Threading
6521 @cindex customizing threading
6524 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6525 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6526 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6527 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6532 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6535 @cindex loose threads
6538 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6539 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6540 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6541 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6542 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6543 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6545 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6546 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6547 There are four possible values:
6551 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6552 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6553 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6554 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6555 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6560 @cindex adopting articles
6565 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6566 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6567 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6568 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6571 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6572 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6573 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6574 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6575 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6576 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6577 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6578 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6579 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6580 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6583 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6584 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6585 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6589 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6590 display them after one another.
6593 Don't gather loose threads.
6596 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6597 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6598 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6599 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6600 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6601 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6602 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6603 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6604 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6605 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6606 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6608 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6609 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6610 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6613 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6614 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6615 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6616 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6617 simplification is used.
6619 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6620 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6621 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6622 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6624 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6626 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6632 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6633 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6634 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6635 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6640 (mapconcat 'identity
6641 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6643 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6646 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6649 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6650 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6651 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6652 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6653 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6654 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6656 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6659 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6660 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6661 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6663 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6664 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6667 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6668 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6669 Remove excessive whitespace.
6671 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6672 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6673 Remove all whitespace.
6676 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6679 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6680 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6681 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6682 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6683 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6684 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6685 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6686 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6688 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6689 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6690 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6691 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6692 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6693 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6694 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6695 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6696 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6700 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6701 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6702 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6703 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6705 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6706 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6707 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6710 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6714 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6715 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6721 @node Filling In Threads
6722 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6725 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6726 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6727 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6728 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6729 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6730 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6731 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6732 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6733 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6734 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6735 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6736 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6739 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6740 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6741 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6743 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6744 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6745 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6748 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6749 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6750 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6751 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6752 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6753 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6754 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6755 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6756 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6757 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6758 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6759 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6760 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6761 @code{nil} by default.
6763 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6764 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6765 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6766 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6767 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6768 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6769 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6771 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6772 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6773 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6778 @node More Threading
6779 @subsubsection More Threading
6782 @item gnus-show-threads
6783 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6784 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6785 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6786 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6787 slower and more awkward.
6789 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6790 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6791 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6794 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6795 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6796 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6801 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6802 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6803 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6806 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6807 unread, but you get my drift.)
6810 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6811 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6812 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6813 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6814 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6815 threads are expunged.
6817 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6818 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6819 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6822 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6823 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6824 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6825 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6826 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6827 result in a new thread.
6829 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6830 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6831 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6834 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6835 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6836 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6837 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6838 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6839 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6840 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6841 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6842 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6843 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6844 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6849 @node Low-Level Threading
6850 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6854 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6855 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6856 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6858 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6859 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6860 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6861 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6862 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6863 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6864 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6865 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6866 meaningful. Here's one example:
6869 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6871 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6872 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6874 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6876 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6883 @node Thread Commands
6884 @subsection Thread Commands
6885 @cindex thread commands
6891 @kindex T k (Summary)
6892 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6893 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6894 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6895 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6896 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6901 @kindex T l (Summary)
6902 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6904 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6905 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6908 @kindex T i (Summary)
6909 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6910 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6911 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6914 @kindex T # (Summary)
6915 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6916 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6917 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6920 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6921 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6922 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6923 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6926 @kindex T T (Summary)
6927 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6928 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6931 @kindex T s (Summary)
6932 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6933 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6934 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6937 @kindex T h (Summary)
6938 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6939 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6942 @kindex T S (Summary)
6943 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6944 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6947 @kindex T H (Summary)
6948 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6949 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6952 @kindex T t (Summary)
6953 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6954 Re-thread the current article's thread
6955 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6956 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6959 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6960 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6961 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6962 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6966 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6967 understand the numeric prefix.
6972 @kindex T n (Summary)
6974 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6976 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6977 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6978 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6981 @kindex T p (Summary)
6983 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6985 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6986 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6987 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6990 @kindex T d (Summary)
6991 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6992 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6995 @kindex T u (Summary)
6996 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6997 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7000 @kindex T o (Summary)
7001 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7002 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7005 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7006 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7007 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7008 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7009 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7010 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7011 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
7012 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
7013 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
7014 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
7015 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
7016 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
7020 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
7021 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
7023 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
7024 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
7025 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date-reverse
7026 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
7027 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7028 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
7029 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
7030 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7031 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
7032 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
7033 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
7034 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
7035 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
7036 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
7037 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
7038 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7040 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7041 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7042 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
7043 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7044 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date-reverse},
7045 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7046 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7047 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7048 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7049 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7051 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7052 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7053 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7055 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7056 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7057 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7058 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7059 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7060 ascending article order.
7062 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7063 by number, you could do something like:
7066 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7067 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7068 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7069 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7072 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7073 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7074 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7075 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7076 which the articles arrived.
7078 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7082 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7084 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7085 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7088 Yet more examples. You can define different sorting to different
7089 groups. Here is an example for where one @acronym{NNTP} group is
7090 sorted by subject and the @acronym{RSS} group is sorted by date to see
7091 the latest news at the top.
7096 (defun my-gnus-summary-mode-hook-group-select ()
7097 (flet ((lsetq (x val) ;; Local setq
7098 (set (make-local-variable x) val)))
7100 ;; In Group buffer to make Debian daily news group press: G m
7101 ;; and point it to nntp server news.gmane.org and
7102 ;; group gmane.linux.debian.user.news
7103 ((string-match "nntp.*debian.user.news" gnus-newsgroup-name)
7104 (lsetq 'gnus-show-threads nil)
7105 (lsetq 'gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-date-reverse)
7106 (lsetq 'gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
7107 (lsetq 'gnus-use-scoring nil))
7108 ;; In Group buffer to read Debian weekly news RSS feed press: G R
7109 ;; and point it to url:
7110 ;; http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf
7111 ((string-match "nnrss.*debian" gnus-newsgroup-name)
7112 (lsetq 'gnus-show-threads nil)
7113 (lsetq 'gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
7114 (lsetq 'gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
7115 (lsetq 'gnus-use-scoring t)
7116 (lsetq 'gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
7117 (lsetq 'gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n")))))
7119 (defun my-gnus-summary-mode-hook ()
7120 (my-gnus-summary-mode-hook-group-select))
7123 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7124 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7125 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7126 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7129 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7130 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7131 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7132 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7133 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7134 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7135 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7136 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7137 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7138 variable. It is very similar to the
7139 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7140 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7141 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7142 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7143 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7144 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7145 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7147 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7151 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7152 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7153 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7158 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7159 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7160 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7161 @cindex article pre-fetch
7164 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7165 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7166 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7167 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7168 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7170 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7171 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7173 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7174 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7175 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7176 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7177 connection is blocked.
7179 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7180 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7181 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7182 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7184 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7185 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7186 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7187 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7190 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7193 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7194 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7195 happen automatically.
7197 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7198 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7199 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7200 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7201 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7202 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7203 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7205 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7206 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7207 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7208 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7209 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7210 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7211 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7212 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7213 article data structure as the only parameter.
7215 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7216 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7219 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7220 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7221 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7222 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7225 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7228 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7229 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7230 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7232 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7233 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7234 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7235 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7239 Remove articles when they are read.
7242 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7245 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7247 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7248 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7249 @c from the next group.
7252 @node Article Caching
7253 @section Article Caching
7254 @cindex article caching
7257 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7258 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7259 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7260 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7261 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7263 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7265 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7266 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7267 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7268 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7269 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7270 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7271 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7272 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7274 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7275 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7276 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7277 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7278 as dormant, and don't worry.
7280 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7282 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7283 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7284 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7285 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7286 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7287 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7288 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7289 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7290 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7291 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7293 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7294 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7295 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7296 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7297 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7298 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7299 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7300 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7301 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7302 not then be downloaded by this command.
7304 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7305 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7306 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7307 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7308 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7309 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7311 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7312 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7313 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7314 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7315 variables, the group is not cached.
7317 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7318 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7319 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7320 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7321 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7322 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7323 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7324 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7325 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7328 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7329 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7330 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7331 where, isn't that cool?
7333 @node Persistent Articles
7334 @section Persistent Articles
7335 @cindex persistent articles
7337 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7338 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7339 useful in my opinion.
7341 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7342 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7343 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7344 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7345 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7346 the expiry going on at the news server.
7348 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7349 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7350 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7356 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7357 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7360 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7361 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7362 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7363 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7367 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7369 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7370 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7371 interested in persistent articles:
7374 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7378 @node Article Backlog
7379 @section Article Backlog
7381 @cindex article backlog
7383 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7384 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7385 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7386 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7387 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7388 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7389 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7390 increase memory usage some.
7392 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7393 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7394 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7395 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7396 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7397 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7398 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7400 The default value is 20.
7403 @node Saving Articles
7404 @section Saving Articles
7405 @cindex saving articles
7407 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7408 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7409 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7410 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7411 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7413 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7414 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7415 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7417 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7418 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7419 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7421 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7422 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7423 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7424 deleted before saving.
7430 @kindex O o (Summary)
7432 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7433 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7434 Save the current article using the default article saver
7435 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7438 @kindex O m (Summary)
7439 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7440 Save the current article in mail format
7441 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7444 @kindex O r (Summary)
7445 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7446 Save the current article in Rmail format
7447 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7450 @kindex O f (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7453 Save the current article in plain file format
7454 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7457 @kindex O F (Summary)
7458 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7459 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7460 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7463 @kindex O b (Summary)
7464 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7465 Save the current article body in plain file format
7466 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7469 @kindex O h (Summary)
7470 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7471 Save the current article in mh folder format
7472 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7475 @kindex O v (Summary)
7476 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7477 Save the current article in a VM folder
7478 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7482 @kindex O p (Summary)
7484 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7485 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7486 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7487 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7488 complete headers in the piped output.
7491 @kindex O P (Summary)
7492 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7493 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7494 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7495 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7496 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7497 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7498 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7502 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7503 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7504 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7505 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7506 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7507 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7508 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7509 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7510 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7511 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7512 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7513 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7517 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7518 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7519 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7520 functions below, or you can create your own.
7524 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7525 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7526 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7527 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7528 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7529 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7530 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7532 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7533 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7534 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7535 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7536 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7537 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7539 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7540 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7541 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7542 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7543 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7544 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7545 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7547 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7548 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7549 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7550 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7551 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7552 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7554 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7555 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7556 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7557 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7558 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7560 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7561 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7562 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7563 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7564 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7567 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7568 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7569 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7570 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7571 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7573 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7574 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7575 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7576 reader to use this setting.
7579 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7580 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7581 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7582 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7585 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7586 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7587 available functions that generate names:
7591 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7592 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7593 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7595 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7596 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7597 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7599 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7600 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7601 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7603 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7604 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7605 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7607 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7608 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7609 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7612 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7613 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7614 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7615 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7616 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7620 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7621 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7622 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7623 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7626 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7627 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7628 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7629 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7630 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7631 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7632 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7633 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7634 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7636 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7637 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7638 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7639 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7641 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7642 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7643 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7646 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7647 lots of mail groups called things like
7648 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7649 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7650 following will do just that:
7653 (defun my-save-name (group)
7654 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7655 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7657 (setq gnus-split-methods
7658 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7663 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7664 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7665 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7666 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7667 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7668 all the files in the top level directory
7669 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7670 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7671 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7672 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7674 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7675 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7676 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7677 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7678 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7681 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7685 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7686 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7687 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7690 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7691 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7692 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7693 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7696 @node Decoding Articles
7697 @section Decoding Articles
7698 @cindex decoding articles
7700 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7701 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7704 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7705 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7706 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7707 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7708 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7709 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7713 @cindex article series
7714 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7715 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7716 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7717 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7718 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7720 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7721 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7722 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7724 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7725 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7726 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7728 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7729 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7730 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7733 @node Uuencoded Articles
7734 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7736 @cindex uuencoded articles
7741 @kindex X u (Summary)
7742 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7743 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7744 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7747 @kindex X U (Summary)
7748 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7749 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7750 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7753 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7754 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7755 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7758 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7759 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7760 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7761 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7765 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7766 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7767 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7768 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7769 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7771 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7772 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7773 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7774 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7777 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7778 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7779 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7780 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7781 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7782 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7786 @node Shell Archives
7787 @subsection Shell Archives
7789 @cindex shell archives
7790 @cindex shared articles
7792 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7793 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7794 some commands to deal with these:
7799 @kindex X s (Summary)
7800 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7801 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7804 @kindex X S (Summary)
7805 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7806 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7809 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7810 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7811 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7814 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7815 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7816 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7817 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7821 @node PostScript Files
7822 @subsection PostScript Files
7828 @kindex X p (Summary)
7829 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7830 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7833 @kindex X P (Summary)
7834 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7835 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7836 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7839 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7840 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7841 View the current PostScript series
7842 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7845 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7846 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7847 View and save the current PostScript series
7848 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7853 @subsection Other Files
7857 @kindex X o (Summary)
7858 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7859 Save the current series
7860 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7863 @kindex X b (Summary)
7864 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7865 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7866 doesn't really work yet.
7870 @node Decoding Variables
7871 @subsection Decoding Variables
7873 Adjective, not verb.
7876 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7877 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7878 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7882 @node Rule Variables
7883 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7884 @cindex rule variables
7886 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7887 variables are of the form
7890 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7897 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7898 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7900 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7901 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7904 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7905 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7908 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7909 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7910 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7911 user and default view rules.
7913 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7914 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7915 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7920 @node Other Decode Variables
7921 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7924 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7926 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7927 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7928 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7929 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7930 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7934 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7935 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7938 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7939 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7940 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7943 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7944 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7945 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7946 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7947 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7950 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7951 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7952 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7954 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7955 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7956 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7957 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7958 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7961 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7962 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7963 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7965 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7966 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7967 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7968 looking for files to display.
7970 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7971 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7972 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7975 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7976 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7977 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7980 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7981 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7982 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7985 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7986 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7987 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7990 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7991 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7992 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7993 decoded articles as unread.
7995 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7996 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7997 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7998 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
8000 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8001 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8002 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
8004 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8005 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8007 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8008 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8009 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8010 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8012 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8013 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8014 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8015 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8016 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8017 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8018 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8019 simply dropped them.
8024 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8025 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8029 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8030 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8031 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8032 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8033 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8034 for you when you post the article.
8036 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8037 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8038 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8039 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8041 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8042 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8043 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8044 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8045 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8046 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8047 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8049 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8050 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8051 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8052 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8053 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8054 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8055 Default is @code{t}.
8061 @subsection Viewing Files
8062 @cindex viewing files
8063 @cindex pseudo-articles
8065 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8066 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8067 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8068 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8069 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8070 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8071 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8073 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8074 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8075 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8076 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8078 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8079 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8080 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8082 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8083 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8084 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8085 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8086 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8088 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8089 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8090 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8091 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8092 a list of parameters to that command.
8094 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8095 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8096 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8098 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8099 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8100 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8103 @node Article Treatment
8104 @section Article Treatment
8106 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8107 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8108 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8109 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8110 these articles easier.
8113 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8114 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8115 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8116 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8117 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8118 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8119 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8120 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8121 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8122 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8123 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8127 @node Article Highlighting
8128 @subsection Article Highlighting
8129 @cindex highlighting
8131 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8132 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8137 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8139 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8140 Do much highlighting of the current article
8141 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8142 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8145 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8146 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8147 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8148 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8149 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8150 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8151 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8152 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8153 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8154 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8155 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8156 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8159 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8160 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8161 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8163 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8166 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8168 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8169 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8170 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8172 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8173 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8174 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8176 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8177 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8178 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8179 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8180 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8181 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8183 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8184 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8185 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8187 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8188 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8189 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8191 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8192 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8193 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8194 that it's a citation.
8196 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8197 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8198 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8200 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8201 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8202 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8204 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8205 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8206 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8207 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8209 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8210 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8211 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8212 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8213 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8220 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8221 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8222 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8223 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8224 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8225 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8226 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8227 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8232 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8235 @node Article Fontisizing
8236 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8238 @cindex article emphasis
8240 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8241 @kindex W e (Summary)
8242 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8243 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8244 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8245 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8247 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8248 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8249 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8250 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8251 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8252 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8253 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8254 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8258 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8259 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8260 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8269 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8270 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8271 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8272 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8273 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8274 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8275 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8276 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8277 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8278 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8279 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8280 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8281 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8283 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8284 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8285 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8289 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8292 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8294 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8295 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8296 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8297 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8299 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8302 @node Article Hiding
8303 @subsection Article Hiding
8304 @cindex article hiding
8306 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8307 too much cruft in most articles.
8312 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8313 @findex gnus-article-hide
8314 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8315 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8316 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8319 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8320 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8321 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8325 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8326 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8327 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8328 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8331 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8332 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8333 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8337 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8338 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8339 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8340 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8341 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8342 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8343 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8344 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8348 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8349 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8350 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8351 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8356 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8357 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8358 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8359 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8362 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8363 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8364 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8365 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8368 @cindex stripping advertisements
8369 @cindex advertisements
8370 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8371 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8372 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8373 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8374 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8375 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8376 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8377 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8378 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8379 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8382 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8383 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8384 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8388 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8389 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8390 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8391 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8392 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8393 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8394 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8395 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8396 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8397 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8398 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8401 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8402 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8408 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8409 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8410 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8411 customizing the hiding:
8415 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8416 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8417 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8418 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8419 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8420 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8421 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8426 Starting point of the hidden text.
8428 Ending point of the hidden text.
8430 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8432 Number of lines of hidden text.
8435 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8436 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8437 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8438 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8439 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8444 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8445 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8447 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8448 following two variables:
8451 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8452 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8453 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8454 50), hide the cited text.
8456 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8457 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8458 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8463 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8464 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8465 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8466 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8467 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8468 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8472 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8473 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8474 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8476 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8477 citation customization.
8479 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8483 @node Article Washing
8484 @subsection Article Washing
8486 @cindex article washing
8488 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8489 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8491 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8492 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8495 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8496 articles by default.
8501 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8502 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8506 Force redisplaying of the current article
8507 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8508 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8509 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8510 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8513 @kindex W l (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8515 Remove page breaks from the current article
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8520 @kindex W r (Summary)
8521 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8522 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8523 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8524 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8525 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8526 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8528 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8529 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8530 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8531 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8534 @kindex W m (Summary)
8535 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8536 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8539 @kindex W i (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8541 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8542 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8543 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8544 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8545 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8550 @kindex W t (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8553 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8554 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8557 @kindex W v (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8559 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8560 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8563 @kindex W o (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8565 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8568 @kindex W d (Summary)
8569 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8570 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8572 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8574 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8575 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8576 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8577 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8580 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8581 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8582 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8583 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8586 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8587 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8588 @cindex Outlook Express
8589 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8590 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8591 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8594 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8595 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8596 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8597 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8598 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8599 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8600 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8601 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8602 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8603 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8606 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8607 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8608 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8609 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8612 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8613 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8614 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8615 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8618 @kindex W w (Summary)
8619 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8620 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8622 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8626 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8627 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8628 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8631 @kindex W C (Summary)
8632 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8633 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8634 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8637 @kindex W c (Summary)
8638 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8639 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8640 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8641 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8642 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8645 @kindex W q (Summary)
8646 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8647 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8648 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8649 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8650 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
8651 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
8652 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8653 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8654 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8657 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8658 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8659 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8660 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8661 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8662 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8663 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8664 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8667 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8668 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8669 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8670 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8671 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8674 @kindex W A (Summary)
8675 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8676 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
8677 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
8678 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
8679 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8682 @kindex W u (Summary)
8683 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8684 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8685 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8686 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8687 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8690 @kindex W h (Summary)
8691 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8692 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8693 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8694 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8696 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8698 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8699 The default is to use the function specified by
8700 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8701 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8702 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8703 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8711 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8714 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8717 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8720 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8725 @kindex W b (Summary)
8726 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8727 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8728 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8731 @kindex W B (Summary)
8732 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8733 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8734 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8737 @kindex W p (Summary)
8738 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8739 Verify a signed control message
8740 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8741 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8742 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8743 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8744 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8745 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8748 @kindex W s (Summary)
8749 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8750 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8751 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8752 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8755 @kindex W a (Summary)
8756 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8757 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8758 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8761 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8762 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8763 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8764 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8767 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8769 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8770 lines with a single empty line.
8771 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8774 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8775 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8776 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8777 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8780 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8781 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8782 Do all the three commands above
8783 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8786 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8787 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8788 Remove all blank lines
8789 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8792 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8793 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8794 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8795 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8798 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8799 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8800 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8801 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8805 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8808 @node Article Header
8809 @subsection Article Header
8811 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8816 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8817 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8818 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8821 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8822 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8823 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8824 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8827 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8828 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8829 Fold all the message headers
8830 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8833 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8834 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8835 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8836 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8841 @node Article Buttons
8842 @subsection Article Buttons
8845 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8846 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8847 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8848 button on these references.
8850 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8851 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8852 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8853 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8854 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8858 @item gnus-button-alist
8859 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8860 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8863 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8869 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8870 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8871 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8872 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8873 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8876 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8877 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8878 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8881 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8882 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8883 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8884 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8885 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8887 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8890 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8893 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8894 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8898 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8901 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8904 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8905 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8906 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8907 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8908 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8911 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8914 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8917 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8920 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8921 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8923 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8925 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8926 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8927 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8928 default values of the variables above.
8930 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8932 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8933 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8934 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8935 argument with a string naming the man page.
8937 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8939 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8940 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8941 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8943 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8944 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8945 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8946 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8947 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8948 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8949 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8950 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8951 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8952 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8953 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8954 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8956 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8957 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8958 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8959 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8960 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8963 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8964 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8965 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8966 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8968 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8970 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8971 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8972 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8973 argument, the string naming the URL.
8976 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8977 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8978 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8982 @item gnus-article-button-face
8983 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8984 Face used on buttons.
8986 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8987 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8988 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8992 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8995 @node Article Button Levels
8996 @subsection Article button levels
8997 @cindex button levels
8998 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8999 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
9000 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
9001 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
9002 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
9003 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
9004 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
9005 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9008 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9009 (setq gnus-parameters
9010 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9011 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9012 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9017 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9018 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9019 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9020 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9021 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9022 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9024 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9025 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9026 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9027 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9028 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9029 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9030 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9031 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9032 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9033 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9034 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9035 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9036 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9038 @item gnus-button-man-level
9039 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9040 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9041 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9043 @item gnus-button-message-level
9044 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9045 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9046 Related variables and functions include
9047 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9048 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9049 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9050 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9052 @item gnus-button-tex-level
9053 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
9054 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
9055 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
9056 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
9057 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
9058 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
9064 @subsection Article Date
9066 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9067 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9068 when the article was sent.
9073 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9074 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9075 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9076 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9079 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9080 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9082 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9083 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9086 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9087 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9088 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9091 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9092 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9093 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9094 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9097 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9098 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9099 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9100 @findex format-time-string
9101 Display the date using a user-defined format
9102 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9103 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9104 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9105 for a list of possible format specs.
9108 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9109 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9110 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9111 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9112 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9113 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9116 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9119 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9120 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9121 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9124 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9125 into wonderful absurdities.
9127 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9130 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9133 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9134 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9138 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9139 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9140 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9141 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9142 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9143 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9144 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9148 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9149 preferred format automatically.
9152 @node Article Display
9153 @subsection Article Display
9158 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9159 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9161 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9162 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9164 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9165 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9167 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9168 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9170 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9171 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9173 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9178 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9179 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9180 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9181 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9184 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9185 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9186 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9187 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9190 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9191 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9192 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9195 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9196 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9197 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9200 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9201 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9202 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9203 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9206 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9207 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9208 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9209 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9212 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9213 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9214 Remove all images from the article buffer
9215 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9221 @node Article Signature
9222 @subsection Article Signature
9224 @cindex article signature
9226 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9227 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9228 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9229 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9230 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9231 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9232 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9233 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9234 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9237 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9238 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9239 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9240 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9241 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9242 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9243 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9244 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9247 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9250 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9251 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9252 signature when displaying articles.
9256 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9259 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9262 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9263 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9265 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9266 in question is not a signature.
9269 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9270 listed above. Here's an example:
9273 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9274 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9277 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9278 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9279 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9280 signature after all.
9283 @node Article Miscellanea
9284 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9288 @kindex A t (Summary)
9289 @findex gnus-article-babel
9290 Translate the article from one language to another
9291 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9297 @section MIME Commands
9298 @cindex MIME decoding
9300 @cindex viewing attachments
9302 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9303 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9309 @kindex K v (Summary)
9310 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9313 @kindex K o (Summary)
9314 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9317 @kindex K O (Summary)
9318 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9319 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9320 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9323 @kindex K r (Summary)
9324 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9327 @kindex K d (Summary)
9328 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9332 @kindex K c (Summary)
9333 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9336 @kindex K e (Summary)
9337 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9340 @kindex K i (Summary)
9341 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9344 @kindex K | (Summary)
9345 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9348 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9353 @kindex K b (Summary)
9354 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9355 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9359 @kindex K m (Summary)
9360 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9361 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9362 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9363 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9364 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9367 @kindex X m (Summary)
9368 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9369 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9370 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9371 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9374 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9375 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9376 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9377 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9380 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9381 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9382 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9383 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9386 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9387 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9388 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9389 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9391 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9392 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9393 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9394 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9395 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9396 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9399 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9400 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9401 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9402 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9409 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9410 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9411 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9412 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9415 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9418 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9422 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9423 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9424 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9425 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9426 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9427 default is @code{nil}.
9429 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9430 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9431 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9432 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9433 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9434 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9435 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9437 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9438 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9439 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9440 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9441 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9442 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9443 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9444 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9446 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9447 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9448 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9449 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9450 displayed. This variable overrides
9451 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9452 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9455 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9456 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9457 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9459 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9460 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9461 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9462 default value is @code{nil}.
9464 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9465 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9466 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9467 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9468 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9469 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9470 save all jpegs into some directory).
9472 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9475 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9476 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9478 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9479 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9480 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9481 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9482 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9485 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9486 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9487 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9489 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9490 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9491 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9493 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9494 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9495 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9497 If displaying "text/html" is discouraged, see
9498 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} in @ref{Display Customization,
9499 Display Customization, , emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}. Images or
9500 other material inside a "multipart/related" part might be overlooked
9501 when this variable is @code{nil}.
9503 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9504 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9505 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9506 overrides @code{nil} values of
9507 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9508 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9510 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9511 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9512 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9513 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9515 Ready-made functions include@*
9516 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9517 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9518 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9519 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9520 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9521 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9522 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9523 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9524 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9525 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9526 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9527 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9529 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9530 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9532 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9533 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9534 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9537 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9538 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9539 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9540 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9544 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9553 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9554 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9555 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9556 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9557 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9558 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9559 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
9561 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9562 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9563 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9564 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9566 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9567 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9568 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9569 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9570 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9571 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9572 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9573 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9574 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9576 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9577 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9578 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9579 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9580 quoted-printable header encoding.
9582 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9583 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9584 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9588 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9591 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9592 means encode all charsets),
9594 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9595 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9596 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9603 @cindex coding system aliases
9604 @cindex preferred charset
9606 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
9607 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
9608 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
9610 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9612 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9613 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9616 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9617 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9620 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9621 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9623 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9626 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9629 This will almost do the right thing.
9631 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9635 (codepage-setup 1251)
9636 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9640 @node Article Commands
9641 @section Article Commands
9648 @kindex A P (Summary)
9649 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9650 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9651 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9652 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9653 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9654 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9659 @node Summary Sorting
9660 @section Summary Sorting
9661 @cindex summary sorting
9663 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9664 can't really see why you'd want that.
9669 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9670 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9671 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9674 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9675 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9676 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9679 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
9680 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
9681 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
9684 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9685 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9686 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9689 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9690 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9691 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9694 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9696 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9699 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9700 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9701 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9704 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9705 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9706 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9709 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9710 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9711 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9714 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9715 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9716 Sort using the default sorting method
9717 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9720 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9721 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9722 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9723 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9724 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9728 @node Finding the Parent
9729 @section Finding the Parent
9730 @cindex parent articles
9731 @cindex referring articles
9736 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9737 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9738 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9739 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9740 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9741 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9742 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9743 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9744 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9746 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9747 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9748 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9749 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9750 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9754 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9755 @kindex A R (Summary)
9756 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9757 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9760 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9761 @kindex A T (Summary)
9762 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9763 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9764 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9765 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9766 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9767 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9768 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9770 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9771 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9772 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9773 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9774 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9775 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9778 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9779 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9781 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9782 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
9783 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
9784 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
9785 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
9786 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9788 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
9789 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
9790 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
9793 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9794 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9795 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9796 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9797 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9798 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9801 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9802 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9803 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9806 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9807 then ask Google if that fails:
9810 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9812 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9815 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9816 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9817 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9818 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9819 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9820 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9821 not support this at all.
9824 @node Alternative Approaches
9825 @section Alternative Approaches
9827 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9828 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9831 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9832 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9837 @subsection Pick and Read
9838 @cindex pick and read
9840 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9841 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9842 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9843 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9845 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9846 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9847 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9848 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9849 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9850 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9852 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9857 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9858 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9859 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9860 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9861 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9862 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9863 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9864 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9867 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9868 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9869 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9870 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9874 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9875 Unpick the thread or article
9876 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9877 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9878 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9879 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9880 the thread or article at that line.
9884 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9885 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9886 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9887 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9888 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9889 will still be visible when you are reading.
9893 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9894 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9895 which is mapped to the same function
9896 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9898 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9901 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9904 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9905 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9907 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9908 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9909 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9911 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9912 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9913 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9914 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9915 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9916 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9917 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9921 @subsection Binary Groups
9922 @cindex binary groups
9924 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9925 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9926 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9927 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9928 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9929 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9930 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9933 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9934 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9935 command, when you have turned on this mode
9936 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9938 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9939 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9943 @section Tree Display
9946 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9947 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9948 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9949 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9952 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9955 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9956 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9957 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9959 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9960 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9961 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9962 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9963 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9965 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9966 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9967 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9968 default is @code{modeline}.
9970 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9971 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9972 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9973 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9974 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9975 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9976 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9982 The name of the poster.
9984 The @code{From} header.
9986 The number of the article.
9988 The opening bracket.
9990 The closing bracket.
9995 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9997 Variables related to the display are:
10000 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10001 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10002 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10003 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10005 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10006 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10007 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10009 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10011 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10012 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10013 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10014 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10018 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10019 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10020 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10021 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10022 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10023 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10024 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10025 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10026 other windows displayed next to it.
10028 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10032 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10033 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10036 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10037 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10038 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10039 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10040 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10041 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10042 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10046 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10049 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10059 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10064 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10065 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10067 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10069 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10075 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10076 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10077 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10080 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10081 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10082 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10083 (gnus-add-configuration
10087 (summary 0.75 point)
10092 @xref{Window Layout}.
10095 @node Mail Group Commands
10096 @section Mail Group Commands
10097 @cindex mail group commands
10099 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10100 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10102 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10103 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10108 @kindex B e (Summary)
10109 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10110 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10111 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10112 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10113 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10116 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10117 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10118 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10119 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10120 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10121 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10124 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10125 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10126 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10127 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10128 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10129 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10132 @kindex B m (Summary)
10134 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10135 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10136 Move the article from one mail group to another
10137 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10138 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10141 @kindex B c (Summary)
10143 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10144 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10145 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10146 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10147 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10150 @kindex B B (Summary)
10151 @cindex crosspost mail
10152 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10153 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10154 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10155 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10156 be properly updated.
10159 @kindex B i (Summary)
10160 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10161 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10162 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10163 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10166 @kindex B I (Summary)
10167 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10168 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10169 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10170 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10173 @kindex B r (Summary)
10174 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10175 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10176 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10177 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10178 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10179 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10180 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10181 (which is the default).
10185 @kindex B w (Summary)
10186 @kindex e (Summary)
10187 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10188 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10189 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10190 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10191 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10192 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10193 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10196 @kindex B q (Summary)
10197 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10198 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10199 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10200 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10203 @kindex B t (Summary)
10204 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10205 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10206 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10209 @kindex B p (Summary)
10210 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10211 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10212 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10213 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10214 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10215 article from your news server (or rather, from
10216 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10217 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10218 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10219 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10220 just not have arrived yet.
10223 @kindex K E (Summary)
10224 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10225 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10226 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10227 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10228 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10232 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10233 @cindex moving articles
10234 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10235 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10236 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10237 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10238 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10239 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10240 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10243 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10244 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10245 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10246 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10250 @node Various Summary Stuff
10251 @section Various Summary Stuff
10254 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10255 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10256 * Summary Generation Commands::
10257 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10261 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10262 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10263 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10264 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10265 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10266 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10268 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10269 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10270 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10273 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10274 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10275 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10277 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10278 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10279 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10280 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10281 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10282 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10285 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10286 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10287 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10288 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10289 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10291 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10292 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10293 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10296 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10297 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10298 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10299 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10300 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10301 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10302 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10303 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10304 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10305 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10307 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10308 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10309 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10310 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10311 list of articles to be selected.
10313 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10314 the list in one particular group:
10317 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10318 (if (string= group "some.group")
10319 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10323 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10324 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10325 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10326 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10327 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10330 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10331 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10332 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10333 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10334 variable will be used instead.
10336 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10337 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10338 buffers. For example:
10341 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10342 '(message-use-followup-to
10343 (gnus-visible-headers .
10344 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10347 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10351 @node Summary Group Information
10352 @subsection Summary Group Information
10357 @kindex H f (Summary)
10358 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10359 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10360 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10361 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10362 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10363 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10364 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10365 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10366 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10369 @kindex H d (Summary)
10370 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10371 Give a brief description of the current group
10372 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10373 rereading the description from the server.
10376 @kindex H h (Summary)
10377 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10378 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10379 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10382 @kindex H i (Summary)
10383 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10384 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10388 @node Searching for Articles
10389 @subsection Searching for Articles
10394 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10395 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10396 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10397 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10400 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10401 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10402 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10403 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10406 @kindex & (Summary)
10407 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10408 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10409 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10410 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10411 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10412 search backward instead.
10414 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10415 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10418 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10419 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10420 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10421 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10424 @node Summary Generation Commands
10425 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10430 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10431 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10432 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10435 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10436 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10437 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10438 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10441 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10442 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10443 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10444 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10449 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10450 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10456 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10457 @kindex A D (Summary)
10458 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10459 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10460 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10461 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10462 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10463 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10464 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10465 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10469 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10470 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10471 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10472 several documents into one biiig group
10473 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10474 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10475 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10476 command understands the process/prefix convention
10477 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10480 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10481 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10482 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10483 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10484 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10485 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10488 @kindex = (Summary)
10489 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10490 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10491 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10494 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10495 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10496 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10497 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10500 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10501 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10502 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10503 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10508 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10509 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10510 @cindex summary exit
10511 @cindex exiting groups
10513 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10514 group and return you to the group buffer.
10521 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10522 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10523 @kindex q (Summary)
10524 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10525 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10526 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10527 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10528 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10529 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10530 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10531 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10532 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10533 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10534 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10535 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10539 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10540 @kindex Q (Summary)
10541 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10542 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10543 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10547 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10548 @kindex c (Summary)
10549 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10550 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10551 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10552 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10555 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10556 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10557 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10558 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10561 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10562 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10563 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10564 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10567 @kindex Z p (Summary)
10568 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
10569 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
10570 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
10574 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10575 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10576 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10577 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10578 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10579 all articles, both read and unread.
10583 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10584 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10585 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10586 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10587 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10588 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10589 articles, both read and unread.
10592 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10593 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10594 Exit the group and go to the next group
10595 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10598 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10599 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10600 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10601 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10604 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10605 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10606 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10607 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10608 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10609 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10612 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10613 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10614 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10615 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10617 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10618 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10619 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10620 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10621 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10622 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10623 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10624 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10625 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10626 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10627 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10628 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10630 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10632 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10633 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10634 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10635 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10636 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10637 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10638 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10639 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10640 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10643 @node Crosspost Handling
10644 @section Crosspost Handling
10648 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10649 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10650 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10651 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10652 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10653 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10656 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10657 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10658 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10659 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10660 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10662 @cindex cross-posting
10664 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10665 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10666 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10667 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10668 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10669 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10670 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10671 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10672 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10673 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10674 the cross reference mechanism.
10676 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10677 @cindex overview.fmt
10678 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10679 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10680 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10681 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10682 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10683 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10686 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10687 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10688 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10693 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10696 @node Duplicate Suppression
10697 @section Duplicate Suppression
10699 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10700 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10701 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10702 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10707 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10708 is evil and not very common.
10711 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10712 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10715 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10716 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10719 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10722 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10723 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10725 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10726 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10727 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10728 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10729 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10730 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10731 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10734 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10735 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10736 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10737 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10738 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10739 saw the article in.
10742 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10743 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10744 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10746 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10747 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10748 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10749 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10750 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10751 session are suppressed.
10753 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10754 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10755 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10756 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10758 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10759 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10760 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10761 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10764 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10765 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10766 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10767 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10768 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10769 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10770 to you to figure out, I think.
10775 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10776 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10777 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10782 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10783 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10784 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10785 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10788 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10789 or newer is recommended.
10793 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10794 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10797 @item mm-verify-option
10798 @vindex mm-verify-option
10799 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10800 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10801 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10803 @item mm-decrypt-option
10804 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10805 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10806 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10807 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10810 @vindex mml1991-use
10811 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10812 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10813 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10817 @vindex mml2015-use
10818 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10819 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10820 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10825 @cindex snarfing keys
10826 @cindex importing PGP keys
10827 @cindex PGP key ring import
10828 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10829 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10830 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10831 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10832 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10833 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10834 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10835 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10836 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10839 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10842 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10843 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10846 @section Mailing List
10847 @cindex mailing list
10850 @kindex A M (summary)
10851 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10852 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10853 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10854 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10857 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10862 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10863 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10864 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10867 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10868 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10869 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10872 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10873 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10874 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10878 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10879 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10880 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10883 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10884 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10885 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10888 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10889 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
10890 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10895 @node Article Buffer
10896 @chapter Article Buffer
10897 @cindex article buffer
10899 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10900 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10901 tell Gnus otherwise.
10904 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10905 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10906 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10907 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10908 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10912 @node Hiding Headers
10913 @section Hiding Headers
10914 @cindex hiding headers
10915 @cindex deleting headers
10917 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10918 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10920 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10921 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10922 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10923 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10924 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10925 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10926 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10927 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10928 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10930 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10934 @item gnus-visible-headers
10935 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10936 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10937 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10938 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10940 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10941 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10944 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10947 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10950 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10951 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10952 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10953 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10954 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10955 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10957 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10958 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10961 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10964 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10967 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10968 variable will have no effect.
10972 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10973 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10974 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10975 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10976 the headers are to be displayed.
10978 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10979 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10982 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10985 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10986 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10988 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10989 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10990 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10991 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10992 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10993 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10994 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10997 These conditions are:
11000 Remove all empty headers.
11002 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11003 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11005 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11006 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11009 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11012 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11013 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11015 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11016 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11018 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
11019 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11021 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11024 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
11026 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
11029 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11032 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11033 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11036 This is also the default value for this variable.
11040 @section Using MIME
11041 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11043 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11044 while people stand around yawning.
11046 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11047 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11049 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11050 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11051 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11053 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11054 @findex gnus-display-mime
11055 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11056 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11057 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11058 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11060 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11061 @acronym{MIME} button:
11064 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11065 @item RET (Article)
11066 @kindex RET (Article)
11067 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11068 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11069 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11070 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11071 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11072 object is displayed inline.
11074 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11075 @item M-RET (Article)
11076 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11078 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11079 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11081 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11083 @kindex t (Article)
11084 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11085 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11087 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11089 @kindex C (Article)
11090 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11091 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11093 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11095 @kindex o (Article)
11096 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11097 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11099 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11100 @item C-o (Article)
11101 @kindex C-o (Article)
11102 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11103 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11104 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11105 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11106 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11107 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11109 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11111 @kindex r (Article)
11112 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11113 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
11114 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11116 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11118 @kindex d (Article)
11119 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11120 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11121 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11123 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11125 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11127 @kindex c (Article)
11128 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11129 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11130 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11131 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11132 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11133 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11134 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11135 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11137 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11139 @kindex p (Article)
11140 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11141 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11142 @file{.mailcap} file.
11144 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11146 @kindex i (Article)
11147 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11148 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
11149 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11150 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11151 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11152 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11153 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11154 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11155 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11157 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11159 @kindex E (Article)
11160 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11161 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11162 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11164 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11166 @kindex e (Article)
11167 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11168 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11170 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11172 @kindex | (Article)
11173 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11175 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11177 @kindex . (Article)
11178 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11179 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11183 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11184 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11185 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11187 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11188 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11189 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11190 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11191 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11192 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11193 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11194 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11195 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11197 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11199 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11202 @node Customizing Articles
11203 @section Customizing Articles
11204 @cindex article customization
11206 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11207 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11208 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11209 called automatically when you select the articles.
11211 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11212 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11213 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11214 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11216 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11217 for sensible values.
11221 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11224 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11227 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11230 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11233 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11236 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11240 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11241 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11242 regexps in the list.
11245 A list where the first element is not a string:
11247 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11248 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11249 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11253 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11258 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11259 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11260 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11261 considered to contain just a single part.
11263 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11264 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11265 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11266 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11267 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11268 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11269 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11271 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11272 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11273 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11274 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11277 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11278 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11280 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11282 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11283 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11284 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11285 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11286 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11287 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11288 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11289 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11290 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11291 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11293 @xref{Article Washing}.
11295 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11296 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11297 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11298 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11299 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11300 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11301 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11303 @xref{Article Date}.
11305 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11306 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11307 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11311 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11313 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11315 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11316 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11317 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11321 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11325 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11329 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11330 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11331 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11332 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11333 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11334 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11335 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11336 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11337 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11338 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11340 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11342 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11343 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11344 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11346 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11348 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11349 @item gnus-treat-translate
11350 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
11351 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11353 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11354 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11355 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11356 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11358 @xref{Article Header}.
11363 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11364 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11365 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11366 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11367 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11371 @node Article Keymap
11372 @section Article Keymap
11374 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11375 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11376 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11377 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11380 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11385 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11386 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11387 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11388 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11391 @kindex DEL (Article)
11392 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11393 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11394 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11397 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11398 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11399 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11400 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11401 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11404 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11405 @findex gnus-article-mail
11406 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11407 given a prefix, include the mail.
11410 @kindex s (Article)
11411 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11412 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11413 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11416 @kindex ? (Article)
11417 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11418 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11419 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11422 @kindex TAB (Article)
11423 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11424 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11425 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11428 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11429 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11430 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11433 @kindex R (Article)
11434 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11435 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11436 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11437 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11441 @kindex F (Article)
11442 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11443 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11444 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11445 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11453 @section Misc Article
11457 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11458 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11459 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11460 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11463 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11464 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11465 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11466 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11467 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11469 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11470 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11471 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11472 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11473 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11474 the contents of the article buffer.
11476 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11477 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11478 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11480 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11481 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11482 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11483 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11485 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11486 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11487 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11488 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11490 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11491 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11492 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11493 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
11494 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
11495 with two extensions:
11500 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11501 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11502 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11507 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11510 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11513 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11514 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11515 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11518 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11521 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11524 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11529 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11533 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11535 @item gnus-break-pages
11536 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11537 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11538 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11539 paging will not be done.
11541 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11542 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11543 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11547 @cindex internationalized domain names
11548 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11549 @item gnus-use-idna
11550 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11551 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11552 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
11553 for how to compose such messages. This requires
11554 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11555 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11560 @node Composing Messages
11561 @chapter Composing Messages
11562 @cindex composing messages
11565 @cindex sending mail
11570 @cindex using s/mime
11571 @cindex using smime
11573 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11574 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11575 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11576 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11577 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11578 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11581 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11582 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11583 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
11584 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11585 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11586 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11587 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11588 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11589 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11592 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11593 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11599 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11602 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11603 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11604 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11605 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11606 @code{nil} include all headers.
11608 @item gnus-add-to-list
11609 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11610 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11611 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11613 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11614 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11615 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
11616 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
11617 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
11618 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
11619 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
11620 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
11622 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11623 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
11625 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11626 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11627 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11628 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11629 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11634 @node Posting Server
11635 @section Posting Server
11637 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11638 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11640 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11642 It can be quite complicated.
11644 @vindex gnus-post-method
11645 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11646 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11647 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11648 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11649 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11650 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11651 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11652 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11653 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11656 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11659 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11660 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11661 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11662 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11664 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11665 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11667 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11668 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11671 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11672 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11674 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11675 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11676 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11677 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11678 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11679 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11680 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11681 package correctly. An example:
11684 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11685 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11688 To the thing similar to this, there is
11689 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your @acronym{ISP}
11690 requires the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication.
11691 @xref{POP before SMTP}.
11693 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11694 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11695 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11697 @node POP before SMTP
11698 @section POP before SMTP
11699 @cindex pop before smtp
11700 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
11701 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
11703 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
11704 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
11705 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
11706 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
11707 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11710 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
11711 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
11715 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
11716 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
11717 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
11718 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
11719 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
11720 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
11721 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
11722 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
11724 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
11725 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
11726 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
11727 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
11728 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
11729 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
11732 (setq mail-source-primary-source
11733 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11734 :password "secret"))
11738 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
11739 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
11742 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
11744 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
11745 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11746 :password "secret")))
11747 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
11750 @node Mail and Post
11751 @section Mail and Post
11753 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11757 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11758 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11759 @cindex mailing lists
11761 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11762 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11763 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11764 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11765 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11766 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11767 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11768 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11769 still a pain, though.
11771 @item gnus-user-agent
11772 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11775 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11776 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11777 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11778 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11779 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11780 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11781 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11785 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11786 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11787 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11790 @findex ispell-message
11792 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11795 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11796 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11799 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11803 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11804 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11806 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11809 Modify to suit your needs.
11812 @node Archived Messages
11813 @section Archived Messages
11814 @cindex archived messages
11815 @cindex sent messages
11817 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11818 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11819 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11820 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11823 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11824 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11827 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11828 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11829 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11832 (nnfolder "archive"
11833 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11834 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11835 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11836 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11839 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11840 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11841 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11842 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11845 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11846 '(nnfolder "archive"
11847 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11848 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11849 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11852 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11854 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11855 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11856 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11858 This variable can be used to do the following:
11862 Messages will be saved in that group.
11864 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11865 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11866 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11867 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11868 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11869 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11870 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11871 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11874 @item a list of strings
11875 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11877 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11878 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11881 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11886 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11888 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11891 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11893 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11896 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11898 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11899 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11900 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11901 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11904 More complex stuff:
11906 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11907 '((if (message-news-p)
11912 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11913 messages in one file per month:
11916 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11917 '((if (message-news-p)
11919 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11922 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11923 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11925 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11926 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11927 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11928 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11929 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11930 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11931 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11932 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11933 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11934 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11936 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11937 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11938 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11939 this will disable archiving.
11942 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11943 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11944 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11945 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11946 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11949 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11950 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11951 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11954 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11955 but the latter is the preferred method.
11957 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11958 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11959 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11961 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11962 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11963 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11964 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11965 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11966 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11967 changed in the future.
11972 @node Posting Styles
11973 @section Posting Styles
11974 @cindex posting styles
11977 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11979 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11980 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11981 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11984 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11985 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11986 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11987 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11988 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11993 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11994 (organization "What me?"))
11996 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11997 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11998 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12001 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12002 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12003 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12004 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12005 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12006 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12007 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12008 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12010 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12011 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12012 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12013 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12014 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12015 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12016 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12017 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12018 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12019 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12020 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12021 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12022 said to @dfn{match}.
12024 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12025 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12026 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12027 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12028 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12029 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12030 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12031 name can be one of:
12034 @item @code{signature}
12035 @item @code{signature-file}
12036 @item @code{x-face-file}
12037 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12038 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12042 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12043 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12044 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12045 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12046 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12048 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
12049 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
12050 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
12051 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12052 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
12053 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
12054 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
12055 references chars lines xref extra.
12057 @vindex message-reply-headers
12059 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12060 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12061 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12063 @findex message-mail-p
12064 @findex message-news-p
12066 So here's a new example:
12069 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12071 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12073 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12074 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12076 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12077 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12078 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12079 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12080 (signature my-news-signature))
12081 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12082 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12083 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12084 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12085 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12086 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12087 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12088 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12089 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12090 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12092 (From (save-excursion
12093 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
12094 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12096 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12099 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12100 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12101 if you fill many roles.
12108 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12109 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12110 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12111 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12112 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12114 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12115 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12116 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12117 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12118 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12122 @vindex nndraft-directory
12123 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12124 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12125 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12126 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12127 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12128 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12130 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12131 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12132 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12133 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12134 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12135 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12136 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12137 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12138 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12140 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12141 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12142 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12143 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12144 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12145 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12146 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12147 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12148 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12149 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12150 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12151 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12152 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12153 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12155 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12156 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12157 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12159 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12160 @kindex D e (Draft)
12161 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12162 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12163 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12165 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12168 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12169 @kindex D s (Draft)
12170 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12171 @kindex D S (Draft)
12172 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12173 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12174 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12175 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12176 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12179 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12180 @kindex D t (Draft)
12181 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12182 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12183 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12186 @node Rejected Articles
12187 @section Rejected Articles
12188 @cindex rejected articles
12190 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12191 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12192 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12193 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12195 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12196 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
12197 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
12198 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
12199 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
12201 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
12202 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
12203 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
12205 @node Signing and encrypting
12206 @section Signing and encrypting
12208 @cindex using s/mime
12209 @cindex using smime
12211 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
12212 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
12213 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
12214 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
12216 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
12217 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
12218 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
12219 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
12220 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12221 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12222 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12223 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12224 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12225 automatically encrypted messages.
12227 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12228 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12229 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12234 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12235 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12237 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12240 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12241 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12243 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12246 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12247 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12249 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12252 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12253 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12255 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12258 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12259 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12261 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12264 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12265 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12267 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12270 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12271 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12272 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12276 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12278 @node Select Methods
12279 @chapter Select Methods
12280 @cindex foreign groups
12281 @cindex select methods
12283 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12284 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12285 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12286 personal mail group.
12288 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12289 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12290 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12291 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12292 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12293 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12295 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12296 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12298 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12301 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12302 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12303 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12304 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12305 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12307 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12310 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12311 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12312 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12313 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12314 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12315 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12316 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12317 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
12318 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12322 @node Server Buffer
12323 @section Server Buffer
12325 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12326 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12327 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12328 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12329 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12330 back end represents a virtual server.
12332 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12333 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12334 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12335 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12337 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12338 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12339 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12340 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12341 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12342 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12343 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12345 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12346 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12349 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12350 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12351 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12352 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12353 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12354 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12355 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12358 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12359 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12362 @node Server Buffer Format
12363 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12364 @cindex server buffer format
12366 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12367 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12368 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12369 variable, with some simple extensions:
12374 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12377 The name of this server.
12380 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12383 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12386 Whether this server is agentized.
12389 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12390 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12391 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12392 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12402 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12405 @node Server Commands
12406 @subsection Server Commands
12407 @cindex server commands
12413 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12414 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12418 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12419 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12422 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12423 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12424 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12428 @findex gnus-server-exit
12429 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12433 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12434 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12438 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12439 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12443 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12444 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12448 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12449 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12453 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12454 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12455 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12460 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12461 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12462 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12463 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12468 @node Example Methods
12469 @subsection Example Methods
12471 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12474 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12477 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12483 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12484 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12487 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12488 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12490 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12491 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12495 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12498 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12499 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12501 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12502 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12503 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12507 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12510 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12513 Here's the method for a public spool:
12517 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12518 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12524 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12525 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12526 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12527 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12528 should probably look something like this:
12532 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12533 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12534 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12535 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12538 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12539 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12540 configuration to the example above:
12543 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12546 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12548 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12549 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12550 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12554 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12555 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12556 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12557 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12560 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12561 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12562 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12563 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12566 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12567 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12569 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12570 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12572 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12573 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12574 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12576 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12578 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12579 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12580 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12581 will contain the following:
12591 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12592 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12595 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12596 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12597 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12600 @node Server Variables
12601 @subsection Server Variables
12602 @cindex server variables
12603 @cindex server parameters
12605 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12606 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12607 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12608 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12609 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12611 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12612 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12613 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12614 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12615 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12616 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12617 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12618 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12619 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12623 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12624 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12625 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12628 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12630 @node Servers and Methods
12631 @subsection Servers and Methods
12633 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12634 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12635 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12636 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12640 @node Unavailable Servers
12641 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12643 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12644 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12645 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12646 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12647 actually the case or not.
12649 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12650 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12651 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12652 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12653 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12654 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12655 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12656 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12658 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12659 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12661 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12662 with the following commands:
12668 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12669 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12670 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12674 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12675 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12676 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12680 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12681 Mark the current server as unreachable
12682 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12685 @kindex M-o (Server)
12686 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12687 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12688 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12691 @kindex M-c (Server)
12692 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12693 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12694 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12698 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12699 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12700 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12704 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12705 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12711 @section Getting News
12712 @cindex reading news
12713 @cindex news back ends
12715 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12716 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12717 or it can read from a local spool.
12720 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12721 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12729 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12730 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12731 server as the, uhm, address.
12733 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12734 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12735 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12736 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12738 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12739 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12740 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12742 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12747 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12748 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12749 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12751 @cindex authentification
12752 @cindex nntp authentification
12753 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12754 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12755 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12756 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12757 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12758 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12759 present in this hook.
12761 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12762 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12763 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12764 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12765 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12766 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12767 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12768 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12769 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12770 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12771 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12772 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12776 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12779 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12781 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12782 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12783 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12784 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12785 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12786 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12787 @samp{force} is explained below.
12791 Here's an example file:
12794 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12795 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12798 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12799 have to be first, for instance.
12801 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12802 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12803 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12804 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12805 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12806 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12807 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12809 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12810 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12816 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12817 previously mentioned.
12819 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12821 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12822 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12823 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12824 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12825 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12828 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12829 '(("innd" (ding))))
12832 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12834 The default value is
12837 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12838 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12839 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12842 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12843 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12845 @item nntp-maximum-request
12846 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12847 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12848 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12849 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12850 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12851 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12852 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12854 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12855 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12856 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12857 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12858 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12859 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12860 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12861 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12862 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12863 no timeouts are done.
12865 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12866 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12867 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12868 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12871 @item nntp-xover-commands
12872 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12873 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12875 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12876 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12880 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12881 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12882 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12883 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12884 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12885 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12886 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12887 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12888 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12889 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12890 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12892 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12893 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12894 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12896 @item nntp-record-commands
12897 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12898 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12899 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12900 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12901 that doesn't seem to work.
12903 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12904 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12905 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12906 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12907 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12908 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
12909 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
12910 indirect ones (three pre-made).
12912 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12913 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12914 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12915 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12916 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12917 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12918 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12921 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12924 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12925 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12930 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12931 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12932 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12933 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
12937 @node Direct Functions
12938 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12939 @cindex direct connection functions
12941 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12942 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12943 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12944 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12947 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12948 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12949 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12952 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12953 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12954 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12955 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12956 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12959 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12960 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12962 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12963 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12964 (nntp-port-number )
12965 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12968 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12969 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12970 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12971 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12972 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12973 then define a server as follows:
12976 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12977 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12979 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12980 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12981 (nntp-port-number 563)
12982 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12985 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12986 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12987 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12988 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12989 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12990 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12991 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12992 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12996 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12997 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12998 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13001 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13002 session, which is not a good idea.
13006 @node Indirect Functions
13007 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13008 @cindex indirect connection functions
13010 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13011 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13012 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13013 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13014 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13015 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13018 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13019 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13020 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
13021 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13022 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13024 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13027 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13028 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13029 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13030 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13032 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13033 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13034 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13035 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13036 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13037 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
13038 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13039 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13043 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13044 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13046 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13047 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13048 Does essentially the same, but uses
13049 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} instead of @samp{telnet}
13050 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13052 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13055 @item nntp-via-netcat-command
13056 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-command
13057 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13058 intermediate host. The default is @samp{nc}. You can also use other
13059 programs like @uref{http://www.imasy.or.jp/~gotoh/ssh/connect.html,
13062 @item nntp-via-netcat-switches
13063 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-switches
13064 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13065 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{nil}.
13067 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13068 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13069 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13070 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13072 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13073 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13074 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13075 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}.
13078 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13079 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13080 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
13081 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
13083 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13086 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
13087 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
13088 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
13091 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
13092 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
13093 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13094 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
13096 @item nntp-via-user-password
13097 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
13098 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
13100 @item nntp-via-envuser
13101 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
13102 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
13103 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
13104 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
13106 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
13107 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
13108 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
13109 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
13113 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13114 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13118 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
13123 @item nntp-via-user-name
13124 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
13125 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
13127 @item nntp-via-address
13128 @vindex nntp-via-address
13129 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
13134 @node Common Variables
13135 @subsubsection Common Variables
13137 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
13138 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
13139 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
13140 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
13141 variables individually).
13145 @item nntp-pre-command
13146 @vindex nntp-pre-command
13147 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
13148 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
13149 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
13150 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
13153 @vindex nntp-address
13154 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13156 @item nntp-port-number
13157 @vindex nntp-port-number
13158 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13159 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
13160 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
13161 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
13162 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
13163 not work with named ports.
13165 @item nntp-end-of-line
13166 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
13167 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
13168 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
13169 using a non native telnet connection function.
13171 @item nntp-telnet-command
13172 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13173 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
13174 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
13175 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13178 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13179 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13180 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
13186 @subsubsection NNTP marks
13187 @cindex storing NNTP marks
13189 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
13190 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
13191 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
13192 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
13193 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
13194 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
13195 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
13196 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
13198 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
13199 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
13200 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
13201 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
13202 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13204 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
13205 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
13206 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
13207 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
13208 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
13209 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
13210 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
13212 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
13213 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
13214 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13220 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
13221 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
13222 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
13223 default is @code{nil}.
13225 @item nntp-marks-directory
13226 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
13227 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
13233 @subsection News Spool
13237 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
13238 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
13239 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
13242 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
13243 anything else) as the address.
13245 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
13246 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
13247 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
13248 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
13252 @item nnspool-inews-program
13253 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
13254 Program used to post an article.
13256 @item nnspool-inews-switches
13257 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
13258 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
13260 @item nnspool-spool-directory
13261 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
13262 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
13263 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
13265 @item nnspool-nov-directory
13266 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
13267 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
13268 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
13270 @item nnspool-lib-dir
13271 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
13272 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
13274 @item nnspool-active-file
13275 @vindex nnspool-active-file
13276 The name of the active file.
13278 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
13279 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
13280 The name of the group descriptions file.
13282 @item nnspool-history-file
13283 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13284 The name of the news history file.
13286 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13287 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13288 The name of the active date file.
13290 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13291 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13292 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13295 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13296 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13298 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13299 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13300 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13307 @section Getting Mail
13308 @cindex reading mail
13311 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13315 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13316 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13317 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13318 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13319 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13320 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13321 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13322 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13323 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13324 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13325 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13326 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13327 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13331 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13332 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13334 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13335 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13336 of a culture shock.
13338 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13339 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13341 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13342 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13343 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13344 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13346 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13348 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13349 deleted? How awful!
13351 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13352 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13353 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13354 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13357 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13358 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13359 they want to treat a message.
13361 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13362 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13363 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13364 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13365 archived somewhere else.
13367 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13368 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13369 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13370 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13371 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13373 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13374 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13375 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13377 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13378 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13381 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13382 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13383 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13384 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13385 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13387 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13388 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13389 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13390 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13391 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13392 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13396 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13397 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13399 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13400 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13401 and things will happen automatically.
13403 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13404 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13407 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13410 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13411 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13412 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13413 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13414 like any other group.
13416 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13419 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13420 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13421 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13425 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13426 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13427 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13430 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13431 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13432 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13435 @node Splitting Mail
13436 @subsection Splitting Mail
13437 @cindex splitting mail
13438 @cindex mail splitting
13439 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13441 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13442 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13443 to be split into groups.
13446 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13447 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13448 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13449 ("mail.other" "")))
13452 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13453 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13454 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13455 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13456 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13457 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13458 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13461 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13465 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
13466 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13468 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13469 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13470 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13471 mail belongs in that group.
13473 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
13474 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13475 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
13476 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13477 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
13478 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
13479 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
13480 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
13481 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
13482 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
13484 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13485 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13486 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13487 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13488 thinks should carry this mail message.
13490 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13491 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13492 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13493 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13495 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13496 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13497 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13498 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13499 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
13501 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13504 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13505 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13506 links. If that's the case for you, set
13507 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13508 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13510 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13511 @findex nnmail-split-history
13512 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13513 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13514 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13515 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13518 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13519 Header lines longer than the value of
13520 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13523 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13524 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13525 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13526 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13527 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13528 charset for decoding. The behavior can be turned off completely by
13529 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13530 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13532 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13533 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13534 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13535 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13536 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13537 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13538 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13539 other kinds of entries.)
13541 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13542 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13543 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13544 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13545 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13546 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13547 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13548 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13549 month's rent money.
13553 @subsection Mail Sources
13555 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13556 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13557 maildir, for instance.
13560 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13561 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13562 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13566 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13567 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13569 @cindex mail server
13572 @cindex mail source
13574 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13575 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13580 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13583 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13584 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13585 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13588 The following mail source types are available:
13592 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13598 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13599 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13600 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13604 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13607 An example file mail source:
13610 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13613 Or using the default file name:
13619 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13620 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13621 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13622 mail spool while moving the mail.
13624 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13628 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13631 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13635 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13638 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13640 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13643 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13647 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13648 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13649 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13650 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13651 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13652 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13653 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13654 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13655 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13656 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13658 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13659 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13660 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13661 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13667 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13671 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13675 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13676 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13677 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13678 predicate are considered.
13682 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13686 An example directory mail source:
13689 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13694 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13700 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13701 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13704 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13705 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13706 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13707 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13708 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13711 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13715 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13716 the user is prompted.
13719 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13720 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13723 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13726 The valid format specifier characters are:
13730 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13731 included in this string.
13734 The name of the server.
13737 The port number of the server.
13740 The user name to use.
13743 The password to use.
13746 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13747 corresponding keywords.
13750 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13751 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13754 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13755 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13758 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13759 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13760 mail should be moved to.
13762 @item :authentication
13763 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13764 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13769 @vindex pop3-movemail
13770 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
13771 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13772 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If the
13773 @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server} is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be
13774 left on the @acronym{POP} server after fetching when using
13775 @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers maintain no state
13776 information between sessions, so what the client believes is there and
13777 what is actually there may not match up. If they do not, then the whole
13778 thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
13780 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13781 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13787 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13790 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13791 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13794 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13797 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13801 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13802 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13803 contains exactly one mail.
13809 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13810 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13813 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13814 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13816 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13817 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13818 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13821 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13822 from locking problems).
13826 Two example maildir mail sources:
13829 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13830 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13834 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13839 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13840 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13841 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13842 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13843 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13845 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13846 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13852 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13853 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13856 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13857 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13860 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13864 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13868 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13869 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13870 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13871 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13873 @item :authentication
13874 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13875 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13876 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13877 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13880 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13881 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13882 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13888 The valid format specifier characters are:
13892 The name of the server.
13895 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13898 The port number of the server.
13901 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13902 corresponding keywords.
13905 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13906 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13909 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13910 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13911 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13912 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13913 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13914 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13917 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13918 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13919 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13920 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13923 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13924 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13928 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13931 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13933 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13937 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13938 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13939 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13941 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13942 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13944 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13950 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13951 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13954 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13958 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13962 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13963 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13967 An example webmail source:
13970 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13972 :password "secret")
13977 @item Common Keywords
13978 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13984 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13985 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13990 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13995 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13996 useful when you use local mail and news.
14001 @subsubsection Function Interface
14003 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
14004 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
14005 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
14006 consider the following mail-source setting:
14009 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
14010 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
14013 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
14014 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
14015 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
14016 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
14017 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
14019 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
14022 @node Mail Source Customization
14023 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
14025 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
14026 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
14030 @item mail-source-crash-box
14031 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
14032 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
14033 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
14035 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
14036 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
14037 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
14038 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
14039 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
14040 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
14041 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
14042 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
14044 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14045 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14046 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
14047 files. This variable only applies when
14048 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
14050 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
14051 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
14052 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
14054 @item mail-source-directory
14055 @vindex mail-source-directory
14056 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
14057 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
14058 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
14059 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
14061 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14062 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14063 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
14064 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
14065 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
14066 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
14069 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
14070 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
14071 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
14073 @item mail-source-movemail-program
14074 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
14075 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
14076 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
14081 @node Fetching Mail
14082 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
14084 @vindex mail-sources
14085 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
14086 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
14087 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
14088 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
14090 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
14091 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
14094 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
14095 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
14100 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14101 :password "secret")))
14104 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
14108 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
14109 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14112 :password "secret")))
14116 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
14117 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
14118 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
14119 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
14120 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
14121 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
14125 @node Mail Back End Variables
14126 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
14128 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
14132 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14133 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14134 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
14135 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
14137 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
14138 @item nnmail-split-hook
14139 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
14140 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
14141 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
14142 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
14143 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
14144 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
14145 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
14146 in the buffer will show up in any files.
14147 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
14150 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14151 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14152 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14153 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14154 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
14155 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
14156 starting to handle the new mail) and
14157 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
14158 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
14159 default file modes the new mail files get:
14162 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14163 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
14165 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14166 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
14169 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
14170 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
14171 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
14172 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
14173 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
14174 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
14175 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
14177 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
14178 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
14179 @findex delete-file
14180 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
14182 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14183 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14184 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
14185 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
14186 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
14188 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14189 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14190 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
14191 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
14192 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
14194 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
14195 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
14196 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
14201 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
14202 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
14203 @cindex mail splitting
14204 @cindex fancy mail splitting
14206 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
14207 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
14208 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
14209 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
14210 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
14211 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
14213 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
14216 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
14217 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
14218 ;; @r{from real errors.}
14219 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
14221 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
14222 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
14223 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
14224 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
14225 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
14226 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
14227 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
14228 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
14229 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
14230 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
14231 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
14232 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
14233 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
14234 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
14235 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
14236 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
14237 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
14241 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
14242 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
14243 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
14248 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
14249 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
14251 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
14252 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
14253 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
14254 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
14255 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
14256 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
14257 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
14259 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
14260 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
14261 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
14262 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
14263 stored in one or more groups.
14265 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
14266 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
14267 process all @var{split}s in the list.
14270 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
14271 this message. Use with extreme caution.
14273 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
14274 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
14275 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
14276 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
14279 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
14280 body of the messages:
14283 (defun split-on-body ()
14287 (goto-char (point-min))
14288 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
14292 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
14293 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
14294 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
14295 above. Also note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will
14296 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
14297 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
14298 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14300 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14301 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14302 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14303 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14304 should return a split.
14307 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14311 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14312 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14313 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14314 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14315 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14317 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14318 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14319 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14320 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14321 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14322 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14323 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14327 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14329 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14330 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14332 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14335 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14336 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14337 when all this splitting is performed.
14339 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14340 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14341 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14344 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14347 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14348 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14350 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14351 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14352 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14353 groupings 1 through 9.
14355 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
14356 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
14357 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
14358 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
14359 groups when users send to an address using different case
14360 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
14363 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14364 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14365 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14367 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14368 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14369 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14370 surrounded by anything.
14373 (any "joe" "joemail")
14376 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14377 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14378 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to @code{t},
14379 however, the match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word
14380 boundary is removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14382 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14383 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14384 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14385 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14386 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14387 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14388 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14389 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14390 it once per thread.
14392 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14393 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14394 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14395 using the colon feature, like so:
14397 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14398 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14400 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14401 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14405 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14406 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14407 in the file specified by the variable
14408 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14409 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14410 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14411 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14412 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14413 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14414 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14415 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14416 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14417 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14418 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14419 300 kBytes in size.)
14420 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14421 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14422 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14423 messages goes into the new group.
14425 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14426 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14427 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14428 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14429 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14430 ``outgoing'' group.
14433 @node Group Mail Splitting
14434 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14435 @cindex mail splitting
14436 @cindex group mail splitting
14438 @findex gnus-group-split
14439 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14440 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14441 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14442 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14443 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14444 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14445 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14446 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14448 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14449 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14450 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14451 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14453 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14454 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14455 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14456 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14457 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14458 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14459 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14461 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14462 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14463 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14464 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14465 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14466 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14467 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14469 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14470 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14471 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14472 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14473 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14474 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14475 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14476 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14477 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14478 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14479 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14480 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14481 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14483 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14488 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14489 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14491 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14492 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14493 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14494 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14496 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14499 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14500 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14501 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14504 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14505 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14506 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14510 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14511 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14512 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14516 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14519 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14520 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14521 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14522 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14523 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14524 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14525 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14526 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14527 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14529 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14530 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14531 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14532 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14533 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14534 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14535 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14536 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14537 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14539 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14540 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14541 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14542 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14543 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14544 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14547 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14550 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14551 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14552 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14553 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14554 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14557 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14558 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14559 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14560 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14562 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14563 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14564 @cindex incorporating old mail
14565 @cindex import old mail
14567 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14568 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14569 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14572 Doing so can be quite easy.
14574 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14575 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14576 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14577 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14578 your @code{nnml} groups.
14584 Go to the group buffer.
14587 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14588 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14591 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14594 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14595 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14598 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14599 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14602 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14603 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14604 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14605 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14606 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14608 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14609 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14610 using the new mail back end.
14613 @node Expiring Mail
14614 @subsection Expiring Mail
14615 @cindex article expiry
14617 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14618 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14619 different approach to mail reading.
14621 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14622 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14623 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14624 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14625 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14626 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14629 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14630 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14631 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14632 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14633 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14634 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14635 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14636 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14637 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14639 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14640 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14641 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14642 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14643 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14644 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14645 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14648 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14649 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14650 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14651 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14652 into its own group.)
14654 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14655 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14656 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14657 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14658 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14659 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14660 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14661 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14664 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14665 Groups that match the regular expression
14666 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14667 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14668 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14670 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14671 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14672 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14673 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14674 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14676 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14678 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14679 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14680 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14683 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14684 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14685 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14686 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14687 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14689 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14690 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14693 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14694 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14697 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14698 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14700 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14701 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14702 don't really mix very well.
14704 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14705 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14706 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14707 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14710 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14711 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14712 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14713 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14716 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14718 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14720 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14722 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14724 ((string= group "important")
14730 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14731 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14733 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14734 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14735 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14738 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14739 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14741 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14742 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14743 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14744 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14745 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14746 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14747 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14748 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14749 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14750 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14751 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14752 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14753 name or @code{delete}.
14755 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14757 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14760 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14761 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14762 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14763 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14764 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14767 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14768 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14769 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14770 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14771 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14774 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14775 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14776 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14777 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14778 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14779 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14781 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14782 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14783 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14784 easier for procmail users.
14786 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14787 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14788 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14789 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14790 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14791 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14792 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14793 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14794 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14795 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14796 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14797 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14798 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14801 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14803 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14804 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14805 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14806 auto-expire turned on.
14810 @subsection Washing Mail
14811 @cindex mail washing
14812 @cindex list server brain damage
14813 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14815 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14816 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14817 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14818 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14819 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14820 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14822 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14823 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14824 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14827 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14828 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14829 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14830 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14833 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14834 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14835 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14836 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14837 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14840 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14841 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14842 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14843 Emacs running on MS machines.
14847 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14848 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14849 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14850 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14853 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14854 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14855 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14856 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14858 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14859 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14860 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14861 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14862 into a feature by documenting it.)
14864 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14865 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14866 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14867 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14868 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14869 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14870 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14873 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14874 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14877 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14878 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14881 This can also be done non-destructively with
14882 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14884 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14885 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14886 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14888 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14889 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14891 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14892 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14893 @code{References} headers.
14897 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14898 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14899 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14903 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14904 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14905 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14912 @subsection Duplicates
14914 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14915 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14916 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14917 @cindex duplicate mails
14918 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14919 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14920 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14921 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14922 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14923 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14924 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14925 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14926 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14927 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14928 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14929 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14930 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14932 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14933 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14934 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14935 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14937 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14940 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14941 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14945 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14946 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14947 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14948 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14949 (any mail "mail.misc")
14950 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14956 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14957 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14958 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14962 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14963 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14964 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14965 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14966 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14969 @node Not Reading Mail
14970 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14972 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14973 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14974 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14976 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14977 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14978 mail, which should help.
14980 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14981 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14982 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14983 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14984 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14985 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14986 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14987 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14988 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14989 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14990 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14992 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14993 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14997 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14998 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
15000 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
15001 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
15002 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
15004 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
15005 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
15006 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
15010 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
15011 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
15012 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
15013 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
15014 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
15015 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
15016 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
15020 @node Unix Mail Box
15021 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
15023 @cindex unix mail box
15025 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15026 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15027 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
15028 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
15029 which group it belongs in.
15031 Virtual server settings:
15034 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
15035 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15036 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
15039 @item nnmbox-active-file
15040 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15041 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
15042 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
15044 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
15045 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
15046 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
15047 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
15052 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
15056 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15057 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15058 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
15059 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
15060 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
15062 Virtual server settings:
15065 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
15066 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15067 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
15069 @item nnbabyl-active-file
15070 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15071 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
15072 @file{~/.rmail-active}
15074 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15075 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15076 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
15082 @subsubsection Mail Spool
15084 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
15086 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
15087 format. It should be used with some caution.
15089 @vindex nnml-directory
15090 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
15091 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
15092 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
15093 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
15095 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
15098 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
15099 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
15100 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
15101 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
15102 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
15103 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
15104 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
15105 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
15107 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
15108 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
15109 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
15110 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
15112 @cindex self contained nnml servers
15114 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
15115 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15116 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15117 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
15118 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
15119 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
15120 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
15121 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
15124 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
15125 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
15126 them next time it starts.
15128 Virtual server settings:
15131 @item nnml-directory
15132 @vindex nnml-directory
15133 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
15134 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
15137 @item nnml-active-file
15138 @vindex nnml-active-file
15139 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
15140 @file{~/Mail/active}.
15142 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
15143 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
15144 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15145 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
15147 @item nnml-get-new-mail
15148 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
15149 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
15152 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
15153 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
15154 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15155 default is @code{nil}.
15157 @item nnml-nov-file-name
15158 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
15159 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
15161 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15162 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15163 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
15165 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
15166 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
15167 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15168 default is @code{nil}.
15170 @item nnml-marks-file-name
15171 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
15172 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
15174 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
15175 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
15176 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
15177 files. This variable requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be
15178 enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs
15181 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15182 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15183 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
15184 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
15185 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-nil.
15189 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
15190 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
15191 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
15192 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
15193 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
15194 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
15195 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
15200 @subsubsection MH Spool
15202 @cindex mh-e mail spool
15204 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
15205 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
15206 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
15207 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
15210 Virtual server settings:
15213 @item nnmh-directory
15214 @vindex nnmh-directory
15215 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
15216 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15219 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
15220 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15221 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
15225 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
15226 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
15227 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
15228 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
15229 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
15230 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
15231 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
15236 @subsubsection Maildir
15240 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
15241 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
15242 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
15243 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
15244 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
15247 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
15248 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
15249 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
15250 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
15251 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
15252 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
15253 that appear as group in Gnus.
15255 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
15256 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
15257 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
15259 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
15260 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
15261 another, and you will keep your marks.
15263 Virtual server settings:
15267 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
15268 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
15269 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
15270 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
15271 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
15272 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
15273 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
15274 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
15275 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
15276 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
15278 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
15279 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
15280 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
15281 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
15282 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
15283 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
15284 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
15285 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
15286 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
15287 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
15290 @item target-prefix
15291 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
15292 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
15293 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
15296 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
15297 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
15298 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
15299 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
15300 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
15301 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
15302 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
15303 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
15304 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
15306 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
15307 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
15308 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
15309 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
15310 symlinks pointing to them will be).
15312 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
15313 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
15314 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
15315 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15316 @code{force} argument.
15318 @item directory-files
15319 This should be a function with the same interface as
15320 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15321 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15322 parameter is optional; the default is
15323 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15324 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15325 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15326 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15327 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15328 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15331 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15332 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15333 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15334 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15335 value is @code{nil}.
15337 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15338 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15339 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15340 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15341 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15344 @subsubsection Group parameters
15346 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15347 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15348 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15349 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15350 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15351 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15354 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15355 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15356 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15357 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15358 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15359 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15360 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15361 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15362 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15366 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15367 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15368 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15369 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15370 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
15371 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
15372 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
15373 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15374 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15375 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15376 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15377 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15378 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15381 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15383 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15385 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15386 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15387 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15388 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15389 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15390 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15391 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15392 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15393 article. So that form can refer to
15394 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15395 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
15396 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15397 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15400 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15401 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15402 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15403 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15404 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15405 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15406 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15407 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15408 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15409 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15410 contain extra copies of the articles.
15412 @item directory-files
15413 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15414 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15415 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15416 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15418 @item distrust-Lines:
15419 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15420 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15421 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15424 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15425 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15426 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15427 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15428 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15429 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15432 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15433 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15434 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15435 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15436 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15437 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15438 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15440 @item nov-cache-size
15441 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15442 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15443 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15444 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15445 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15446 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15447 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15448 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15449 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15450 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15451 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15454 @subsubsection Article identification
15455 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15456 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15457 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15458 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15459 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15460 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15461 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15462 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15463 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15464 request the article in the summary buffer.
15466 @subsubsection NOV data
15467 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15468 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15469 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15470 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15471 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15472 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15473 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15474 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15475 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15476 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15477 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15479 @subsubsection Article marks
15480 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15481 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15482 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15483 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15484 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15485 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15486 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15487 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15489 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15490 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15491 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15492 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15493 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15494 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15495 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15496 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15497 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15501 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15503 @cindex mbox folders
15504 @cindex mail folders
15506 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15507 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15508 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15509 numbers and arrival dates.
15511 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15513 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15514 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15515 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15516 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15517 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15518 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15519 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15520 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15521 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15522 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15524 Virtual server settings:
15527 @item nnfolder-directory
15528 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15529 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15530 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15531 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15533 @item nnfolder-active-file
15534 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15535 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15537 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15538 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15539 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15540 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15542 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15543 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15544 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15545 default is @code{t}
15547 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15548 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15549 @cindex backup files
15550 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15551 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15552 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15553 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15556 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15557 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15559 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15562 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15563 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15564 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15565 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15566 extract some information from it before removing it.
15568 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15569 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15570 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15571 default is @code{nil}.
15573 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15574 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15575 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15577 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15578 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15579 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15580 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15582 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15583 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15584 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15585 default is @code{nil}.
15587 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15588 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15589 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15591 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15592 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15593 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15594 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15599 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15600 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15601 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15602 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15603 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15604 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15607 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15608 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15610 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15611 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15612 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15613 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15614 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15616 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15617 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15618 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15619 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15620 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15621 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15622 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15623 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15626 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15627 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15628 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15629 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15634 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15635 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15636 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15637 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15638 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15639 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15640 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15641 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15642 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15643 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15644 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15645 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15646 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15651 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15652 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15653 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15654 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15655 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15656 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15657 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15658 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15659 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15660 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15661 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15662 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15663 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15664 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15666 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15667 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15672 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15673 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15674 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15675 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15676 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15677 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15678 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15679 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15680 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15681 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15682 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15683 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15684 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15685 provided by the active file and overviews.
15687 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15688 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15689 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15690 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15691 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15694 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15695 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15700 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15701 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15702 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15703 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15704 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15705 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15706 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15710 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15711 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15712 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15713 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15714 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15715 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15716 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15717 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15718 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15720 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15721 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15722 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15723 friendly mail back end all over.
15727 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15728 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15731 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15732 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15733 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15734 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15735 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15736 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15737 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15738 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15741 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15742 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15743 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15744 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15745 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15746 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15747 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15748 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15749 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15750 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15751 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15753 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15754 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15755 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15756 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15757 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15760 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15761 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15762 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15763 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15764 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15765 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15766 removed in the future.
15768 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15769 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15770 on your file system.
15772 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15773 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15778 @node Browsing the Web
15779 @section Browsing the Web
15781 @cindex browsing the web
15785 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15786 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15787 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15788 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15789 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15790 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15791 even know what a news group is.
15793 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15794 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15795 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15796 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15797 you mad in the end.
15799 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15802 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15803 interfaces to these sources.
15807 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15808 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15809 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15810 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15811 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15812 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
15815 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
15816 alternatives to work.
15818 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15819 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15820 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15821 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15822 though, you should be ok.
15824 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15825 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15826 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15827 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15828 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15830 @node Archiving Mail
15831 @subsection Archiving Mail
15832 @cindex archiving mail
15833 @cindex backup of mail
15835 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15836 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15837 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15838 marks is fairly simple.
15840 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15841 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15844 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15845 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15846 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15847 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15848 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15849 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15850 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15851 before you restore the data.
15853 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15854 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15855 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15856 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15857 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15858 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15859 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15860 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15861 is unnecessary in that case.
15864 @subsection Web Searches
15869 @cindex Usenet searches
15870 @cindex searching the Usenet
15872 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15873 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15874 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15875 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15876 searches without having to use a browser.
15878 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15879 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15880 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15881 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15882 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15884 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15885 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15886 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15887 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15888 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15889 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15890 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15891 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15892 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15893 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15896 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15897 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15898 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
15899 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15900 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15901 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15903 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
15904 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
15905 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
15907 Virtual server variables:
15912 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15913 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15914 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15917 @vindex nnweb-search
15918 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15920 @item nnweb-max-hits
15921 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15922 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15925 @item nnweb-type-definition
15926 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15927 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15928 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15933 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15937 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15940 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15943 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15947 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15954 @subsection Slashdot
15958 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15959 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15960 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15962 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15963 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15966 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15967 '((nnslashdot "")))
15970 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15971 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15972 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15973 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15974 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15977 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15978 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15980 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15981 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15982 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15983 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15984 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15985 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15986 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15988 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15991 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15992 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15993 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15994 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15995 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15996 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15997 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15999 @item nnslashdot-login-name
16000 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
16001 The login name to use when posting.
16003 @item nnslashdot-password
16004 @vindex nnslashdot-password
16005 The password to use when posting.
16007 @item nnslashdot-directory
16008 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
16009 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
16010 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
16012 @item nnslashdot-active-url
16013 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
16014 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
16015 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
16016 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
16018 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
16019 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
16020 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
16022 @item nnslashdot-article-url
16023 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
16024 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
16025 article. The default is
16026 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
16028 @item nnslashdot-threshold
16029 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
16030 The score threshold. The default is -1.
16032 @item nnslashdot-group-number
16033 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
16034 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
16035 updated. The default is 0.
16042 @subsection Ultimate
16044 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
16046 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
16047 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
16048 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
16049 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16051 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
16052 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
16053 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
16054 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
16055 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
16056 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
16057 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
16059 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
16062 @item nnultimate-directory
16063 @vindex nnultimate-directory
16064 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
16065 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
16070 @subsection Web Archive
16072 @cindex Web Archive
16074 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
16075 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
16076 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
16077 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
16080 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
16081 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
16082 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
16083 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
16084 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
16085 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
16086 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
16087 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
16089 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
16092 @item nnwarchive-directory
16093 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
16094 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
16095 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
16097 @item nnwarchive-login
16098 @vindex nnwarchive-login
16099 The account name on the web server.
16101 @item nnwarchive-passwd
16102 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
16103 The password for your account on the web server.
16111 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
16112 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
16113 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
16114 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
16115 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
16117 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
16118 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16120 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
16121 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
16122 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
16125 @kindex G R (Group)
16126 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
16127 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
16128 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
16129 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
16131 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
16132 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
16133 subscribe to groups.
16135 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
16136 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
16137 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
16138 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
16139 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
16140 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
16141 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
16142 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
16145 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
16146 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
16149 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
16150 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
16154 @defun nnrss-opml-export
16155 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
16156 @acronym{OPML} format.
16159 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
16162 @item nnrss-directory
16163 @vindex nnrss-directory
16164 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
16165 @file{~/News/rss/}.
16167 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
16168 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
16169 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
16170 data files. The default is the value of
16171 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
16172 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
16174 @item nnrss-use-local
16175 @vindex nnrss-use-local
16176 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
16177 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
16178 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
16179 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
16180 download script using @command{wget}.
16183 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
16184 the summary buffer.
16187 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
16188 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
16190 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
16192 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
16193 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
16196 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
16199 (require 'browse-url)
16201 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
16203 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
16206 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
16207 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
16210 (browse-url (cdr url))
16211 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
16212 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
16214 (eval-after-load "gnus"
16215 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
16216 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
16217 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
16220 @node Customizing W3
16221 @subsection Customizing W3
16227 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
16228 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
16229 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
16232 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
16233 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
16234 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
16237 (eval-after-load "w3"
16239 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
16240 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
16241 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
16242 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
16244 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
16247 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
16248 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
16255 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
16257 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
16258 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
16259 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
16260 specify the network address of the server.
16262 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
16263 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
16264 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
16265 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
16266 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
16267 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
16269 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
16270 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
16271 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
16272 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
16274 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
16275 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
16276 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
16277 usage explained in this section.
16279 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
16280 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
16281 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
16285 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16286 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
16287 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
16289 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16290 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
16291 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
16293 (nnimap-server-port 143)
16294 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16295 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
16296 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
16297 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
16298 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
16299 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
16300 (nnimap-stream network))
16301 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
16303 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
16304 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
16305 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
16308 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
16309 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
16310 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
16311 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
16313 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
16318 @item nnimap-address
16319 @vindex nnimap-address
16321 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
16322 server name if not specified.
16324 @item nnimap-server-port
16325 @vindex nnimap-server-port
16326 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
16328 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
16331 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16332 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
16335 @item nnimap-list-pattern
16336 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
16337 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
16338 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
16339 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
16340 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
16341 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
16343 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
16344 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
16345 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
16348 Example server specification:
16351 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16352 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
16353 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
16356 @item nnimap-stream
16357 @vindex nnimap-stream
16358 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
16359 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16360 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16361 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16362 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16364 Example server specification:
16367 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16368 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16371 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16375 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16376 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16378 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16380 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16381 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16384 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16385 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16387 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16388 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16390 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16392 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16395 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16396 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16397 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16398 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16399 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16400 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16401 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16402 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16403 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16406 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16407 needed. It is available from
16408 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16410 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16411 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16412 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16413 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16414 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16415 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16416 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16419 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16420 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16421 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16422 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16423 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16424 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16425 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16428 @vindex imap-shell-program
16429 @vindex imap-shell-host
16430 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16431 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16433 @item nnimap-authenticator
16434 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16436 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16437 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16439 Example server specification:
16442 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16443 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16446 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16450 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16451 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16453 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16456 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16457 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16459 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16461 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16463 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16466 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16468 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16469 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16470 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16471 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16472 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16473 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16476 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16477 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16478 running in circles yet?
16480 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16481 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16484 The possible options are:
16489 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16492 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16493 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16494 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16495 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16497 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16502 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16503 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16505 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16506 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16507 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16508 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16509 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16512 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16513 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16516 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16517 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16518 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16519 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16522 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16523 as ticked for other users.
16525 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16527 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16529 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16530 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16531 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16532 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16534 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16535 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16536 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16537 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16539 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16540 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16542 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16543 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16544 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16545 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
16548 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
16551 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
16552 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
16553 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
16554 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
16557 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16558 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16560 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16561 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16567 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16568 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16569 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16570 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16571 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16572 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16577 @node Splitting in IMAP
16578 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16579 @cindex splitting imap mail
16581 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16582 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16583 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16584 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16585 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16589 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16590 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16591 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16593 Here are the variables of interest:
16597 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16598 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16600 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16602 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16603 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16604 found will be used.
16606 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16608 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16609 @cindex splitting, inbox
16611 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16613 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16614 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16615 splitting is disabled!
16618 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16619 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16622 No nnmail equivalent.
16624 @item nnimap-split-rule
16625 @cindex splitting, rules
16626 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16628 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16631 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16632 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16633 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16634 Neither did I, we need examples.
16637 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16639 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16640 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16641 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16644 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16645 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16646 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16648 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16649 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16653 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16656 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16657 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16659 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16660 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16661 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16662 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16664 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16665 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16666 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16667 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16668 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16669 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16671 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16672 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16673 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16675 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16676 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16677 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16679 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16681 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16682 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16683 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16686 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16687 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16688 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16689 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16690 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16691 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16694 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16695 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16696 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16697 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16698 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16699 group/function elements.
16701 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16703 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16705 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16707 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16708 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16710 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16711 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16712 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16715 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16716 @cindex splitting, fancy
16717 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16718 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16720 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16721 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16722 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16724 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16725 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16726 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16727 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16732 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16733 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16736 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16738 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16739 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16740 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16742 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16743 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16744 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16745 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
16749 @node Expiring in IMAP
16750 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16751 @cindex expiring imap mail
16753 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16754 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16755 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16756 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16757 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16758 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16761 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16762 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16763 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16764 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16765 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16766 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16767 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16768 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16772 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16773 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16775 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16776 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16778 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16780 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16781 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16782 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16783 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16787 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16788 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16789 @cindex editing imap acls
16790 @cindex Access Control Lists
16791 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16792 @kindex G l (Group)
16793 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16795 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16796 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16797 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16800 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16801 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16802 editing window with detailed instructions.
16804 Some possible uses:
16808 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16809 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16810 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16812 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16813 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16814 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16818 @node Expunging mailboxes
16819 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16823 @cindex manual expunging
16824 @kindex G x (Group)
16825 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16827 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16828 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16829 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16831 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16834 @node A note on namespaces
16835 @subsection A note on namespaces
16836 @cindex IMAP namespace
16839 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16840 by the following text in the RFC2060:
16843 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16845 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16846 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16847 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16848 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16850 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16851 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16852 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16853 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16854 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16855 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16858 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16859 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16860 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16862 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16863 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16864 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16865 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16866 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16867 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16868 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16869 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16872 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16873 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16874 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16876 @node Debugging IMAP
16877 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16878 @cindex IMAP debugging
16879 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16881 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16882 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16883 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
16884 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16886 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16887 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16888 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16889 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16890 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16891 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16892 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16896 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16897 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16904 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16905 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16906 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16907 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16910 @node Other Sources
16911 @section Other Sources
16913 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16914 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16918 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16919 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16920 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16921 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16922 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16926 @node Directory Groups
16927 @subsection Directory Groups
16929 @cindex directory groups
16931 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16932 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16935 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16936 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16937 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16938 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16940 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16941 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16942 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16943 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16944 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16946 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16948 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16949 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16950 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16951 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16954 @node Anything Groups
16955 @subsection Anything Groups
16958 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16959 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16960 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16963 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16964 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16965 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16966 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16967 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16968 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16969 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16970 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16971 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16972 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16975 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16976 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16977 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16978 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16980 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16981 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16982 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16983 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16985 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16986 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16987 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16988 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16989 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16990 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16991 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16992 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16997 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16998 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16999 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17000 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17002 @item nneething-exclude-files
17003 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17004 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17005 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17007 @item nneething-include-files
17008 @vindex nneething-include-files
17009 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17010 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17012 @item nneething-map-file
17013 @vindex nneething-map-file
17014 Name of the map files.
17018 @node Document Groups
17019 @subsection Document Groups
17021 @cindex documentation group
17024 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17025 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17031 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
17036 The standard Unix mbox file.
17038 @cindex MMDF mail box
17040 The MMDF mail box format.
17043 Several news articles appended into a file.
17045 @cindex rnews batch files
17047 The rnews batch transport format.
17050 Netscape mail boxes.
17053 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17055 @item standard-digest
17056 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17059 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17061 @item lanl-gov-announce
17062 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17064 @cindex forwarded messages
17065 @item rfc822-forward
17066 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17069 The Outlook mail box.
17072 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17075 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17078 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17081 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17087 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17090 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17096 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17097 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17098 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17101 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17102 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17103 group. And that's it.
17105 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17106 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17107 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17108 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17109 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17110 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17111 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17112 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17113 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17114 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17116 Virtual server variables:
17119 @item nndoc-article-type
17120 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17121 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17122 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17123 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17124 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17125 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17127 @item nndoc-post-type
17128 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17129 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17130 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17135 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17139 @node Document Server Internals
17140 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17142 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17143 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17144 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17145 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17147 First, here's an example document type definition:
17151 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17152 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17155 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17156 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17157 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17158 types can be defined with very few settings:
17161 @item first-article
17162 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17163 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17166 @item article-begin
17167 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17168 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17169 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17170 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17172 @item article-begin-function
17173 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17174 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17177 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17178 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17179 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17181 @item head-begin-function
17182 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17183 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17186 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17187 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17190 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17191 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17192 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17194 @item body-begin-function
17195 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17196 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17199 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17200 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17201 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17203 @item body-end-function
17204 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17205 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17208 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17209 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17212 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17213 regexp will be totally ignored.
17217 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17218 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17219 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17220 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17221 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17224 @item prepare-body-function
17225 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17226 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17227 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17229 @item article-transform-function
17230 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17231 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17232 body of the article.
17234 @item generate-head-function
17235 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17236 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17237 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17238 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17240 @item generate-article-function
17241 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17242 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17243 parameter when requesting all articles.
17245 @item dissection-function
17246 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17247 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17248 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17249 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17250 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17251 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17255 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17260 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17261 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17262 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17263 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17264 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17265 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17266 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17267 (subtype digest guess))
17270 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17271 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17272 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17273 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17274 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17276 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17277 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17278 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17279 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17280 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17281 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17282 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17283 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17284 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17285 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17286 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17287 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17295 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
17296 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
17297 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
17299 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
17300 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
17301 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
17304 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
17305 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
17306 that interested in doing things properly.
17308 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
17309 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
17312 First some terminology:
17317 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
17318 get news and/or mail from.
17321 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
17322 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
17325 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
17329 @item message packets
17330 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
17331 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
17332 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17334 @item response packets
17335 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
17336 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
17337 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17347 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
17348 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
17349 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
17350 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
17353 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
17356 You put the packet in your home directory.
17359 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
17360 the native or secondary server.
17363 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
17364 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
17367 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
17371 You transfer this packet to the server.
17374 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
17377 You then repeat until you die.
17381 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
17382 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
17385 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
17386 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
17387 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
17391 @node SOUP Commands
17392 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17394 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17398 @kindex G s b (Group)
17399 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17400 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17401 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17402 process/prefix convention.
17405 @kindex G s w (Group)
17406 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17407 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17410 @kindex G s s (Group)
17411 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17412 Send all replies from the replies packet
17413 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17416 @kindex G s p (Group)
17417 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17418 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17421 @kindex G s r (Group)
17422 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17423 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17426 @kindex O s (Summary)
17427 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17428 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17429 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17430 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17435 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17440 @item gnus-soup-directory
17441 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17442 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17443 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17445 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17446 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17447 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17448 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17450 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17451 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17452 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17453 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17455 @item gnus-soup-packer
17456 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17457 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17458 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17460 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17461 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17462 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17463 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17465 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17466 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17467 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17469 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17470 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17471 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17472 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17478 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17481 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17482 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17483 you can read them at leisure.
17485 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17489 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17490 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17491 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17492 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17494 @item nnsoup-directory
17495 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17496 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17497 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17499 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17500 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17501 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17502 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17504 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17505 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17506 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17507 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17508 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17510 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17511 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17512 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17513 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17515 @item nnsoup-active-file
17516 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17517 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17518 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17519 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17520 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17522 @item nnsoup-packer
17523 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17524 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17525 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17527 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17528 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17529 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17530 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17532 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17533 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17534 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17537 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17538 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17539 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17542 @item nnsoup-always-save
17543 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17544 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17550 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17552 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17553 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17554 more for that to happen.
17556 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17557 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17558 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17561 In specific, this is what it does:
17564 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17565 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17568 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17569 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17570 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17573 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17574 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17575 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17578 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17579 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17580 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17582 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17588 @item nngateway-address
17589 @vindex nngateway-address
17590 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17592 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17593 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17594 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17595 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17596 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17597 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17598 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17601 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17602 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17603 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17606 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17609 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17612 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17615 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17617 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17620 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17621 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17622 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17624 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17626 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17627 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17628 @code{nngateway-address}.
17636 (setq gnus-post-method
17638 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17639 (nngateway-header-transformation
17640 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17643 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17646 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17651 @node Combined Groups
17652 @section Combined Groups
17654 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17658 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17659 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17663 @node Virtual Groups
17664 @subsection Virtual Groups
17666 @cindex virtual groups
17667 @cindex merging groups
17669 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17672 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17673 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17674 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17676 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17677 regexp to match component groups.
17679 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17680 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17681 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17682 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17683 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17684 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17685 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17686 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17688 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17689 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17692 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17695 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17696 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17698 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17699 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17700 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17701 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17704 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17707 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17708 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17709 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17711 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17712 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17713 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17714 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17715 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17717 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17718 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17719 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17721 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17722 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17723 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17724 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17725 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17726 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17727 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17728 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17729 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17730 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17731 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17733 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17734 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17735 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17736 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17737 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17738 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17739 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17741 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17742 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17744 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17745 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17749 @node Kibozed Groups
17750 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17754 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17755 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17756 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17757 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17759 @kindex G k (Group)
17760 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17763 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17764 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17765 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17766 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17768 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17769 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17770 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17772 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17773 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17774 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17775 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17776 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17777 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17778 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17779 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17781 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17782 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17783 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17784 Stranger things have happened.
17786 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17787 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17789 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17790 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17791 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17792 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17793 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17794 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17795 component articles.
17797 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17798 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17801 @node Email Based Diary
17802 @section Email Based Diary
17804 @cindex email based diary
17807 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17808 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17809 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17810 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17811 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17812 namely, as event reminders.
17814 Here is a typical scenario:
17818 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17819 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17821 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17823 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17825 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
17826 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17827 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17829 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17830 of the night you're gonna have.
17832 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17833 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17836 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17837 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17838 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17839 explained in the sections below.
17842 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17843 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17844 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17848 @node The NNDiary Back End
17849 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17851 @cindex the nndiary back end
17853 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17854 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17855 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17856 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17857 directory per group.
17859 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17860 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17861 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17862 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17865 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17866 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17867 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17870 @node Diary Messages
17871 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17872 @cindex nndiary messages
17873 @cindex nndiary mails
17875 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17876 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17877 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17878 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17879 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17880 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17881 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17885 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17886 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17887 (separated by a comma).
17889 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17891 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17893 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17894 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17895 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17897 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17898 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17899 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17901 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17902 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17903 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17904 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17905 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17906 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17909 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17910 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17911 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17916 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17919 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17921 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17924 @node Running NNDiary
17925 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17926 @cindex running nndiary
17927 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17929 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17930 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17931 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17932 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17933 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17934 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17936 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17937 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17938 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17939 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17940 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17941 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17942 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17945 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
17950 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
17951 line in your @file{gnusrc} file:
17954 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
17957 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
17958 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
17959 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
17960 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
17961 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
17963 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
17964 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
17973 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
17974 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
17976 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
17977 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17978 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
17979 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
17982 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
17983 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17984 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
17987 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
17988 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
17989 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
17991 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
17992 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
17993 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
17994 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
17995 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
17997 @node Customizing NNDiary
17998 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
17999 @cindex customizing nndiary
18000 @cindex nndiary customization
18002 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
18003 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
18004 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
18005 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
18007 @defvar nndiary-reminders
18008 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
18009 appointements (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
18010 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
18011 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
18015 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
18016 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
18021 @node The Gnus Diary Library
18022 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
18024 @cindex the gnus diary library
18026 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
18027 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
18028 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
18029 useful things for you.
18031 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{gnusrc} file:
18034 (require 'gnus-diary)
18037 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18038 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18039 (sorry if you used them before).
18043 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18044 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18045 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18046 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18049 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18050 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18051 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18052 @cindex diary summary line format
18054 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18055 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18056 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18057 see the event's date.
18059 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18060 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18061 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18062 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
18063 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18065 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18066 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18067 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18070 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18073 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18074 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18077 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18080 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18081 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18082 with the following user options:
18084 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18085 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18086 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18087 diary groups'parameters.
18090 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18091 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18092 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18095 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18096 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18097 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18098 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18099 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18102 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18103 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18104 @cindex diary articles sorting
18105 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18106 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18107 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18108 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18110 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18111 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18112 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18113 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18114 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18116 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18117 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18118 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18119 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18122 @node Diary Headers Generation
18123 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18124 @cindex diary headers generation
18125 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18127 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18128 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18129 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18130 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18133 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18134 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18135 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c D c} in @code{message-mode}
18136 and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the process of converting
18137 a usual mail to a diary one.
18139 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18140 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18141 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18144 @node Diary Group Parameters
18145 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18146 @cindex diary group parameters
18148 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18149 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18150 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18151 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18152 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18153 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18154 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18155 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18157 @node Sending or Not Sending
18158 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18160 Well, assuming you've read of of the above, here are two final notes on
18161 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18165 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18166 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18167 appointements to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18168 sending the diary message to them as well.
18170 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18171 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18172 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18173 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18176 @node Gnus Unplugged
18177 @section Gnus Unplugged
18182 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18184 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18185 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18186 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18187 read news. Believe it or not.
18189 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18190 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18191 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18192 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18193 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18195 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18196 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18197 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18198 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18199 reading news on a machine.
18201 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18202 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18203 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18205 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18208 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18209 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18210 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18211 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18212 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18213 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18214 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18215 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18216 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18217 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18218 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18219 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18220 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18221 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18226 @subsection Agent Basics
18228 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18230 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18231 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18232 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18233 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18235 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18236 connected to the net continuously.
18238 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18239 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18241 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18242 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18243 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18244 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18245 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18247 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18248 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18249 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18250 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18251 they're kinda like plugged always).
18253 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18254 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18255 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18258 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18259 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18260 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18261 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18262 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18264 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18269 @findex gnus-unplugged
18270 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18271 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18272 already fetched while in this mode.
18275 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18276 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18277 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18278 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18279 Source Specifiers}).
18282 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18283 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18284 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18285 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18286 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18289 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18290 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18291 then you read the news offline.
18294 And then you go to step 2.
18297 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18303 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18304 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18305 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18306 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18307 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18308 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18309 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
18310 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
18313 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18314 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18315 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18316 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18318 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18319 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18320 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18321 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18322 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18323 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18327 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18331 @node Agent Categories
18332 @subsection Agent Categories
18334 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18335 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18336 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18337 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18338 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18339 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18340 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18342 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18343 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18344 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18345 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18346 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18348 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18349 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18350 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18351 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18352 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18355 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18356 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18357 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18358 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18359 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18360 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18364 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18365 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18366 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18370 @node Category Syntax
18371 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18373 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18374 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18375 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18378 @cindex Agent Parameters
18381 The list of groups that are in this category.
18383 @item agent-predicate
18384 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18385 are eligible for downloading; and
18388 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18389 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18390 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18392 @item agent-enable-expiration
18393 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18394 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18395 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18396 only groups that should not be expired.
18398 @item agent-days-until-old
18399 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18400 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18402 @item agent-low-score
18403 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18405 @item agent-high-score
18406 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18408 @item agent-short-article
18409 an integer that overrides the value of
18410 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18412 @item agent-long-article
18413 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18415 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18416 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18417 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18418 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18419 undownloaded faces.
18422 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18425 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18426 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18427 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18430 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18431 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18432 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18433 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18435 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18436 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18437 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18439 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18440 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18441 operators sprinkled in between.
18443 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18445 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18446 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18452 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18453 short (for some value of ``short'').
18455 Here's a more complex predicate:
18464 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18465 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18468 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18469 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18470 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18472 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18473 you want to do, you can write your own.
18475 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18476 bound to the value determined by calling
18477 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18478 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18479 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18480 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18481 predicate to individual groups.
18485 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18486 lines; default 100.
18489 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18490 lines; default 200.
18493 True iff the article has a download score less than
18494 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18497 True iff the article has a download score greater than
18498 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18501 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18502 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18503 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18512 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18513 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18514 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18517 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18518 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
18519 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18520 something along the lines of the following:
18523 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18524 "Say whether an article is old."
18525 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18526 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18529 with the predicate then defined as:
18532 (not my-article-old-p)
18535 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18536 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18540 (require 'gnus-agent)
18541 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18542 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18543 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18546 and simply specify your predicate as:
18552 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18553 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18554 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18555 just don't give a damn.
18557 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18558 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18559 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18560 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18561 parameters like so:
18564 (agent-predicate . short)
18567 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18568 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18569 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18571 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18574 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18577 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18578 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18579 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18582 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18583 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18584 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18585 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18586 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18587 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18589 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18590 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18591 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18592 if it's to be specific to that group.
18594 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18601 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18602 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18608 Category specification
18612 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18618 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18621 (agent-score ("from"
18622 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18627 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18633 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18634 keywords stated above.
18640 Category specification
18643 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18649 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18653 Group Parameter specification
18656 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18659 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18664 Use @code{normal} score files
18666 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18667 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18668 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18669 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18671 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18672 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18673 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18674 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18678 Category Specification
18685 Group Parameter specification
18688 (agent-score . file)
18693 @node Category Buffer
18694 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18696 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18697 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18698 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18700 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18704 @kindex q (Category)
18705 @findex gnus-category-exit
18706 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18709 @kindex e (Category)
18710 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18711 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18712 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18715 @kindex k (Category)
18716 @findex gnus-category-kill
18717 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18720 @kindex c (Category)
18721 @findex gnus-category-copy
18722 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18725 @kindex a (Category)
18726 @findex gnus-category-add
18727 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18730 @kindex p (Category)
18731 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18732 Edit the predicate of the current category
18733 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18736 @kindex g (Category)
18737 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18738 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18739 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18742 @kindex s (Category)
18743 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18744 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18745 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18748 @kindex l (Category)
18749 @findex gnus-category-list
18750 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18754 @node Category Variables
18755 @subsubsection Category Variables
18758 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18759 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18760 Hook run in category buffers.
18762 @item gnus-category-line-format
18763 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18764 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18765 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18769 The name of the category.
18772 The number of groups in the category.
18775 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18776 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18777 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18779 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18780 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18781 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18783 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18784 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18785 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18787 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18788 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18789 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18792 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18793 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18794 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18797 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18798 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18799 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18800 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18801 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18802 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18803 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18804 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18808 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18809 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18810 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18811 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18812 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18813 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18814 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18819 @node Agent Commands
18820 @subsection Agent Commands
18821 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18822 @kindex J j (Agent)
18824 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18825 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18826 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18830 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18831 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18832 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18838 @node Group Agent Commands
18839 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18843 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18844 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18845 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18846 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18849 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18850 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18851 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18854 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18855 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18856 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18857 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18860 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18861 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18862 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18863 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18866 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18867 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18868 Add the current group to an Agent category
18869 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18870 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18873 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18874 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18875 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18876 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18877 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18880 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18881 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18882 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18888 @node Summary Agent Commands
18889 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18893 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18894 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18895 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18898 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18899 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18900 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18901 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18905 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18906 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18907 Toggle whether to download the article
18908 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18912 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18913 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18914 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18917 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18918 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18919 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18920 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18923 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18924 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18925 Download all processable articles in this group.
18926 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18929 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18930 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18931 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18932 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18937 @node Server Agent Commands
18938 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18942 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18943 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18944 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18945 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18948 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18949 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18950 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18951 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18956 @node Agent Visuals
18957 @subsection Agent Visuals
18959 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18960 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18961 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18962 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18963 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18964 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18965 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18966 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18967 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18968 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18970 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18971 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18972 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18973 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18974 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18975 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18976 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18977 articles will be available when unplugged.
18979 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18980 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18981 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18982 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18983 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18984 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18985 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18986 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18988 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18989 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18990 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18991 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18992 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18993 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18994 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18995 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18996 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18998 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18999 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
19000 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
19001 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
19002 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
19003 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
19004 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
19005 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
19006 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
19007 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
19009 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
19010 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
19011 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
19012 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
19013 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
19014 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19016 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
19017 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
19018 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
19019 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
19020 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
19021 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
19022 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
19023 expiring'' articles.
19025 @node Agent as Cache
19026 @subsection Agent as Cache
19028 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
19029 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
19030 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
19031 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
19032 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
19033 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
19034 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
19035 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19036 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19038 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19039 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19040 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19041 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19042 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19045 @subsection Agent Expiry
19047 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19048 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19049 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19050 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19051 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19052 @cindex agent expiry
19053 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19056 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19057 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19058 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19059 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19060 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19061 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19062 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19063 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19065 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
19066 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
19067 synchronized with the group.
19069 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19070 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19072 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19073 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19074 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19075 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19076 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19077 be kept indefinitely.
19079 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19080 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19081 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19082 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19084 @node Agent Regeneration
19085 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19087 @cindex agent regeneration
19088 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19089 @cindex regeneration
19091 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19092 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19093 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19094 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19095 internal inconsistencies.
19097 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19098 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19099 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19100 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19101 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19102 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19104 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19105 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19106 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19107 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19108 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19109 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19111 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19112 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19113 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19114 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19115 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19116 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19119 @node Agent and flags
19120 @subsection Agent and flags
19122 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19123 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
19124 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19125 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19126 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19127 to the flags in its own files.
19129 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19130 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19131 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19133 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19134 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19135 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19136 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19137 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19138 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19140 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19141 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19142 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19143 in the group buffer.
19145 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19146 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19147 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19148 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19149 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19150 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19151 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19152 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19154 @node Agent and IMAP
19155 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19157 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19158 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19159 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19160 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19162 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19163 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19168 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19171 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19175 @node Outgoing Messages
19176 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19178 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19179 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19180 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19182 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19183 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19184 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19186 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19187 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19188 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19189 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19192 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19193 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19194 ask you to confirm your action (see
19195 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19197 @node Agent Variables
19198 @subsection Agent Variables
19203 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19204 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19205 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19206 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19208 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19209 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19212 @item gnus-agent-directory
19213 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19214 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19215 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19217 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19218 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19219 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19220 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19221 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19224 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19225 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19226 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19228 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19229 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19230 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19232 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19233 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19234 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19236 @item gnus-agent-cache
19237 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19238 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19239 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19240 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19242 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19243 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19244 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19245 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19246 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19247 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19248 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19251 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19252 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19253 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19254 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19255 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19256 read. The default is @code{t}.
19258 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19259 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19260 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19261 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19262 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19263 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19264 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19266 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19267 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19268 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19269 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19270 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19271 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19272 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19273 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19274 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19275 over and over again.
19277 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19278 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19279 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19280 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19281 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19282 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19283 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19284 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19285 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19286 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19287 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
19288 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19291 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19292 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19293 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19294 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19295 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19296 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19297 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19298 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19299 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19301 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19302 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19303 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19304 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19305 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19306 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19308 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19309 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19310 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19311 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19312 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19314 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19315 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19316 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19317 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19318 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19319 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19321 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19322 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19323 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19324 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19325 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19327 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19328 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19329 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19330 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19331 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19332 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19333 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19334 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19335 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19336 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19337 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
19342 @node Example Setup
19343 @subsection Example Setup
19345 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19346 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19347 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19350 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19351 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19352 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19354 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19355 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19356 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19358 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19359 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19361 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19362 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19363 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19366 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19367 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19370 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19371 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19372 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19373 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19374 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19377 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19378 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19379 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19380 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19381 back all the killed groups.)
19383 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19384 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19385 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19388 @node Batching Agents
19389 @subsection Batching Agents
19390 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19392 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19393 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19394 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19396 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19397 following incantation:
19401 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19405 @node Agent Caveats
19406 @subsection Agent Caveats
19408 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19409 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19413 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19415 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19416 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19417 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19419 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19420 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19422 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19426 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19427 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19428 locally stored articles.
19435 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19436 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19437 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19440 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19441 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19442 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19443 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19444 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19446 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19447 before generating the summary buffer.
19449 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19450 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19451 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19453 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19454 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19455 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19456 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19459 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19460 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19461 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19462 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19463 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19464 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19465 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19466 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19467 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19468 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19469 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19470 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19471 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19472 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19473 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19474 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19478 @node Summary Score Commands
19479 @section Summary Score Commands
19480 @cindex score commands
19482 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19483 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19484 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19485 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19486 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19488 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19489 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19490 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19491 score file the current one.
19493 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19498 @kindex V s (Summary)
19499 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19500 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19503 @kindex V S (Summary)
19504 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19505 Display the score of the current article
19506 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19509 @kindex V t (Summary)
19510 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19511 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19512 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19513 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19514 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19515 score file and edit it.
19518 @kindex V w (Summary)
19519 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19520 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19523 @kindex V R (Summary)
19524 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19525 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19526 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19527 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19528 effect you're having.
19531 @kindex V c (Summary)
19532 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19533 Make a different score file the current
19534 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19537 @kindex V e (Summary)
19538 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19539 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19540 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19544 @kindex V f (Summary)
19545 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19546 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19547 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19550 @kindex V F (Summary)
19551 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19552 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19553 after editing score files.
19556 @kindex V C (Summary)
19557 @findex gnus-score-customize
19558 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19559 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19563 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19568 @kindex V m (Summary)
19569 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19570 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19571 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19574 @kindex V x (Summary)
19575 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19576 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19577 expunge all articles below this score
19578 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19581 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19582 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19585 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19586 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19590 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19591 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19593 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19594 keys are available:
19598 Score on the author name.
19601 Score on the subject line.
19604 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19607 Score on the @code{References} line.
19613 Score on the number of lines.
19616 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19619 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19620 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19623 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19624 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19625 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19634 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19640 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19641 what headers you are scoring on.
19653 Substring matching.
19656 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19685 Greater than number.
19690 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19691 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19692 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19697 Temporary score entry.
19700 Permanent score entry.
19703 Immediately scoring.
19707 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19708 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19709 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19713 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19714 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19715 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19716 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19718 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19719 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19720 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19721 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19722 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19724 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19725 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19726 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19727 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19728 current score file.
19730 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19731 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19732 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19735 @node Group Score Commands
19736 @section Group Score Commands
19737 @cindex group score commands
19739 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19744 @kindex W e (Group)
19745 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19746 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19747 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19750 @kindex W f (Group)
19751 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19752 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19753 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19754 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19758 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19760 @findex gnus-batch-score
19761 @cindex batch scoring
19763 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19767 @node Score Variables
19768 @section Score Variables
19769 @cindex score variables
19773 @item gnus-use-scoring
19774 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19775 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19776 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19778 @item gnus-kill-killed
19779 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19780 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19781 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19782 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19783 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19784 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19785 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19787 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19788 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19789 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19790 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19791 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19793 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19794 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19795 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19796 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19798 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19799 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19800 @cindex score cache
19801 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19802 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19803 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19804 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19805 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19806 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19807 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19810 @item gnus-save-score
19811 @vindex gnus-save-score
19812 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19813 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19814 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19816 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19817 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19818 across group visits.
19820 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19821 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19822 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19823 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19824 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19825 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19826 manually entered data.
19828 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19829 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19830 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19832 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19833 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19834 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19835 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19836 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19837 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19839 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19840 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19841 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19842 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19844 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19845 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19846 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19847 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19849 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19850 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19851 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19852 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19854 Predefined functions available are:
19857 @item gnus-score-find-single
19858 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19859 Only apply the group's own score file.
19861 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19862 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19863 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19864 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19865 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19866 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19867 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19868 then a regexp match is done.
19870 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19871 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19873 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19874 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19875 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19876 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19878 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19879 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19880 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19881 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19882 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19886 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19887 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19888 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19889 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19890 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19891 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19892 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19895 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19896 overall score file, you could use the value
19898 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19899 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19902 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19903 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19904 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19905 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19906 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19908 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19909 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19910 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19911 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19912 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19913 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19914 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19915 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19917 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19918 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19919 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19921 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19922 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19923 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19924 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19925 threading---according to the current value of
19926 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19927 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19928 simplified in this manner.
19933 @node Score File Format
19934 @section Score File Format
19935 @cindex score file format
19937 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19938 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19939 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19941 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19945 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19947 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19949 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19951 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19956 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19960 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19961 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19962 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19963 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19967 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19968 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19970 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19971 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19972 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19974 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19979 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19980 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19981 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19982 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19983 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19984 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19985 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19986 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19987 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19988 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19989 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19990 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19991 to articles that matches these score entries.
19993 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19994 score entry has one to four elements.
19998 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19999 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
20003 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
20004 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
20005 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
20006 is successful. If this element is not present, the
20007 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
20008 instead. This is 1000 by default.
20011 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
20012 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
20013 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
20014 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
20015 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
20018 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
20019 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
20020 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
20021 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
20024 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
20025 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
20026 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
20027 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
20028 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
20029 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
20030 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
20031 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
20032 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
20033 instead, if you feel like.
20036 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20037 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20038 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20039 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20040 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20041 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20045 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20046 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20050 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20051 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20053 These predicates are true if
20056 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20059 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20060 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20067 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20068 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20069 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20070 it's not. I think.)
20072 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20073 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20074 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20075 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20078 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20079 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20080 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20081 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20082 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20083 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20084 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20088 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20089 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20090 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20091 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20092 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20093 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20094 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20095 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20098 @item Head, Body, All
20099 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
20103 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20104 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20105 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20106 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20107 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20108 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20109 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20113 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20114 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20115 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20116 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20117 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20118 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20119 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20120 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20121 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20122 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20123 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20127 @cindex score file atoms
20129 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20130 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20133 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20134 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20136 @item mark-and-expunge
20137 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20138 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20141 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20142 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20143 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20144 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20145 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20148 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20149 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20152 @item exclude-files
20153 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20154 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20158 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
20159 ignored when handling global score files.
20162 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20163 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20164 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20165 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20168 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20169 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20170 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20171 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20173 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20177 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20180 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20181 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20182 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
20183 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20184 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20186 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20187 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20188 scoring rules exist.
20191 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20192 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20193 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20194 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20195 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20196 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20197 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20198 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20199 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20200 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20201 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20205 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20206 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20207 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20208 file for a number of groups.
20211 @cindex local variables
20212 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20213 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20214 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20215 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20216 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20221 @node Score File Editing
20222 @section Score File Editing
20224 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20225 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20226 with a mode for that.
20228 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20229 additional commands:
20234 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20235 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
20236 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20237 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
20240 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20241 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20242 Insert the current date in numerical format
20243 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20244 you were wondering.
20247 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20248 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20249 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20250 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20251 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20256 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20258 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20259 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20261 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20262 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20265 @node Adaptive Scoring
20266 @section Adaptive Scoring
20267 @cindex adaptive scoring
20269 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20270 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20271 stupidity, to be precise.
20273 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20274 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20275 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20276 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20277 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20278 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20279 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20280 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20281 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20283 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20284 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20285 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20286 might look something like this:
20289 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20290 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20291 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20292 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20293 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20294 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20295 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20296 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20297 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20298 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20299 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20300 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20303 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20304 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20305 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20306 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20307 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20308 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20311 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20312 will be applied to each article.
20314 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20315 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20316 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20317 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20319 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20320 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20321 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20322 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20324 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20325 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20326 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20327 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20329 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20330 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20331 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20332 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20333 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20334 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20336 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20337 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20338 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20340 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20341 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20342 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20344 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20345 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20346 let you use different rules in different groups.
20348 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20349 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20350 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20353 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20354 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20355 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20356 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20358 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20359 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20360 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20361 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20362 the length of the match is less than
20363 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20364 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20367 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20368 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20369 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20370 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20371 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20374 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20375 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20376 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20377 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20378 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20381 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20382 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20383 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20384 score with 30 points.
20386 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20387 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20388 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20389 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20390 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20392 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20393 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20394 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20395 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20396 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20398 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20399 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20400 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20401 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20403 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20404 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20405 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20406 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20408 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20409 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20410 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20411 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20412 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20414 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20415 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20416 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20418 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20419 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20420 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20421 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20424 @node Home Score File
20425 @section Home Score File
20427 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20428 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20429 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20430 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20432 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20433 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20434 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20436 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20437 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20442 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20446 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20447 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20451 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20455 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20456 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20459 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20460 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20461 name of the group as the parameter.
20464 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20467 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20472 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20475 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20476 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20479 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20480 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20482 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20484 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20485 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20488 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20489 Other functions include
20492 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20493 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20494 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20495 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20499 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20500 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20501 their own home score files:
20504 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20505 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20506 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20507 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20508 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20511 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20512 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20513 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20514 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20515 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20517 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20518 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20519 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20520 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20521 precedence over this variable.
20524 @node Followups To Yourself
20525 @section Followups To Yourself
20527 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20528 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20529 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20530 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20531 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20532 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20536 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20537 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20538 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20541 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20542 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20543 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20547 @vindex message-sent-hook
20548 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20549 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20551 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20555 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20556 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20560 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20561 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20564 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20565 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20570 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20574 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20575 is system-dependent.
20578 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20579 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20580 @cindex scoring on other headers
20582 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20583 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20584 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20585 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20586 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20588 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
20589 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20590 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20591 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20592 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20594 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20597 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20598 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20601 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20602 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20603 time if you have much mail.
20605 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20606 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20612 @section Scoring Tips
20613 @cindex scoring tips
20619 @cindex scoring crossposts
20620 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20621 the @code{Xref} header.
20623 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20626 @item Multiple crossposts
20627 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20628 more than, say, 3 groups:
20631 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20635 @item Matching on the body
20636 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20637 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20638 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20639 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20640 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20641 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20642 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20645 @item Marking as read
20646 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20647 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20648 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20652 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20654 @item Negated character classes
20655 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20656 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20657 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20661 @node Reverse Scoring
20662 @section Reverse Scoring
20663 @cindex reverse scoring
20665 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20666 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20667 like this in your score file:
20671 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20676 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20677 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20680 @node Global Score Files
20681 @section Global Score Files
20682 @cindex global score files
20684 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20685 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20686 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20688 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20689 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20690 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20692 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20693 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20694 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20695 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20696 files are applicable to which group.
20698 To use the score file
20699 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20700 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20704 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20705 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20706 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20709 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20711 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20712 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20713 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20714 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20716 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20717 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20719 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20720 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20721 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20722 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20723 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20724 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20726 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20732 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20734 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20736 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20738 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20739 lowered out of existence.
20741 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20742 articles completely.
20745 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20746 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20747 old articles for a long time.
20750 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20751 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20752 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20753 holding our breath yet?
20757 @section Kill Files
20760 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20761 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20762 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20764 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20765 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20766 files into score files.
20768 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20769 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20770 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20771 that isn't a very good idea.
20773 Normal kill files look like this:
20776 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20777 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20781 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20782 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20784 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20785 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20788 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20793 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20794 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20795 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20798 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20799 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20800 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20803 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20808 @kindex M-k (Group)
20809 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20810 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20813 @kindex M-K (Group)
20814 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20815 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20818 Kill file variables:
20821 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20822 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20823 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20824 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20825 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20826 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20827 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20829 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20830 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20831 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20832 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20835 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20836 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20837 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20838 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20839 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20840 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20841 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20842 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20843 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20845 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20846 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20847 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20852 @node Converting Kill Files
20853 @section Converting Kill Files
20855 @cindex converting kill files
20857 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20858 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20859 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20862 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20863 You can fetch it from
20864 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20866 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20867 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20868 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20872 @node Advanced Scoring
20873 @section Advanced Scoring
20875 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20876 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20877 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20878 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20879 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20881 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20885 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20886 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20887 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20891 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20892 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20894 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20895 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20896 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20897 non-@code{nil} value.
20899 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20900 operator, and various match operators.
20907 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20908 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20909 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20914 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20915 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20916 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20921 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20922 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20926 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20927 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20928 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20929 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20930 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20931 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20932 the ancestry you want to go.
20934 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20935 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20936 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20937 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20938 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20941 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20942 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20944 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20945 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20948 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20949 when he's talking about Gnus:
20954 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20955 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20962 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20966 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20973 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20974 really don't want to read what he's written:
20978 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20979 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20983 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20984 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20985 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20992 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20993 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20994 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20995 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20999 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
21000 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
21001 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
21002 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
21005 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21007 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21011 The possibilities are endless.
21013 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
21014 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
21016 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
21017 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
21018 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
21019 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
21020 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
21021 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
21022 @samp{subject}) first.
21024 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
21025 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21036 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21037 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21043 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21050 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21051 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21056 @section Score Decays
21057 @cindex score decays
21060 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21061 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21062 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21063 use them in any sensible way.
21065 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21066 @findex gnus-decay-score
21067 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21068 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21069 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21070 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21071 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21072 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21073 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21074 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21075 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21076 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21080 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21081 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21082 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21084 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21086 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21088 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21089 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21090 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
21091 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21092 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21094 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21098 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21099 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21100 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21101 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21105 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21108 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21111 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21115 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21116 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21117 the new score, which should be an integer.
21119 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21120 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21125 @include message.texi
21126 @chapter Emacs MIME
21127 @include emacs-mime.texi
21129 @include sieve.texi
21141 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
21142 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
21143 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
21144 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
21145 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
21146 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
21147 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
21148 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
21149 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
21150 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
21151 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
21152 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
21153 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
21154 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
21155 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
21156 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
21157 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
21158 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
21159 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
21160 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
21161 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
21165 @node Process/Prefix
21166 @section Process/Prefix
21167 @cindex process/prefix convention
21169 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
21170 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
21172 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
21173 command to be performed on.
21177 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
21178 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
21179 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
21180 with the current one.
21182 @vindex transient-mark-mode
21183 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
21184 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
21186 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
21187 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
21190 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
21191 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
21193 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
21196 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
21197 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
21198 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
21199 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21201 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
21202 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
21203 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
21204 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
21205 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
21206 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
21207 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
21208 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
21210 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
21211 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
21212 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
21213 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
21214 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
21218 @section Interactive
21219 @cindex interaction
21223 @item gnus-novice-user
21224 @vindex gnus-novice-user
21225 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
21226 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
21227 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
21228 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
21231 @item gnus-expert-user
21232 @vindex gnus-expert-user
21233 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
21234 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
21235 matter how strange.
21237 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
21238 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
21239 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
21240 is @code{t} by default.
21242 @item gnus-interactive-exit
21243 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
21244 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21249 @node Symbolic Prefixes
21250 @section Symbolic Prefixes
21251 @cindex symbolic prefixes
21253 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
21254 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
21255 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
21256 rule of 900 to the current article.
21258 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
21259 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
21260 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
21261 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
21262 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
21263 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
21264 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
21266 @kindex M-i (Summary)
21267 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
21268 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
21269 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
21270 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
21271 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
21272 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
21273 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
21274 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
21276 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
21277 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
21278 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
21280 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
21284 @node Formatting Variables
21285 @section Formatting Variables
21286 @cindex formatting variables
21288 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
21289 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
21290 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
21291 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
21292 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
21295 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
21296 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
21297 lots of percentages everywhere.
21300 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
21301 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
21302 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
21303 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
21304 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
21305 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
21306 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
21307 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
21310 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
21311 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
21312 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
21313 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
21314 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
21315 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
21316 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
21317 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
21319 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
21320 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
21322 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
21323 @findex gnus-update-format
21324 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
21325 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
21326 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
21327 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
21331 @node Formatting Basics
21332 @subsection Formatting Basics
21334 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
21335 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
21336 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
21338 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
21339 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
21340 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
21341 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
21342 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
21345 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
21346 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
21347 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
21348 less than 4 characters wide.
21350 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
21351 @samp{%&user-date;}.
21354 @node Mode Line Formatting
21355 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
21357 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
21358 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
21359 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
21360 with the following two differences:
21365 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
21368 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
21369 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
21370 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
21371 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
21372 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
21373 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
21374 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
21379 @node Advanced Formatting
21380 @subsection Advanced Formatting
21382 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
21383 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
21384 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
21385 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
21387 These are the valid modifiers:
21392 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
21396 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
21401 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
21404 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
21409 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
21412 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
21415 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
21418 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
21424 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
21429 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
21430 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
21431 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
21432 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
21433 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
21434 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
21435 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
21437 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
21438 last operation, padding.
21440 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
21441 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
21442 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
21443 @xref{Compilation}.
21446 @node User-Defined Specs
21447 @subsection User-Defined Specs
21449 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
21450 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
21451 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
21452 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
21453 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
21454 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
21455 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
21456 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
21457 should protect against that.
21459 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
21460 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
21462 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
21463 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
21464 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
21465 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
21469 @node Formatting Fonts
21470 @subsection Formatting Fonts
21472 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
21473 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
21474 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
21475 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
21478 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
21479 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
21480 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
21481 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
21482 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
21483 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
21485 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
21486 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
21487 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
21488 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
21489 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
21490 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
21491 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
21492 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
21493 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
21494 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
21495 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
21498 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
21501 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
21502 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
21503 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
21505 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
21506 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
21507 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
21508 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
21509 ;; @r{Set the color.}
21510 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
21511 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
21513 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
21514 (setq gnus-group-line-format
21515 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
21518 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
21519 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
21521 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
21522 mode-line variables.
21524 @node Positioning Point
21525 @subsection Positioning Point
21527 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
21528 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
21529 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
21531 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
21533 @findex gnus-goto-colon
21534 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
21535 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
21537 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
21538 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
21539 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
21544 @subsection Tabulation
21546 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
21547 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
21548 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
21549 about lining up the following text afterwards.
21551 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
21552 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
21554 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21555 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
21556 This is the soft tabulator.
21558 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21559 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
21560 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
21563 @node Wide Characters
21564 @subsection Wide Characters
21566 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
21567 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
21568 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
21570 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
21571 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
21572 these countries, that's not true.
21574 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
21575 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
21576 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
21577 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
21581 @node Window Layout
21582 @section Window Layout
21583 @cindex window layout
21585 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
21587 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
21588 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
21589 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
21590 @code{t} by default.
21592 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
21593 glitches. Use at your own peril.
21595 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
21596 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
21597 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
21600 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
21601 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
21602 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21606 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
21607 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
21608 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
21609 possible names is listed below.
21611 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
21612 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
21615 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21619 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
21620 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
21621 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
21622 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
21623 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
21624 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
21625 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
21626 size spec per split.
21628 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
21629 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
21630 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
21631 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
21632 present) gets focus.
21634 Here's a more complicated example:
21637 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
21638 (summary 0.25 point)
21639 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
21643 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
21644 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
21645 occupy, not a percentage.
21647 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
21648 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
21649 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
21650 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
21651 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
21654 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
21657 (article (horizontal 1.0
21662 (summary 0.25 point)
21667 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
21668 @code{horizontal} thingie?
21670 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
21671 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
21672 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
21673 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
21674 the screen is to be given to this strip.
21676 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21677 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21678 lines from the splits.
21680 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21685 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21686 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21687 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21688 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21689 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21690 size = number | frame-params
21691 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21695 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21696 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21697 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21698 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21700 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21701 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21702 @cindex window height
21703 @cindex window width
21704 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21705 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21706 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21707 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21708 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21709 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21711 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21712 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21713 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21714 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21716 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21717 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21718 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21719 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21720 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21721 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21722 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21723 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21724 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21725 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21726 configuration list.
21729 (gnus-configure-frame
21733 (article 0.3 point))
21741 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21742 @code{frame} split:
21745 (gnus-configure-frame
21748 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21750 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21751 (user-position . t)
21752 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21757 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21758 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21759 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21760 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21761 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21762 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21763 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21764 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21766 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21767 be found in its default value.
21769 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21770 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21771 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21775 (message (horizontal 1.0
21776 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21778 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21783 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21784 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21785 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21790 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21791 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21792 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21793 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21794 (name . "Message"))
21795 (message 1.0 point))))
21798 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21799 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21800 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21801 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21802 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21805 (gnus-add-configuration
21806 '(article (vertical 1.0
21808 (summary .25 point)
21812 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21813 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21814 Gnus has been loaded.
21816 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21817 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21818 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21819 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21820 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21822 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21823 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21824 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21827 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21831 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21832 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21847 (gnus-add-configuration
21850 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21852 (summary 0.16 point)
21855 (gnus-add-configuration
21858 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21859 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21865 @node Faces and Fonts
21866 @section Faces and Fonts
21871 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21872 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21873 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21878 @section Compilation
21879 @cindex compilation
21880 @cindex byte-compilation
21882 @findex gnus-compile
21884 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21885 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21886 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21887 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21888 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21889 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21892 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21893 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21894 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21895 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21896 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21897 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21898 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21902 @section Mode Lines
21905 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21906 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21907 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21908 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21909 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21910 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21911 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21914 @cindex display-time
21916 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21917 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21918 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21919 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21920 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21921 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21922 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21923 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21926 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21928 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21929 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21931 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21932 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21933 (length display-time-string)))))
21936 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21937 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21938 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21939 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21940 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21943 @node Highlighting and Menus
21944 @section Highlighting and Menus
21946 @cindex highlighting
21949 @vindex gnus-visual
21950 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21951 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21952 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21955 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21956 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21959 @item group-highlight
21960 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21961 @item summary-highlight
21962 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21963 @item article-highlight
21964 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21966 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21968 Create menus in the group buffer.
21970 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21972 Create menus in the article buffer.
21974 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21976 Create menus in the server buffer.
21978 Create menus in the score buffers.
21980 Create menus in all buffers.
21983 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21984 buffers, you could say something like:
21987 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21990 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21993 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21996 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21997 in all Gnus buffers.
21999 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
22002 @item gnus-mouse-face
22003 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22004 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
22005 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
22009 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
22013 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
22014 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
22015 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
22017 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
22018 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
22019 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
22021 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
22022 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
22023 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
22025 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
22026 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
22027 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
22029 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
22030 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
22031 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
22033 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
22034 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
22035 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
22046 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
22047 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
22048 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
22049 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
22050 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
22054 @vindex gnus-carpal
22055 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
22056 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
22057 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
22062 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22063 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22064 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
22066 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
22067 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
22068 Face used on buttons.
22070 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
22071 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
22072 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
22074 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22075 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22076 Buttons in the group buffer.
22078 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22079 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22080 Buttons in the summary buffer.
22082 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22083 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22084 Buttons in the server buffer.
22086 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22087 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22088 Buttons in the browse buffer.
22091 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
22092 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
22093 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
22101 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
22102 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
22103 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
22104 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
22105 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
22107 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
22108 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
22109 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
22111 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
22112 been idle for thirty minutes:
22115 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
22118 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
22122 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
22125 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
22126 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
22127 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22129 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
22130 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
22131 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
22132 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22134 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
22135 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
22136 @var{idle} minutes.
22138 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
22139 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
22142 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
22143 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
22144 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
22146 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
22147 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
22148 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
22149 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
22151 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
22152 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22154 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
22156 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
22159 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
22160 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
22161 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
22162 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
22163 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
22164 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
22165 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
22166 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
22167 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
22168 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
22169 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
22171 @findex gnus-demon-init
22172 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
22173 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
22174 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
22175 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
22176 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
22178 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
22179 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
22180 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
22189 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
22190 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
22192 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
22193 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
22194 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
22195 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
22198 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
22199 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
22200 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
22201 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
22203 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
22204 this will make spam disappear.
22206 There are some variables to customize, of course:
22209 @item gnus-use-nocem
22210 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
22211 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
22214 @item gnus-nocem-groups
22215 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
22216 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
22219 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
22220 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
22223 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
22224 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
22225 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
22226 people you want to listen to. The default is
22228 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
22229 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
22231 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
22233 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
22234 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
22236 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
22237 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
22238 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
22239 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
22240 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
22241 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
22242 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
22243 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
22244 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
22245 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
22247 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
22248 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
22251 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
22254 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
22255 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
22258 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
22261 The specs are applied left-to-right.
22264 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
22265 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
22267 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
22268 says she is. The default is @code{pgg-verify}, which returns
22269 non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful, otherwise (including
22270 the case the NoCeM message was not signed) returns @code{nil}. If this
22271 is too slow and you don't care for verification (which may be dangerous),
22272 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
22274 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
22275 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
22276 @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if you are willing to add the
22277 @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
22279 @item gnus-nocem-directory
22280 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
22281 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
22282 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
22284 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
22285 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
22286 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
22287 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
22288 might then see old spam.
22290 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
22291 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
22292 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
22293 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
22294 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
22297 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
22298 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
22299 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
22300 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
22304 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
22305 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
22306 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
22307 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
22314 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
22315 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
22316 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
22318 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
22319 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
22320 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
22321 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
22322 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
22323 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
22324 @code{undo} function.
22326 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
22327 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
22328 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
22329 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
22330 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
22331 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
22332 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
22333 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
22334 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
22335 never be totally undoable.
22337 @findex gnus-undo-mode
22338 @vindex gnus-use-undo
22340 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
22341 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
22342 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
22343 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
22347 @node Predicate Specifiers
22348 @section Predicate Specifiers
22349 @cindex predicate specifiers
22351 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
22352 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
22353 to type all that much.
22355 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
22360 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
22361 gnus-article-unread-p)
22364 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
22365 functions all take one parameter.
22367 @findex gnus-make-predicate
22368 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
22369 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
22370 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
22375 @section Moderation
22378 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
22379 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
22380 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
22383 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
22387 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
22390 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
22392 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
22397 You split your incoming mail by matching on
22398 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
22399 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
22402 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
22403 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
22406 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
22407 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
22411 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
22414 (setq gnus-moderated-list
22415 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
22419 @node Fetching a Group
22420 @section Fetching a Group
22421 @cindex fetching a group
22423 @findex gnus-fetch-group
22424 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
22425 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
22426 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
22427 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
22428 It takes the group name as a parameter.
22431 @node Image Enhancements
22432 @section Image Enhancements
22434 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
22435 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
22436 taken advantage of that.
22439 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
22440 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
22441 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
22442 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
22443 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
22451 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
22452 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
22453 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
22457 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
22458 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
22459 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
22467 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
22468 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
22469 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
22470 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
22472 The variable that controls this is the
22473 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
22474 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
22475 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
22476 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
22477 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
22479 The default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
22480 @code{display} program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick
22481 package. For the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look
22482 for a package like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux
22483 system.} to view the face.
22485 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
22486 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
22487 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
22488 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
22489 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
22490 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
22491 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
22492 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
22494 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
22502 @vindex gnus-x-face
22503 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
22504 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
22505 default colors are black and white.
22507 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
22508 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
22509 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
22510 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
22511 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
22512 XEmacs. Here are examples:
22515 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
22516 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22517 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
22518 (png . (:ascent 80))))
22520 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
22521 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22522 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
22523 (png . (:relief -2))))
22526 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
22527 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
22528 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
22529 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
22530 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
22531 @samp{libcompface} library.
22534 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
22535 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
22537 @findex gnus-random-x-face
22538 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
22539 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
22540 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
22541 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
22542 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
22543 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
22544 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
22545 header data as a string.
22547 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
22548 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
22549 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
22550 randomly generated data.
22552 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
22553 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
22554 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
22555 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
22556 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
22558 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
22559 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22562 (setq message-required-news-headers
22563 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22564 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
22567 Using the last function would be something like this:
22570 (setq message-required-news-headers
22571 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22572 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
22573 (gnus-x-face-from-file
22574 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
22582 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
22584 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
22585 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
22586 represent the author of the message.
22589 @findex gnus-article-display-face
22590 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
22591 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
22594 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
22595 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
22597 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
22598 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
22600 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
22601 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
22602 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
22604 @findex gnus-face-from-file
22605 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
22606 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
22607 converts the file to Face format by using the
22608 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
22610 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
22611 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22614 (setq message-required-news-headers
22615 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22616 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
22617 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
22622 @subsection Smileys
22627 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
22632 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
22633 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
22635 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
22636 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22639 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
22642 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
22643 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
22644 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
22645 text and maps that to file names.
22647 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
22648 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
22649 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
22650 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
22651 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
22654 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
22659 @item smiley-data-directory
22660 @vindex smiley-data-directory
22661 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
22663 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
22664 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
22665 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
22679 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
22680 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
22681 over your shoulder as you read news.
22683 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
22692 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
22693 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
22694 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
22695 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
22696 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
22697 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
22698 @code{GIF} formats.
22701 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22702 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
22703 point your Web browser at
22704 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
22706 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
22707 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
22709 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
22710 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
22713 @vindex gnus-picon-style
22714 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
22715 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
22716 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
22718 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
22722 @item gnus-picon-databases
22723 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22724 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22725 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22726 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22727 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22729 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22730 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22731 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22732 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22734 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22735 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22736 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22737 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22739 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22740 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22741 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22742 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22743 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22745 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22746 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22747 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22748 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22754 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22757 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22758 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22759 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22760 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22761 unusual directory structure.
22763 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22764 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22765 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22770 @subsubsection Toolbar
22774 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22775 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22776 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
22777 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-nil, it should be one
22778 of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom}, @code{right},
22779 and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default toolbar, the
22780 rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those names show.
22781 The default is @code{default}.
22783 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
22784 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
22785 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
22786 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
22787 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
22788 The default is that of the default toolbar.
22790 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22791 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22792 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22794 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22795 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22796 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22798 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22799 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22800 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22811 @node Fuzzy Matching
22812 @section Fuzzy Matching
22813 @cindex fuzzy matching
22815 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22816 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22818 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22819 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22820 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22822 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22823 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22824 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22825 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22826 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22829 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22830 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22834 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22836 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22837 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22838 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22839 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22840 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22841 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22842 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22843 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22846 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22847 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22848 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22849 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22850 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22851 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22853 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22856 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22857 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22858 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22859 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22860 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22861 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22864 @node The problem of spam
22865 @subsection The problem of spam
22867 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22868 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22870 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22872 First, some background on spam.
22874 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22875 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22876 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22877 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22878 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22879 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22880 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22881 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22882 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22884 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22885 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22886 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22887 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22888 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22889 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22890 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22891 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22892 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22895 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22896 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22897 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22898 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22899 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22900 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22901 from Bulgarian IPs.
22903 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22904 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22905 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22906 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22908 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22909 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22910 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22911 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22913 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22914 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22915 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22916 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22917 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22918 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22919 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22920 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22921 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22923 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22924 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22925 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22926 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22927 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22928 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22929 down for some time because of the incident.
22931 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22932 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22933 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22934 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22935 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22936 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22937 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22938 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22939 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22940 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22941 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22943 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22944 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22945 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22946 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22947 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22948 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22949 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22952 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22953 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22957 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22959 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22960 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22962 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22963 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22964 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22965 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22966 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22967 part of the mail address.)
22970 (setq message-default-news-headers
22971 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22974 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22975 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22979 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22980 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22981 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22986 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22987 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22988 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22989 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22991 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22992 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22993 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22994 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22995 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22996 your fancy split rule in this way:
23001 (to "larsi" "misc")
23005 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
23006 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
23007 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
23008 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
23009 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
23011 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
23012 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
23013 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
23014 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
23016 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
23020 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
23021 @cindex SpamAssassin
23022 @cindex Vipul's Razor
23025 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
23026 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
23027 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
23028 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
23029 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
23030 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
23031 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
23033 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
23034 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
23035 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
23038 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
23039 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
23040 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
23041 Specifiers}) follow.
23045 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
23049 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
23052 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
23053 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
23054 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
23057 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
23061 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23064 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
23065 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
23069 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
23070 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
23071 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
23072 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
23075 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
23077 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
23081 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
23082 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
23086 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
23087 downloaded by default. You need to set
23088 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
23089 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
23091 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
23092 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
23093 spam. And here is the nifty function:
23096 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
23097 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
23099 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
23100 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
23101 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
23105 @subsection Hashcash
23108 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
23109 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
23110 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
23111 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
23112 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
23114 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
23115 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
23116 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
23117 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
23118 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
23119 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
23120 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
23121 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
23122 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
23123 one of them separately.
23126 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
23127 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
23128 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
23129 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
23130 need to install to use this feature, see
23131 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
23132 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
23134 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
23135 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
23136 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
23139 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
23142 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
23146 @item hashcash-default-payment
23147 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
23148 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
23149 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
23152 @item hashcash-payment-alist
23153 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
23154 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
23155 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
23156 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
23157 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
23158 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
23159 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
23160 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
23162 @item hashcash-path
23163 @vindex hashcash-path
23164 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
23165 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
23166 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
23167 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
23168 when you generate hashcash payments.
23172 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
23173 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
23174 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
23175 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
23176 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
23177 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
23178 Hashcash Payments}).
23180 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
23181 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
23182 @cindex spam filtering
23185 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
23186 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
23187 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
23188 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
23191 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
23192 events. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events}.
23194 @cindex spam-initialize
23195 To use @code{spam.el}, you @strong{must} run the function
23196 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @file{spam.el} and to install the
23197 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
23198 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
23199 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
23202 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
23206 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
23208 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
23209 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
23210 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
23211 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
23212 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
23214 You get the following keyboard commands:
23224 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
23225 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
23227 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
23228 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
23229 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
23230 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
23236 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
23237 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
23239 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
23245 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
23246 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
23250 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
23251 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
23252 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
23253 * Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer::
23254 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
23255 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
23256 * BBDB Whitelists::
23257 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
23258 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
23260 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
23262 * SpamAssassin back end::
23263 * ifile spam filtering::
23264 * spam-stat spam filtering::
23266 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
23269 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
23270 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
23271 @cindex spam filtering
23272 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
23274 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
23275 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
23277 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
23278 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
23281 Getting new mail in Gnus is done in one of two ways. You can either
23282 split your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or
23283 spam when you enter the group.
23285 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail back ends such as
23286 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
23287 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
23290 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect
23291 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect-methods
23292 For back ends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
23293 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
23294 back ends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
23295 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
23296 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
23297 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
23298 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods}
23299 (accessible with @kbd{M-x customize-variable} as usual) can help.
23301 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used (you can turn it on for a
23302 group/topic or wholesale by regular expression matches, as needed), it
23303 hooks into the process of entering a group. Thus, entering a group
23304 with unseen or unread articles becomes the substitute for checking
23305 incoming mail. Whether only unseen articles or all unread articles
23306 will be processed is determined by the
23307 @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set to @code{t}, unread
23308 messages will be rechecked. You should probably stick with the
23309 default of only checking unseen messages.
23311 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
23312 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
23313 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
23314 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
23315 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
23316 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
23317 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
23318 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
23319 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
23321 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
23322 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
23323 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
23324 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
23325 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
23326 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
23327 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
23328 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
23329 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
23330 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
23332 Thus, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied,
23333 if any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
23334 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
23335 depending on the article's classification. If the
23336 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
23337 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
23340 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
23341 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
23342 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
23343 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
23344 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
23345 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
23346 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
23347 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
23348 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
23349 which is what most people want. If the
23350 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
23351 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
23353 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23354 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23356 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
23357 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
23358 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
23359 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
23360 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
23361 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
23362 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
23363 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
23364 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
23365 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
23366 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
23368 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23369 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23371 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
23372 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
23373 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
23375 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
23376 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
23377 @cindex spam filtering
23378 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
23381 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
23382 must add the following to your fancy split list
23383 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
23389 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
23390 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
23391 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
23393 Also, @code{spam-split} will not modify incoming mail in any way.
23395 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
23396 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
23397 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
23398 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
23399 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
23400 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
23401 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
23402 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
23403 actually give you the group
23404 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
23405 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
23407 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
23408 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
23411 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
23412 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
23415 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23416 (any "ding" "ding")
23418 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23422 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
23423 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
23424 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
23425 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
23426 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
23427 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
23429 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
23430 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
23431 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
23436 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
23437 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23438 (any "ding" "ding")
23439 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
23441 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23445 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
23446 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
23447 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
23448 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
23449 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
23450 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
23451 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
23453 You should still have specific checks such as
23454 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
23455 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
23456 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
23457 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
23458 is usually not critical, though.
23460 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
23462 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
23463 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
23464 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
23465 message headers. If you use a @emph{statistical} filter,
23466 e.g. @code{spam-check-bogofilter}, @code{spam-check-ifile}, or
23467 @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that can benefit from the full
23468 message body), this variable will be set automatically. It is not set
23469 for non-statistical back ends by default because it will slow
23470 @acronym{IMAP} down.
23472 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
23474 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
23475 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
23476 @cindex spam filtering
23477 @cindex spam filtering variables
23478 @cindex spam variables
23481 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
23482 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
23483 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
23484 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
23485 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
23486 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
23487 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
23488 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
23489 will be detected later.
23491 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
23492 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
23493 for more information.
23495 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23496 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
23497 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
23498 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
23499 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
23500 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
23501 by customizing the corresponding variable
23502 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
23503 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
23504 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
23505 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
23506 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
23507 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
23508 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
23511 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
23513 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
23514 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
23515 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
23516 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
23517 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
23518 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
23519 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
23520 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
23521 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
23522 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
23523 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
23524 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
23525 processor which will study them as spam samples.
23527 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
23528 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
23529 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
23530 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
23531 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
23532 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
23533 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
23534 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
23537 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
23538 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
23539 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
23540 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
23541 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
23542 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
23543 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
23548 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
23549 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
23550 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
23551 you really want to.
23554 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
23555 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
23556 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
23557 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
23558 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
23559 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
23562 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
23563 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
23564 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
23565 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
23566 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
23567 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
23568 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
23569 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
23570 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
23571 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
23572 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
23573 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
23574 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
23575 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
23576 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
23578 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23579 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23581 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23582 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
23583 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
23585 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
23586 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
23588 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
23589 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
23590 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
23591 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
23592 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
23594 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
23595 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
23596 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
23597 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
23598 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
23601 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
23602 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
23603 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
23604 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
23605 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
23606 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
23607 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
23608 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
23609 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
23610 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
23611 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
23612 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
23613 group buffer then you need it here as well.
23615 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23616 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23618 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23619 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
23622 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
23623 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
23624 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
23625 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
23626 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
23627 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
23628 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
23630 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
23631 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
23632 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
23633 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
23635 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
23636 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
23637 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
23638 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
23639 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
23640 from the mail server.
23642 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
23643 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
23644 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
23645 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
23647 @node Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23648 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23649 @cindex spam scoring
23650 @cindex spam sorting
23651 @cindex spam score summary buffer
23652 @cindex spam sort summary buffer
23655 You can display the spam score of articles in your summary buffer, and
23656 you can sort articles by their spam score.
23658 First you need to decide which back end you will be using. If you use
23659 the @code{spam-use-spamassassin},
23660 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}, or @code{spam-use-regex-headers}
23661 back end, the @code{X-Spam-Status} header will be used. If you use
23662 @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, the @code{X-Bogosity} header will be used.
23663 If you use @code{spam-use-crm114}, any header that matches the CRM114
23664 score format will be used. As long as you set the appropriate back end
23665 variable to t @emph{before} you load @file{spam.el}, you will be
23666 fine. @code{spam.el} will automatically add the right header to the
23667 internal Gnus list of required headers.
23669 To show the spam score in your summary buffer, add this line to your
23670 @code{gnus.el} file (note @code{spam.el} does not do that by default
23671 so it won't override any existing @code{S} formats you may have).
23674 (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-S 'spam-user-format-function-S)
23677 Now just set your summary line format to use @code{%uS}. Here's an
23678 example that formats the spam score in a 5-character field:
23681 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
23682 "%U%R %10&user-date; $%5uS %6k %B %(%4L: %*%-25,25a%) %s \n")
23685 Finally, to sort by spam status, either do it globally:
23689 gnus-show-threads nil
23690 gnus-article-sort-functions
23691 '(spam-article-sort-by-spam-status))
23694 or per group (@pxref{Sorting the Summary Buffer}).
23696 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23697 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23698 @cindex spam filtering
23699 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
23700 @cindex spam configuration examples
23703 @subsubheading Ted's setup
23705 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
23707 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
23708 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
23709 (gnus-registry-initialize)
23712 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
23713 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
23716 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
23718 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
23719 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
23720 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23721 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23722 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
23723 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
23724 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
23725 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
23726 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23727 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
23728 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23729 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
23730 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
23731 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
23732 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23733 (any "ding" "ding")
23734 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
23736 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23739 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
23741 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
23742 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
23743 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
23744 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
23746 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23748 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
23749 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
23750 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
23751 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
23752 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23754 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
23755 ((spam-autodetect . t))
23757 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
23759 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
23760 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
23762 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
23763 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
23764 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
23766 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
23768 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
23769 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
23771 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
23772 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
23773 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
23775 (gnus-ticked-mark))
23776 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
23777 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
23778 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
23780 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
23781 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
23782 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
23786 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
23787 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23789 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
23790 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
23791 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
23792 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
23793 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
23794 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
23795 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
23796 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
23797 @samp{training.spam} folders.
23799 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
23800 does most of the job for me:
23803 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
23804 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
23805 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
23806 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23807 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
23808 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
23809 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
23814 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
23816 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
23817 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
23818 bogofilter or DCC).
23820 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
23821 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
23822 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
23823 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
23824 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
23825 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
23826 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
23828 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
23829 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
23830 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
23831 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
23832 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
23833 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
23835 @item @b{Ham folders:}
23837 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
23838 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
23839 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
23840 @samp{training.spam}.
23843 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
23845 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23847 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
23848 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
23849 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
23853 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
23856 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
23857 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
23858 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
23859 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
23860 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
23862 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
23863 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
23864 @cindex spam filtering
23865 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
23866 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
23869 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
23871 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
23872 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
23873 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
23874 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
23879 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23881 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23882 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23883 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23884 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23885 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23889 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23891 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23892 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23893 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23897 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23899 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23900 customizing the group parameters or the
23901 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23902 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23903 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23907 Instead of the obsolete
23908 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23909 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23910 the same way, we promise.
23914 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23916 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23917 customizing the group parameters or the
23918 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23919 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23920 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23925 Instead of the obsolete
23926 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23927 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23928 the same way, we promise.
23932 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23933 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23934 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23935 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23936 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23938 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23939 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23940 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23941 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23943 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23944 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23945 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23946 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23947 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23948 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23950 @node BBDB Whitelists
23951 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23952 @cindex spam filtering
23953 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23954 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23957 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23959 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23960 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23961 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23962 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23963 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23964 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23965 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23969 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23971 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23972 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23973 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23974 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23975 classified as spammers.
23977 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
23978 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
23979 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
23980 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
23985 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23987 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23988 customizing the group parameters or the
23989 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23990 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23991 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23996 Instead of the obsolete
23997 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23998 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23999 the same way, we promise.
24003 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24004 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24005 @cindex spam reporting
24006 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24007 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24010 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24012 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24013 customizing the group parameters or the
24014 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24015 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24016 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24019 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24023 Instead of the obsolete
24024 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24025 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24026 same way, we promise.
24030 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24032 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24033 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24034 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24035 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24036 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
24041 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24042 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24043 @cindex spam filtering
24044 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
24047 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
24049 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24050 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
24051 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
24052 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
24053 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
24054 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24059 @subsubsection Blackholes
24060 @cindex spam filtering
24061 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
24064 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
24066 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
24067 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
24068 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
24069 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
24070 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
24071 contains outdated servers.
24073 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
24074 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
24075 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
24076 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
24077 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
24078 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
24082 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
24084 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
24088 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
24090 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
24091 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
24095 @defvar spam-use-dig
24097 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
24098 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
24102 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
24103 ham processor for blackholes.
24105 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
24106 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
24107 @cindex spam filtering
24108 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
24111 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
24113 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
24114 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
24115 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
24116 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
24117 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
24118 message is spam or ham, respectively.
24122 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
24124 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24125 the message, positively identify it as spam.
24129 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
24131 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24132 the message, positively identify it as ham.
24136 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
24137 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
24140 @subsubsection Bogofilter
24141 @cindex spam filtering
24142 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
24145 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
24147 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24150 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
24151 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
24152 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
24153 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
24154 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
24155 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
24157 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
24158 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
24161 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
24162 processing will be turned off.
24164 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
24168 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
24170 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24171 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
24172 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
24173 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
24174 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
24175 installation documents for details.
24177 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
24181 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
24182 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24183 customizing the group parameters or the
24184 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24185 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
24186 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
24190 Instead of the obsolete
24191 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24192 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24193 the same way, we promise.
24196 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
24197 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24198 customizing the group parameters or the
24199 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24200 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24201 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
24202 of non-spam messages.
24206 Instead of the obsolete
24207 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24208 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24209 the same way, we promise.
24212 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
24214 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
24215 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
24216 database directory.
24220 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
24221 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24222 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
24223 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
24224 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
24225 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
24227 @node SpamAssassin back end
24228 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
24229 @cindex spam filtering
24230 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
24233 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
24235 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
24237 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
24238 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
24239 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
24240 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
24243 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
24244 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
24245 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
24246 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
24249 You should not enable this is you use
24250 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
24254 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
24256 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
24257 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
24259 You should not enable this is you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
24263 @defvar spam-spamassassin-path
24265 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
24266 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
24267 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
24268 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
24272 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
24273 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
24274 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
24275 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
24276 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
24277 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
24278 to test this functionality.
24280 @node ifile spam filtering
24281 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
24282 @cindex spam filtering
24283 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
24286 @defvar spam-use-ifile
24288 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
24289 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
24293 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
24295 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
24296 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
24297 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
24301 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
24303 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
24304 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
24305 the default value of @samp{spam}.
24308 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
24310 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
24311 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
24315 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
24316 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24317 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
24318 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
24321 @node spam-stat spam filtering
24322 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
24323 @cindex spam filtering
24324 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
24328 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
24330 @defvar spam-use-stat
24332 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
24333 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
24337 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
24338 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24339 customizing the group parameters or the
24340 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24341 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24342 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
24346 Instead of the obsolete
24347 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24348 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24349 the same way, we promise.
24352 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
24353 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24354 customizing the group parameters or the
24355 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24356 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24357 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
24358 of non-spam messages.
24362 Instead of the obsolete
24363 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24364 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24365 the same way, we promise.
24368 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
24369 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
24370 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
24371 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
24372 @code{spam-split} are provided.
24375 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
24376 @cindex spam filtering
24380 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
24381 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
24382 installed separately.
24384 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
24385 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
24386 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
24387 mail as a spam mail or not.
24389 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
24390 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
24391 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
24393 The easiest method is to make @code{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
24394 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
24396 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
24397 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
24398 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
24399 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
24400 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
24401 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
24402 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
24403 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
24407 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
24408 spam-split-group "Junk"
24409 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
24410 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
24411 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
24414 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
24415 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
24419 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
24420 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
24421 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
24425 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
24426 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
24427 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
24428 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
24429 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
24430 database to live somewhere special, set
24431 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
24434 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
24435 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
24436 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
24437 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
24438 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
24439 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
24440 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @code{spam.el}'s
24441 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
24442 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
24443 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
24445 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
24446 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24447 customizing the group parameter or the
24448 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24449 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
24450 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
24454 Instead of the obsolete
24455 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24456 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24457 the same way, we promise.
24460 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
24461 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24462 customizing the group parameter or the
24463 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24464 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
24465 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
24470 Instead of the obsolete
24471 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24472 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24473 the same way, we promise.
24476 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
24477 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
24480 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
24481 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
24482 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
24484 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
24485 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
24486 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
24487 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
24488 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
24489 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
24491 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
24492 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
24493 @cindex spam filtering
24494 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
24495 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
24497 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
24498 incoming mail, provide the following:
24506 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
24507 "True if blackbox should be used.")
24510 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
24512 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
24513 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
24514 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
24515 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
24516 register/unregister spam and ham.
24521 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
24522 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
24523 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
24524 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
24529 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
24536 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
24537 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
24539 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
24540 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
24541 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
24542 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
24545 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
24546 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
24547 Only applicable to spam groups.")
24549 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
24550 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
24551 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
24560 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
24561 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
24563 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
24564 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
24565 variable customization.
24569 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
24571 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
24572 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
24574 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
24575 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
24581 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
24583 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
24584 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
24585 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
24588 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
24590 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
24591 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
24595 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
24597 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
24598 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
24599 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
24603 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
24605 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
24606 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
24607 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
24610 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
24612 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
24613 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
24617 @code{spam-install-backend}
24619 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
24620 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
24621 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
24624 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
24626 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
24627 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
24628 never install such a back end.
24634 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24635 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24636 @cindex Paul Graham
24637 @cindex Graham, Paul
24638 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
24639 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
24640 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
24642 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
24643 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
24644 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
24645 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
24646 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
24647 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
24648 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
24649 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
24650 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
24653 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
24654 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
24655 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
24656 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
24657 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
24658 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
24659 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
24660 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
24662 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
24663 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
24664 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
24665 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
24666 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
24669 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
24670 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
24671 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
24674 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24675 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24677 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
24678 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
24679 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
24680 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
24681 need several hundred emails in both collections.
24683 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
24684 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
24685 per mail. Use the following:
24687 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
24688 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
24689 is treated as one spam mail.
24692 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
24693 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
24694 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
24697 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
24698 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
24699 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
24700 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
24701 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
24702 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
24704 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
24705 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
24706 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
24707 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
24708 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
24711 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
24712 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
24713 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
24714 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
24717 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
24718 reset the dictionary.
24720 @defun spam-stat-reset
24721 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
24724 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
24725 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
24726 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
24727 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
24728 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
24729 only non-spam mails.
24731 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
24732 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
24733 to update the dictionary incrementally.
24736 @defun spam-stat-save
24737 Save the dictionary.
24740 @defvar spam-stat-file
24741 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
24742 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
24745 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
24746 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
24748 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
24749 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24752 (require 'spam-stat)
24756 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
24759 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
24760 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
24761 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
24762 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
24764 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
24765 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
24766 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
24767 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
24770 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24771 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24775 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
24776 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
24779 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
24780 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
24781 expression are considered potential spam.
24784 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24785 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24786 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24790 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
24791 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
24792 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
24793 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
24794 mails, when creating the dictionary!
24797 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24798 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24799 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24803 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
24804 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
24805 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
24806 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
24807 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
24811 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24812 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
24813 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24814 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24819 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24820 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24822 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
24824 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
24825 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
24826 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24829 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
24830 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
24831 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24834 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
24835 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
24836 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
24837 already been processed as non-spam.
24840 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
24841 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
24842 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
24843 been processed as spam.
24846 @defun spam-stat-save
24847 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
24848 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24851 @defun spam-stat-load
24852 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
24853 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24856 @defun spam-stat-score-word
24857 Return the spam score for a word.
24860 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
24861 Return the spam score for a buffer.
24864 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
24865 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
24866 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24869 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
24870 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24873 (require 'spam-stat)
24877 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
24880 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24881 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24882 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24883 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24884 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24885 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24886 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24887 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24888 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24889 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24890 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24891 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24892 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24893 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24896 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
24899 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24900 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24901 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24902 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
24903 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24904 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24908 @section Interaction with other modes
24913 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
24914 buffers. It is enabled with
24916 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24921 @findex gnus-dired-attach
24922 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
24923 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
24926 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
24927 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
24928 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
24932 @findex gnus-dired-print
24933 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
24934 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
24937 @node Various Various
24938 @section Various Various
24944 @item gnus-home-directory
24945 @vindex gnus-home-directory
24946 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
24947 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
24949 @item gnus-directory
24950 @vindex gnus-directory
24951 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
24952 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
24953 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
24955 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
24956 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
24957 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
24958 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
24960 @item gnus-default-directory
24961 @vindex gnus-default-directory
24962 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
24963 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
24964 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
24965 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
24966 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
24967 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
24970 @vindex gnus-verbose
24971 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
24972 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
24973 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
24974 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
24975 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
24977 @item gnus-verbose-backends
24978 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
24979 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
24980 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
24982 @item nnheader-max-head-length
24983 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
24984 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
24985 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
24986 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
24987 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
24988 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
24989 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
24990 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
24991 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
24993 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
24994 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
24995 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24996 read when doing the operation described above.
24998 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24999 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25001 @cindex invalid characters in file names
25002 @cindex characters in file names
25003 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
25004 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
25005 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
25009 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25014 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
25015 Windows (phooey) systems.
25017 @item gnus-hidden-properties
25018 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
25019 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
25020 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
25021 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
25023 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
25024 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
25025 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
25026 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
25027 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
25029 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
25030 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
25031 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
25033 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25034 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25036 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
25037 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
25038 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
25039 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
25042 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
25050 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
25051 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
25053 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
25055 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
25061 Not because of victories @*
25064 but for the common sunshine,@*
25066 the largess of the spring.
25070 but for the day's work done@*
25071 as well as I was able;@*
25072 not for a seat upon the dais@*
25073 but at the common table.@*
25078 @chapter Appendices
25081 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
25082 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
25083 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
25084 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
25085 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
25086 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
25087 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
25088 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
25089 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
25096 @cindex installing under XEmacs
25098 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
25099 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
25100 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
25101 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
25102 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
25103 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
25110 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
25111 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
25113 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
25114 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
25115 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
25116 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
25117 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
25119 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
25120 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
25121 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
25122 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
25123 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
25124 appropriate name, don't you think?)
25126 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
25127 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
25128 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
25129 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
25132 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
25133 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
25134 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
25135 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
25136 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
25137 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
25138 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
25139 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
25140 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
25144 @node Gnus Versions
25145 @subsection Gnus Versions
25147 @cindex September Gnus
25149 @cindex Quassia Gnus
25150 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
25153 @cindex Gnus versions
25155 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
25156 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
25157 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
25159 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
25160 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
25162 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
25163 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
25165 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
25166 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
25168 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
25169 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
25172 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
25174 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
25175 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
25176 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
25177 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
25178 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
25179 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
25182 @node Other Gnus Versions
25183 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
25186 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
25187 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
25188 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
25189 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
25191 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
25192 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
25193 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
25194 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
25201 What's the point of Gnus?
25203 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
25204 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
25205 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
25206 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
25207 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
25208 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
25209 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
25210 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
25211 keep track of millions of people who post?
25213 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
25214 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
25215 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
25216 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
25217 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
25218 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
25219 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
25220 every one of you to explore and invent.
25222 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
25223 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
25226 @node Compatibility
25227 @subsection Compatibility
25229 @cindex compatibility
25230 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
25231 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
25232 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
25237 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
25241 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
25244 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
25247 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
25248 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
25249 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
25250 important variables have their values copied into their global
25251 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
25252 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
25254 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
25255 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
25256 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
25257 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
25258 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
25262 @cindex highlighting
25263 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
25264 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
25265 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
25266 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
25267 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
25268 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
25271 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
25272 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
25273 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
25274 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
25276 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
25277 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
25278 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
25279 to stop doing it the old way.
25281 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
25283 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
25285 @cindex reporting bugs
25287 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
25288 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
25289 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
25291 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
25292 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
25293 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
25294 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
25299 @subsection Conformity
25301 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
25302 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
25310 There are no known breaches of this standard.
25314 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
25316 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
25317 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
25318 We do have some breaches to this one.
25324 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
25325 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
25326 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
25327 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
25328 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
25333 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
25334 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
25335 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
25336 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
25338 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
25339 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
25340 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
25342 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
25343 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
25345 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
25348 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
25349 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
25350 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
25351 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
25352 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
25355 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
25356 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
25357 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
25358 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
25360 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
25361 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
25363 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
25364 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
25365 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
25366 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
25367 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
25368 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
25369 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
25370 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
25374 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
25375 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
25380 @subsection Emacsen
25386 Gnus should work on:
25394 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
25398 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
25399 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
25402 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
25403 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
25404 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
25408 @node Gnus Development
25409 @subsection Gnus Development
25411 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
25412 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
25413 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
25414 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
25415 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
25416 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
25417 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
25418 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
25420 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
25421 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
25422 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
25423 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
25424 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
25427 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
25428 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
25429 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
25430 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
25431 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
25433 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
25434 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
25435 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
25436 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
25437 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
25438 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
25439 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
25440 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
25441 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
25442 can't be assumed to do so.
25447 @subsection Contributors
25448 @cindex contributors
25450 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
25451 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
25452 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
25453 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
25454 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
25455 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
25456 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
25457 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
25458 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
25459 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
25461 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
25467 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
25470 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
25471 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
25472 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
25473 functionality and stuff.
25476 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
25477 well as numerous other things).
25480 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
25483 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
25486 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
25489 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
25492 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
25493 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
25496 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
25499 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
25502 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
25505 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
25508 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
25511 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
25514 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
25515 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
25518 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
25521 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
25524 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
25527 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
25531 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
25534 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
25537 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
25540 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
25541 well as autoconf support.
25545 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
25546 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
25548 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
25563 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
25565 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
25569 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
25579 Alexei V. Barantsev,
25594 Massimo Campostrini,
25599 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
25600 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
25604 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
25607 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
25613 Michael Welsh Duggan,
25618 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
25622 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
25630 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
25632 Michelangelo Grigni,
25636 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
25638 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
25640 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
25647 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
25648 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
25649 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
25651 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
25661 Peter Skov Knudsen,
25662 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
25664 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
25665 Thor Kristoffersen,
25668 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
25686 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
25687 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
25694 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
25699 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
25703 John McClary Prevost,
25709 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
25714 Christian von Roques,
25717 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
25724 Philippe Schnoebelen,
25726 Randal L. Schwartz,
25740 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
25745 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
25765 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
25766 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
25767 (550kB and counting).
25769 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
25772 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
25773 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
25777 @subsection New Features
25778 @cindex new features
25781 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
25782 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
25783 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
25784 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
25785 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
25786 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
25787 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
25790 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
25791 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
25792 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
25795 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
25797 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
25802 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
25803 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
25806 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
25807 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
25810 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
25813 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
25814 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
25815 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
25818 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
25819 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
25820 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
25821 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25824 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
25825 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25828 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
25829 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
25830 (@pxref{The Active File}).
25833 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
25834 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
25837 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
25838 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
25839 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25842 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
25843 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
25844 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
25847 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
25848 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
25851 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
25852 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
25855 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
25856 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
25859 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
25860 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25863 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
25864 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
25867 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
25868 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25871 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
25874 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
25875 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
25878 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
25879 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
25882 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
25883 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25886 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
25889 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
25890 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25893 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
25897 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
25901 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
25902 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
25905 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
25911 @node September Gnus
25912 @subsubsection September Gnus
25916 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
25920 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
25925 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
25926 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
25930 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
25931 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
25935 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
25939 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
25940 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
25943 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
25947 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
25950 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
25953 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
25956 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
25960 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
25961 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
25964 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
25968 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
25972 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
25976 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
25980 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
25983 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
25984 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
25987 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
25991 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
25992 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25995 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25998 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25999 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
26000 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26003 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
26007 The Gnus cache is much faster.
26010 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
26014 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
26015 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
26018 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
26019 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
26022 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
26023 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
26026 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
26027 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
26028 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
26031 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
26032 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
26035 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
26038 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26041 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
26044 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
26047 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
26048 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
26051 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
26055 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
26058 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
26063 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
26066 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
26070 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26073 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
26077 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
26080 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
26083 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
26084 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26087 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
26088 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
26092 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
26093 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
26096 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
26100 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
26101 buffer to allow easier treatment.
26104 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
26107 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
26111 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
26115 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
26116 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
26119 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
26123 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
26124 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26127 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
26128 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26131 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
26135 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26138 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
26141 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
26147 @subsubsection Red Gnus
26149 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
26153 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
26160 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
26163 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
26164 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26167 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
26168 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
26172 Article washing status can be displayed in the
26173 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
26176 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
26179 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
26180 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
26183 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
26187 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
26188 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
26192 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
26193 Server Internals}).
26196 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
26200 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
26203 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
26204 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
26207 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
26208 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
26209 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
26212 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
26213 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
26216 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
26217 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
26220 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
26224 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
26225 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26228 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
26229 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26232 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
26236 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
26239 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
26243 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
26244 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26247 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
26248 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
26251 A new command for reading collections of documents
26252 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
26253 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
26256 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
26260 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
26261 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
26264 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
26265 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
26266 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
26269 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
26270 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
26274 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
26278 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
26282 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
26287 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
26291 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
26295 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
26296 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
26299 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
26305 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
26307 New features in Gnus 5.6:
26312 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
26313 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
26314 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
26317 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
26318 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
26319 group, which is created automatically.
26322 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
26326 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
26329 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
26330 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
26333 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
26337 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
26340 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
26341 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
26344 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
26347 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
26351 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
26352 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
26355 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
26356 control over simplification.
26359 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
26362 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
26366 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
26369 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
26372 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
26373 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
26374 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
26377 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
26378 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
26381 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
26385 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
26386 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
26389 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
26390 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
26393 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
26397 A history of where mails have been split is available.
26400 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
26403 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
26404 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
26407 A new function for citing in Message has been
26408 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
26411 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
26414 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
26418 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
26419 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
26422 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
26423 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
26426 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
26429 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
26433 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
26434 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
26436 New features in Gnus 5.8:
26441 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
26442 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
26444 If you used procmail like in
26447 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
26448 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
26449 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
26450 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
26453 this now has changed to
26457 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
26461 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
26464 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
26465 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
26468 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
26469 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
26472 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
26473 called to position point.
26476 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
26477 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
26480 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
26481 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
26484 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
26485 subtly different manner.
26488 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
26489 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
26490 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
26493 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
26498 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
26501 New features in Gnus 5.10:
26506 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
26507 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
26508 region if the region is active.
26511 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
26515 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
26516 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
26519 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
26520 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
26523 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
26525 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
26526 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
26527 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
26528 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
26529 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
26530 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
26531 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
26532 isn't save in general.
26537 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
26538 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
26539 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
26540 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
26545 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
26546 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
26547 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
26551 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
26554 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
26559 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
26560 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
26562 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
26563 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
26567 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
26568 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
26571 Retrieval of charters and control messages
26573 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
26574 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
26579 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
26580 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
26581 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
26584 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
26585 decompressed when activated.
26588 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
26589 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
26592 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
26595 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
26596 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
26599 Warn about email replies to news
26601 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
26602 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
26606 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
26607 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
26611 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
26612 opposed to old but unread messages).
26615 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
26616 Gcc articles as read.
26619 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
26622 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
26623 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
26626 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
26627 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
26630 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
26631 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
26634 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
26635 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
26638 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
26640 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
26641 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
26642 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
26643 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
26646 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
26648 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
26649 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
26650 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
26651 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
26652 the second parameter.
26654 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
26655 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
26656 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
26657 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
26658 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
26659 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
26660 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
26661 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
26662 cycle used under Unix systems.
26664 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
26668 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
26670 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
26671 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
26672 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
26673 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
26674 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
26678 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
26680 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
26681 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
26682 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
26683 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
26687 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
26689 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
26690 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
26691 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
26692 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
26694 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
26695 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
26696 message cited below.
26699 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
26702 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
26704 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
26705 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
26706 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
26707 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
26708 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
26711 (setq gnus-parameters
26713 (gnus-show-threads nil)
26714 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
26715 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
26716 (to-group . "\\1"))))
26720 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
26722 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
26726 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
26728 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
26729 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
26730 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
26731 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
26732 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
26733 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
26734 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
26735 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
26736 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
26739 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
26741 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
26742 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
26743 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
26744 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
26745 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
26746 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
26749 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
26750 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
26754 Improved anti-spam features.
26756 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
26757 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
26758 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
26759 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
26760 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
26763 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
26766 Face headers handling.
26769 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
26770 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
26773 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
26776 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
26778 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
26779 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
26780 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
26781 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
26782 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
26783 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
26784 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
26785 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
26786 when getting new mail, remove the function.
26789 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
26791 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
26792 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
26793 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
26794 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
26795 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
26796 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
26797 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
26798 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
26799 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
26800 was inserted directly.
26803 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
26805 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
26806 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
26812 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
26813 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
26814 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
26815 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
26816 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
26817 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
26818 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
26819 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
26820 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
26821 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
26822 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
26823 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
26824 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
26825 is not needed any more.
26828 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
26830 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
26831 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
26832 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
26833 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
26834 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
26838 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
26840 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
26841 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
26844 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
26846 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
26847 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
26848 lisp directory into load-path.
26850 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
26851 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
26854 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
26856 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
26859 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
26861 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
26862 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
26863 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
26864 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
26867 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
26869 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
26871 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
26872 'bbdb-complete-name)
26876 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
26878 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
26879 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
26880 local files as external parts.
26882 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
26883 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
26884 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
26885 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
26886 that support editing.
26889 @code{gnus-default-charset}
26891 The default value is determined from the
26892 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
26893 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
26894 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
26897 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
26899 Add a new format of match like
26901 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
26902 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26904 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
26906 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
26907 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26911 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
26913 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
26914 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
26915 need add those two headers too.
26918 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
26920 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
26921 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
26922 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
26925 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
26926 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
26927 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
26931 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
26933 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
26936 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
26938 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
26941 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
26943 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
26944 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
26945 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
26948 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
26950 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
26954 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
26956 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
26957 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
26958 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
26959 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
26960 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
26961 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
26962 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
26963 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
26966 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
26968 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
26969 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
26970 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
26971 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
26972 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
26975 Extended format specs.
26977 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
26978 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
26979 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
26980 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
26981 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
26982 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
26985 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
26987 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
26988 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
26989 out other articles.
26991 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
26993 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
26994 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
26995 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
26996 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26999 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
27001 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
27002 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
27003 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
27006 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
27008 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
27009 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
27010 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
27011 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
27012 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
27013 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
27014 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
27015 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
27016 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
27017 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
27018 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
27021 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
27022 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
27025 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
27026 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
27027 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
27028 message, Message Manual}).
27031 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
27032 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
27034 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
27035 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
27036 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
27038 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
27042 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
27043 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
27045 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
27046 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
27047 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
27048 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
27051 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
27054 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
27057 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
27058 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
27061 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
27063 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
27064 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
27065 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
27066 invalidate the digital signature.
27070 @subsubsection No Gnus
27073 New features in No Gnus:
27074 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
27076 @include gnus-news.texi
27082 @section The Manual
27086 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
27087 either @code{texi2dvi}
27089 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
27090 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
27092 to get what you hold in your hands now.
27094 The following conventions have been used:
27099 This is a @samp{string}
27102 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
27105 This is a @file{file}
27108 This is a @code{symbol}
27112 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
27116 (setq flargnoze "yes")
27119 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
27122 (setq flumphel 'yes)
27125 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
27126 ever get them confused.
27130 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
27131 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
27132 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
27133 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
27134 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
27135 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
27136 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
27142 @node On Writing Manuals
27143 @section On Writing Manuals
27145 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
27146 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
27147 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
27148 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
27149 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
27150 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
27153 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
27154 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
27155 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
27158 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
27159 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
27164 @section Terminology
27166 @cindex terminology
27171 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
27172 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
27173 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
27174 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
27175 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
27179 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
27180 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
27181 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
27182 not posting, and replying is not following up.
27186 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
27190 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
27195 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
27196 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
27197 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
27198 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
27199 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
27200 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
27201 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
27202 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
27203 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
27206 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
27207 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
27208 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
27209 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
27210 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
27211 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
27213 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
27214 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
27215 access the articles.
27217 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
27218 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
27219 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
27224 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
27225 default, way of getting news.
27229 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
27230 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
27235 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
27236 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
27240 A message that has been posted as news.
27243 @cindex mail message
27244 A message that has been mailed.
27248 A mail message or news article
27252 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
27257 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
27262 A line from the head of an article.
27266 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
27267 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
27269 @item @acronym{NOV}
27270 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
27271 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
27272 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
27273 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
27274 normal @sc{head} format.
27278 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
27279 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
27280 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
27281 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
27282 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
27283 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
27285 @item killed groups
27286 @cindex killed groups
27287 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
27288 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
27290 @item zombie groups
27291 @cindex zombie groups
27292 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
27295 @cindex active file
27296 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
27297 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
27298 is rather large, as you might surmise.
27301 @cindex bogus groups
27302 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
27303 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
27304 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
27307 @cindex activating groups
27308 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
27309 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
27310 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
27314 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
27315 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
27316 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
27320 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
27322 @item select method
27323 @cindex select method
27324 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
27327 @item virtual server
27328 @cindex virtual server
27329 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
27330 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
27331 whole is a virtual server.
27335 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
27336 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
27339 @item ephemeral groups
27340 @cindex ephemeral groups
27341 @cindex temporary groups
27342 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
27343 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
27344 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
27347 @cindex solid groups
27348 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
27349 group buffer are solid groups.
27351 @item sparse articles
27352 @cindex sparse articles
27353 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
27354 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
27358 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
27359 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
27363 @cindex thread root
27364 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
27365 articles in the thread.
27369 An article that has responses.
27373 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
27377 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
27378 specified by RFC 1153.
27381 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
27382 @cindex mail sorting
27383 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
27384 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
27385 incorrectly called mail filtering.
27391 @node Customization
27392 @section Customization
27393 @cindex general customization
27395 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
27396 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
27397 for some quite common situations.
27400 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
27401 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
27402 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
27403 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
27407 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
27408 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
27410 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
27411 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
27412 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
27416 @item gnus-read-active-file
27417 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
27418 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
27419 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
27420 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
27421 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
27423 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
27424 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
27425 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
27426 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
27430 @node Slow Terminal Connection
27431 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
27433 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
27434 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
27435 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
27439 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
27440 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
27441 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
27442 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
27443 horizontal and vertical recentering.
27445 @item gnus-visible-headers
27446 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
27447 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
27448 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
27449 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
27451 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
27453 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
27454 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
27455 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
27458 @item gnus-use-full-window
27459 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
27460 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
27461 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
27462 want to read them anyway.
27464 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
27465 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
27469 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
27470 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
27471 lines, which might save some time.
27475 @node Little Disk Space
27476 @subsection Little Disk Space
27479 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
27480 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
27484 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
27485 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
27486 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
27487 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
27490 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
27491 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
27492 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
27493 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
27496 @item gnus-save-killed-list
27497 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
27498 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
27499 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
27500 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
27506 @subsection Slow Machine
27507 @cindex slow machine
27509 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
27510 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
27512 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
27513 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
27515 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
27516 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
27517 summary buffer faster.
27521 @node Troubleshooting
27522 @section Troubleshooting
27523 @cindex troubleshooting
27525 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
27533 Make sure your computer is switched on.
27536 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
27537 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
27541 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
27542 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.6} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
27543 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
27546 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
27547 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
27550 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
27551 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
27552 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
27553 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
27554 something like that.
27557 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
27560 @cindex reporting bugs
27562 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
27564 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
27565 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
27566 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
27567 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
27569 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
27570 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
27571 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
27572 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
27575 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
27576 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
27577 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
27578 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
27579 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
27580 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
27582 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
27583 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
27584 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
27588 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
27589 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
27592 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
27593 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
27594 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
27595 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
27596 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
27597 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
27598 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
27599 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
27600 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
27601 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
27602 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
27603 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
27604 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
27605 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
27610 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
27611 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
27612 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
27613 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
27614 helps isolating the real problem areas).
27616 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
27617 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
27618 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
27619 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
27620 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
27621 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
27622 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
27623 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
27624 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
27625 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
27626 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
27627 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
27628 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
27631 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
27632 @cindex ding mailing list
27633 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
27634 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
27635 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
27636 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
27640 @node Gnus Reference Guide
27641 @section Gnus Reference Guide
27643 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
27644 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
27645 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
27646 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
27649 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
27650 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
27651 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
27652 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
27653 and general methods of operation.
27656 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
27657 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
27658 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
27659 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
27660 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
27661 * Group Info:: The group info format.
27662 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
27663 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
27664 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
27668 @node Gnus Utility Functions
27669 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
27670 @cindex Gnus utility functions
27671 @cindex utility functions
27673 @cindex internal variables
27675 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
27676 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
27677 Below is a list of the most common ones.
27681 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
27682 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
27683 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
27685 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
27686 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
27687 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
27689 @item gnus-group-real-name
27690 @findex gnus-group-real-name
27691 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
27694 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
27695 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
27696 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
27697 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
27699 @item gnus-get-info
27700 @findex gnus-get-info
27701 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
27703 @item gnus-group-unread
27704 @findex gnus-group-unread
27705 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
27709 @findex gnus-active
27710 The active entry for @var{group}.
27712 @item gnus-set-active
27713 @findex gnus-set-active
27714 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
27716 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27717 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27718 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
27721 @item gnus-continuum-version
27722 @findex gnus-continuum-version
27723 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
27724 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
27727 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
27728 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
27729 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
27731 @item gnus-news-group-p
27732 @findex gnus-news-group-p
27733 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
27735 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27736 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27737 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
27739 @item gnus-server-to-method
27740 @findex gnus-server-to-method
27741 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
27743 @item gnus-server-equal
27744 @findex gnus-server-equal
27745 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
27747 @item gnus-group-native-p
27748 @findex gnus-group-native-p
27749 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
27751 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
27752 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
27753 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
27755 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
27756 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
27757 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
27759 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
27760 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
27761 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
27762 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
27764 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
27765 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
27766 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
27768 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
27769 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
27770 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
27772 @item gnus-check-backend-function
27773 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
27774 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
27775 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
27778 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
27782 @item gnus-read-method
27783 @findex gnus-read-method
27784 Prompts the user for a select method.
27789 @node Back End Interface
27790 @subsection Back End Interface
27792 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
27793 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
27794 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
27795 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
27796 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
27797 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
27799 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
27800 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
27801 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
27802 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
27803 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
27804 been opened, the function should fail.
27806 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
27807 name. Take this example:
27811 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
27812 (nntp-port-number 4324))
27815 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
27816 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
27818 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
27819 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
27820 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
27822 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
27823 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
27824 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
27826 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
27827 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
27828 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
27829 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
27830 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
27831 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
27834 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
27835 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
27836 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
27837 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
27840 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
27841 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
27842 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
27843 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
27844 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
27845 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
27846 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
27847 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
27848 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
27849 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
27851 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
27852 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
27853 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
27854 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
27855 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
27856 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
27857 of numbers as long as possible.
27859 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
27860 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
27861 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
27863 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
27866 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
27869 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
27870 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
27871 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
27872 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
27873 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
27874 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
27878 @node Required Back End Functions
27879 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
27883 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
27885 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
27886 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
27887 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
27888 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
27890 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
27891 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
27892 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
27893 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
27895 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
27896 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
27897 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
27898 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
27899 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
27900 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
27901 number, do maximum fetches.
27903 Here's an example HEAD:
27906 221 1056 Article retrieved.
27907 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
27908 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
27909 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
27910 Subject: Re: Something very droll
27911 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
27912 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
27914 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
27915 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
27916 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
27920 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
27921 these in the data buffer.
27923 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
27927 head = error / valid-head
27928 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
27929 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
27930 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
27931 header = <text> eol
27935 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
27937 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
27938 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
27942 nov-buffer = *nov-line
27943 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
27944 field = <text except TAB>
27947 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
27951 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
27953 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
27954 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
27956 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
27957 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
27958 server. In fact, it should do so.
27960 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
27961 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
27964 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
27966 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
27967 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
27970 There should be no data returned.
27973 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
27975 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
27976 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
27977 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
27978 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
27980 There should be no data returned.
27983 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
27985 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
27986 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
27987 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
27988 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
27990 There should be no data returned.
27993 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
27995 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
27997 There should be no data returned.
28000 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
28002 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
28003 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
28004 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
28005 it would be nice if that were possible.
28007 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
28008 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
28009 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
28010 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
28011 into its article buffer.
28013 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
28014 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
28015 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
28016 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
28017 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
28018 on successful article retrieval.
28021 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
28023 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
28024 making @var{group} the current group.
28026 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
28029 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
28032 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
28035 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
28036 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
28037 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
28038 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
28039 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
28040 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
28041 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
28042 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
28043 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
28047 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
28048 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
28049 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
28053 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28055 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
28056 a no-op on most back ends.
28058 There should be no data returned.
28061 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
28063 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
28066 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
28069 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
28070 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
28073 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
28074 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
28075 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
28076 and the highest as 0.
28079 active-file = *active-line
28080 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
28082 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
28085 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
28086 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
28087 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
28090 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
28092 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
28093 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
28094 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
28095 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
28096 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
28097 clear if the posting could not be completed.
28099 There should be no result data from this function.
28104 @node Optional Back End Functions
28105 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
28109 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
28111 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
28112 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
28113 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
28115 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
28116 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
28117 former is in the same format as the data from
28118 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
28119 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
28122 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
28126 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
28128 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
28129 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
28130 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
28131 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
28132 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
28133 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
28134 the network resources).
28136 There should be no result data from this function.
28139 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
28141 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
28142 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
28143 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
28144 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
28145 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
28146 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
28147 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
28148 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
28150 There should be no result data from this function.
28153 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
28155 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
28156 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
28157 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
28158 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
28159 propagate the mark information to the server.
28161 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
28164 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
28167 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
28168 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
28169 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
28170 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
28171 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
28172 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
28173 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
28174 possible, not limit itself to these.
28176 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
28177 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
28178 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
28179 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
28181 An example action list:
28184 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
28185 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
28186 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
28189 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
28190 mark on (currently not used for anything).
28192 There should be no result data from this function.
28194 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
28196 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
28197 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
28198 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
28199 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
28200 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
28202 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
28203 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
28204 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
28207 There should be no result data from this function.
28210 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
28212 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
28213 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
28214 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
28215 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
28216 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
28217 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
28218 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
28219 local if that's practical.
28221 There should be no result data from this function.
28224 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
28226 The result data from this function should be a description of
28230 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
28232 description = <text>
28235 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
28237 The result data from this function should be the description of all
28238 groups available on the server.
28241 description-buffer = *description-line
28245 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
28247 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
28248 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
28249 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
28250 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
28251 in the active buffer format.
28253 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
28254 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
28255 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
28256 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
28257 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
28258 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
28259 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
28262 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28264 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
28266 There should be no return data.
28269 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
28271 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
28272 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
28273 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
28274 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
28275 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
28278 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
28281 There should be no result data returned.
28284 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
28286 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
28287 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
28289 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
28290 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
28291 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
28292 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
28293 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
28294 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
28296 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
28297 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
28300 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
28301 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
28303 There should be no data returned.
28306 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
28308 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
28309 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
28310 this function in short order.
28312 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
28313 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
28315 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
28316 article for that group.
28318 There should be no data returned.
28321 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
28323 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
28324 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
28326 There should be no data returned.
28329 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
28331 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
28332 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
28333 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
28335 There should be no data returned.
28338 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
28340 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
28341 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
28343 There should be no data returned.
28348 @node Error Messaging
28349 @subsubsection Error Messaging
28351 @findex nnheader-report
28352 @findex nnheader-get-report
28353 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
28354 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
28355 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
28356 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
28357 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
28358 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
28361 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
28363 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
28366 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
28367 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
28368 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
28369 takes one argument---the server symbol.
28371 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
28372 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
28373 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
28376 @node Writing New Back Ends
28377 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
28379 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
28380 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
28381 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
28382 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
28383 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
28386 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
28387 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
28388 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
28390 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
28391 package called @code{nnoo}.
28393 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
28394 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
28400 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
28401 parameters. For instance:
28404 (nnoo-declare nndir
28408 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
28409 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
28412 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
28413 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
28414 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
28416 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
28417 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
28418 a function in those back ends.
28421 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
28422 "Where nndir will look for groups."
28423 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
28426 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
28427 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
28428 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
28430 @item nnoo-define-basics
28431 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
28435 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
28439 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
28440 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
28441 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
28443 @item nnoo-map-functions
28444 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
28445 functions from the parent back ends.
28448 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
28449 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28450 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
28453 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
28454 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
28455 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
28456 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
28459 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
28460 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
28461 haven't already been defined.
28467 nnmh-request-newgroups)
28471 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
28472 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
28473 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
28478 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
28481 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
28482 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
28486 (require 'nnheader)
28490 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
28492 (nnoo-declare nndir
28495 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
28496 "Where nndir will look for groups."
28497 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
28499 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
28500 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
28503 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
28505 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
28506 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
28507 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
28509 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
28510 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
28512 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
28514 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
28516 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
28517 (setq nndir-directory
28518 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
28520 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
28521 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
28522 (push `(nndir-current-group
28523 ,(file-name-nondirectory
28524 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
28526 (push `(nndir-top-directory
28527 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
28529 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
28531 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
28532 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28533 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28534 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
28535 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
28539 nnmh-status-message
28541 nnmh-request-newgroups))
28547 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
28548 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
28550 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
28551 @findex gnus-declare-backend
28552 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
28553 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
28554 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
28556 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
28557 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
28562 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
28565 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
28567 The abilities can be:
28571 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
28573 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
28575 This back end supports both mail and news.
28577 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
28580 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
28581 articles and groups.
28583 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
28584 true for almost all back ends.
28585 @item prompt-address
28586 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
28587 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
28588 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
28592 @node Mail-like Back Ends
28593 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
28595 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
28596 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
28597 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
28598 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
28601 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
28602 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
28603 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
28606 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
28607 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
28610 This function takes four parameters.
28614 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
28617 @item exit-function
28618 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
28620 @item temp-directory
28621 Where the temporary files should be stored.
28624 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
28625 performed for one group only.
28628 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
28629 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
28630 find the article number assigned to this article.
28632 The function also uses the following variables:
28633 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
28634 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
28635 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
28636 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
28640 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
28641 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
28645 @node Score File Syntax
28646 @subsection Score File Syntax
28648 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
28649 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
28650 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
28652 Here's a typical score file:
28656 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
28663 BNF definition of a score file:
28666 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
28667 element = rule / atom
28668 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
28669 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
28670 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
28671 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
28673 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
28674 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
28675 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
28676 date-header = "date"
28677 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28678 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28679 score = "nil" / <integer>
28680 date = "nil" / <natural number>
28681 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
28682 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
28683 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
28684 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
28685 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28686 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28687 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
28688 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28689 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
28690 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
28691 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
28692 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
28693 exclude-files / read-only / touched
28694 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
28695 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
28696 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
28697 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
28698 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
28699 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
28700 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
28701 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
28702 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
28703 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
28704 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
28705 eval = "eval" space <form>
28706 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
28709 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
28712 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
28713 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
28714 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
28715 one looong line, then that's ok.
28717 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
28718 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
28722 @subsection Headers
28724 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
28725 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
28726 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
28727 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
28729 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
28730 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
28731 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
28732 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
28733 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
28734 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
28735 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
28737 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
28738 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
28739 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
28740 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
28741 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
28743 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
28744 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
28750 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
28751 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
28753 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
28754 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
28755 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
28756 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
28758 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
28762 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
28765 is transformed into
28768 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
28771 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
28772 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
28775 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
28778 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
28779 is slightly tricky:
28782 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
28788 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
28791 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
28797 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
28804 and is equal to the previous range.
28806 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
28807 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
28808 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
28812 range = simple-range / normal-range
28813 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
28814 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
28815 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
28816 number *[ " " contents ]
28819 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
28820 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
28821 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
28822 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
28823 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
28828 @subsection Group Info
28830 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
28831 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
28832 describes the group.
28834 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
28835 second is a more complex one:
28838 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
28840 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
28841 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
28843 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
28846 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
28847 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
28848 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
28849 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
28850 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
28851 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
28852 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
28853 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
28854 this section is about.
28856 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
28857 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
28858 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
28860 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
28863 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
28864 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
28865 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28866 group = quote <string> quote
28867 ralevel = rank / level
28868 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28869 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
28870 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28872 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
28873 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
28874 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
28875 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
28878 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
28879 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
28882 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
28883 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
28886 @item gnus-info-group
28887 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
28888 @findex gnus-info-group
28889 @findex gnus-info-set-group
28890 Get/set the group name.
28892 @item gnus-info-rank
28893 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
28894 @findex gnus-info-rank
28895 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
28896 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
28898 @item gnus-info-level
28899 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
28900 @findex gnus-info-level
28901 @findex gnus-info-set-level
28902 Get/set the group level.
28904 @item gnus-info-score
28905 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
28906 @findex gnus-info-score
28907 @findex gnus-info-set-score
28908 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
28910 @item gnus-info-read
28911 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
28912 @findex gnus-info-read
28913 @findex gnus-info-set-read
28914 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
28916 @item gnus-info-marks
28917 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
28918 @findex gnus-info-marks
28919 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
28920 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
28922 @item gnus-info-method
28923 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
28924 @findex gnus-info-method
28925 @findex gnus-info-set-method
28926 Get/set the group select method.
28928 @item gnus-info-params
28929 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
28930 @findex gnus-info-params
28931 @findex gnus-info-set-params
28932 Get/set the group parameters.
28935 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
28936 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
28938 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
28939 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
28940 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
28941 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
28944 @node Extended Interactive
28945 @subsection Extended Interactive
28946 @cindex interactive
28947 @findex gnus-interactive
28949 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
28950 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
28951 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
28954 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
28955 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
28960 The best thing to do would have been to implement
28961 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
28962 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
28963 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
28964 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
28965 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
28966 @code{interactive}.
28968 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
28973 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
28974 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
28978 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
28979 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
28980 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
28983 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
28987 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
28991 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
28997 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
28998 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
29002 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
29003 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
29004 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
29006 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
29007 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
29008 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
29009 Gnus, that's very useful.
29011 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
29012 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
29013 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
29014 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
29015 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
29016 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
29017 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
29018 following function:
29021 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
29025 (,function ,@@args))
29029 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
29030 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
29031 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
29034 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
29035 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
29036 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
29038 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
29039 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
29040 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
29043 @node Various File Formats
29044 @subsection Various File Formats
29047 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
29048 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
29052 @node Active File Format
29053 @subsubsection Active File Format
29055 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
29056 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
29059 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
29062 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
29063 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
29064 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
29065 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
29066 no.general 1000 900 y
29069 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
29072 active = *group-line
29073 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
29074 group = <non-white-space string>
29076 high-number = <non-negative integer>
29077 low-number = <positive integer>
29078 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
29081 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
29082 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
29085 @node Newsgroups File Format
29086 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
29088 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
29089 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
29090 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
29093 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
29094 Here's the definition:
29098 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
29099 group = <non-white-space string>
29101 description = <string>
29106 @node Emacs for Heathens
29107 @section Emacs for Heathens
29109 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
29110 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
29111 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
29112 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
29113 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
29114 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
29115 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
29119 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
29120 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
29125 @subsection Keystrokes
29129 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
29132 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
29135 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
29136 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
29137 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
29138 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
29139 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
29140 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
29142 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
29143 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
29144 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
29145 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
29146 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
29147 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
29148 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
29150 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
29151 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
29152 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
29153 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
29154 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
29155 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
29156 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
29158 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
29159 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
29160 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
29161 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
29162 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
29168 @subsection Emacs Lisp
29170 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
29171 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
29172 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
29173 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
29175 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
29176 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
29177 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
29178 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
29179 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
29180 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
29181 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
29184 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
29185 write the following:
29188 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
29191 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
29192 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
29193 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
29196 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
29197 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
29198 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
29199 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
29200 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
29202 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
29203 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
29204 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
29208 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
29212 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
29215 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
29216 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
29219 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
29222 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
29223 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
29226 @include gnus-faq.texi
29246 @c Local Variables:
29248 @c coding: iso-8859-1
29252 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819