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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus .
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
378 even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
726 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
727 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
728 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
729 topic parameter that looks like
735 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
738 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
743 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
744 A closely related variable is
745 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
746 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
747 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
748 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
751 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
752 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
753 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
754 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
757 @node Filtering New Groups
758 @subsection Filtering New Groups
760 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
761 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
762 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
765 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
768 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
769 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
770 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
771 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
772 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
773 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
774 subscribing these groups.
775 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
776 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
778 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
779 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
780 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
781 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
782 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
783 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
784 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
785 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
787 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
788 Yet another variable that meddles here is
789 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
790 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
791 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
792 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
793 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
794 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
795 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
796 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
798 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
799 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
802 @node Changing Servers
803 @section Changing Servers
804 @cindex changing servers
806 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
807 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
808 very flaky and you want to use another.
810 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
811 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
815 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
816 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
817 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
818 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
821 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
822 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
823 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
824 functions more than absolutely necessary.
826 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
827 @findex gnus-change-server
828 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
829 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
830 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
832 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
834 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
835 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
836 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
837 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
838 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
840 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
841 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
842 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
843 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
844 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
845 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
847 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
848 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
849 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
853 @section Startup Files
854 @cindex startup files
859 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
860 information is traditionally stored in this file.
862 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
863 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
864 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
865 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
866 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
867 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
868 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
870 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
871 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
872 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
873 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
874 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
875 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
877 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
878 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
879 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
880 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
881 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
882 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
883 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
884 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
885 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
886 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
888 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
889 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
890 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
891 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
892 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
893 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
894 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
895 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
896 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
897 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
898 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
899 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
901 @vindex gnus-startup-file
902 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
903 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
904 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
906 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
907 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
908 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
909 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
910 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
911 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
912 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
913 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
914 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
915 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
918 (defun turn-off-backup ()
919 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
921 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
922 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
925 @vindex gnus-init-file
926 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
927 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
928 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
929 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
930 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
931 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
932 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
933 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
934 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
943 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
944 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
945 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
946 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
947 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
950 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
951 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
954 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
955 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
956 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
958 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
959 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
960 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
961 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
962 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
963 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
965 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
966 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
967 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
970 @node The Active File
971 @section The Active File
973 @cindex ignored groups
975 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
976 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
977 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
979 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
980 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
981 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
982 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
983 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
984 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
985 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
988 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
989 @c if you set it to anything else.
991 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
993 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
994 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
995 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
997 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
998 you actually subscribe to.
1000 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1001 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1002 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1003 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1005 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1006 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1007 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1008 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1009 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1010 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1012 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1013 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1014 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1016 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1017 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1018 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1019 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1020 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1021 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1023 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1024 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1026 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1027 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1029 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1030 secondary select methods.
1033 @node Startup Variables
1034 @section Startup Variables
1038 @item gnus-load-hook
1039 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1040 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1041 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1042 times you start Gnus.
1044 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1045 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1046 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1048 @item gnus-startup-hook
1049 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1050 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1052 @item gnus-started-hook
1053 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1054 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1057 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1058 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1059 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1060 generating the group buffer.
1062 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1063 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1064 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1065 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1066 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1067 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1068 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1069 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1071 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1072 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1073 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1074 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1075 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1076 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1078 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1079 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1080 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1082 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1083 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1084 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1086 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1087 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1088 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1089 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1094 @node The Group Buffer
1095 @chapter The Group Buffer
1096 @cindex group buffer
1098 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1099 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1100 long as Gnus is active.
1104 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1105 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1106 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1107 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1108 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1109 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1110 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1111 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1117 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1118 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1119 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1120 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1121 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1122 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1123 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1124 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1125 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1126 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1127 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1128 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1129 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1130 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1131 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1132 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1133 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1137 @node Group Buffer Format
1138 @section Group Buffer Format
1141 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1142 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1143 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1147 @node Group Line Specification
1148 @subsection Group Line Specification
1149 @cindex group buffer format
1151 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1152 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1154 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1157 25: news.announce.newusers
1158 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1163 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1164 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1165 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1166 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1168 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1169 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1170 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1171 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1172 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1173 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1175 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1177 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1178 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1179 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1180 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1183 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1184 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1185 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1187 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1192 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1195 Whether the group is subscribed.
1198 Level of subscribedness.
1201 Number of unread articles.
1204 Number of dormant articles.
1207 Number of ticked articles.
1210 Number of read articles.
1213 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1214 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1217 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1220 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1229 Newsgroup description.
1232 @samp{m} if moderated.
1235 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1244 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1248 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1251 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1252 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1253 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1254 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1255 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1258 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1260 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1264 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1268 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1269 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1270 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1271 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1272 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1273 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1278 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1279 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1280 group, or a bogus native group.
1283 @node Group Modeline Specification
1284 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1285 @cindex group modeline
1287 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1288 The mode line can be changed by setting
1289 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1290 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1294 The native news server.
1296 The native select method.
1300 @node Group Highlighting
1301 @subsection Group Highlighting
1302 @cindex highlighting
1303 @cindex group highlighting
1305 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1306 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1307 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1308 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1309 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1311 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1315 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1316 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1317 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1318 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1319 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1320 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1321 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1322 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1323 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1324 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1326 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1327 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1328 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1329 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1330 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1331 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1334 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1336 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1343 The number of unread articles in the group.
1347 Whether the group is a mail group.
1349 The level of the group.
1351 The score of the group.
1353 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1355 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1356 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1358 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1359 topic being inserted.
1362 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1363 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1364 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1366 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1367 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1368 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1369 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1370 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1373 @node Group Maneuvering
1374 @section Group Maneuvering
1375 @cindex group movement
1377 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1378 expected, hopefully.
1384 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1385 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1386 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1393 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1394 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1398 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1399 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1403 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1404 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1408 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1409 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1410 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1414 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1415 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1416 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1419 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1425 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1426 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1427 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1432 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1433 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1434 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1438 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1439 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1440 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1443 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1444 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1445 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1446 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1450 @node Selecting a Group
1451 @section Selecting a Group
1452 @cindex group selection
1457 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1458 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1459 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1460 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1461 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1462 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1463 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1464 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1465 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1466 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1470 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1471 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1472 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1473 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1474 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1478 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1479 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1480 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1481 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1482 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1483 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1484 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1485 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1486 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1487 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1490 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1491 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1492 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1493 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1494 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1497 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1498 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1499 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1500 doing any processing of its contents
1501 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1502 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1503 manner will have no permanent effects.
1507 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1508 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1509 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1510 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1511 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1512 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1513 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1514 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1517 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1518 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1519 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1520 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1525 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1526 full summary buffer.
1529 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1532 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1537 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1538 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1539 Useful functions include:
1542 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1543 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1544 don't select the article.
1546 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1547 Select the first unread article.
1549 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1550 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1554 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1555 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1556 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1560 @node Subscription Commands
1561 @section Subscription Commands
1562 @cindex subscription
1570 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1571 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1572 Toggle subscription to the current group
1573 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1579 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1580 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1581 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1582 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1588 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1589 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1590 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1596 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1597 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1600 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1601 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1602 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1603 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1604 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1610 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1611 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1615 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1616 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1619 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1620 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1621 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1622 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1623 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1624 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1625 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1626 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1627 @file{.newsrc} file.
1631 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1641 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1642 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1643 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1644 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1645 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1646 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1651 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1652 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1653 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1657 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1658 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1659 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1661 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1662 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1663 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1664 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1665 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1666 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1673 @section Group Levels
1677 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1678 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1679 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1680 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1681 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1683 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1689 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1690 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1691 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1692 prompted for a level.
1695 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1696 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1697 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1698 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1699 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1700 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1701 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1702 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1703 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1704 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1705 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1706 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1707 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1708 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1709 reasons of efficiency.
1711 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1712 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1714 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1715 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1716 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1718 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1719 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1720 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1721 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1722 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1723 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1724 relevant valid ranges.
1726 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1727 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1728 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1729 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1730 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1731 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1734 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1735 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1736 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1739 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1740 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1741 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1742 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1745 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1746 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1747 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1748 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1750 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1751 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1752 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1753 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1754 to 5. The default is 6.
1758 @section Group Score
1763 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1764 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1765 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1768 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1769 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1770 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1771 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1772 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1773 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1774 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1775 least significant part.))
1777 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1778 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1779 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1780 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1781 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1782 action after each summary exit, you can add
1783 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1784 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1785 slow things down somewhat.
1788 @node Marking Groups
1789 @section Marking Groups
1790 @cindex marking groups
1792 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1793 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1794 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1795 bidding on those groups.
1797 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1798 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1799 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1807 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1808 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1814 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1815 Remove the mark from the current group
1816 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1820 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1821 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1825 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1826 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1830 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1831 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1835 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1836 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1837 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1840 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1842 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1843 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1844 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1845 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1846 the command to be executed.
1849 @node Foreign Groups
1850 @section Foreign Groups
1851 @cindex foreign groups
1853 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1854 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1855 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1856 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1863 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1864 @cindex making groups
1865 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1866 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1867 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1871 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1872 @cindex renaming groups
1873 Rename the current group to something else
1874 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1875 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1881 @findex gnus-group-customize
1882 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1886 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1887 @cindex renaming groups
1888 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1889 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1893 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1894 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1895 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1899 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1900 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1901 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1905 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1907 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1908 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1913 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1914 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1918 @cindex (ding) archive
1919 @cindex archive group
1920 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1921 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1922 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1923 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1924 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1925 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1926 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1930 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1932 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1933 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1934 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1935 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1939 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1941 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1942 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1943 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1947 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1948 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1950 Make a group based on some file or other
1951 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1952 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1953 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1954 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1955 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1956 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1957 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1961 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1962 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1963 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1964 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1968 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1973 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1974 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1975 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1976 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1977 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1978 @xref{Web Searches}.
1980 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1981 to a particular group by using a match string like
1982 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1985 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1986 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1987 This function will delete the current group
1988 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1989 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1990 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1991 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1992 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1996 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1997 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1998 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2002 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2003 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2004 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2007 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2010 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2011 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2012 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2013 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2014 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2015 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2019 @node Group Parameters
2020 @section Group Parameters
2021 @cindex group parameters
2023 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2024 Here's an example group parameter list:
2027 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2031 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2032 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2033 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2034 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2036 The following group parameters can be used:
2041 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2044 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2047 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2048 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2049 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2050 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2051 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2053 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2054 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2055 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2056 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2057 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2058 list address instead.
2062 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2065 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2068 It is totally ignored
2069 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2070 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2072 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2073 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2074 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2075 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2076 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2078 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2079 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2080 sending the message.
2084 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2085 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2086 of whether it has any unread articles.
2088 @item broken-reply-to
2089 @cindex broken-reply-to
2090 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2091 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2092 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2093 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2094 broken behavior. So there!
2098 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2099 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2103 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2104 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2105 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2110 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2111 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2112 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2113 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2114 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2115 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2116 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2120 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2121 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2122 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2125 @cindex total-expire
2126 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2127 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2128 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2129 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2134 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2135 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2136 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2137 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2138 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2139 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2142 @cindex score file group parameter
2143 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2144 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2145 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2148 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2149 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2150 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2151 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2154 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2155 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2156 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2157 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2160 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2161 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2165 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2168 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2173 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2174 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2175 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2179 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2180 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2181 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2183 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2184 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2185 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2186 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2187 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2188 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2189 @code{eval}ed there.
2191 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2192 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2193 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2194 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2195 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2198 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2199 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2200 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2201 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2202 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2204 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2205 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2206 like this in the group parameters:
2211 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2216 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2217 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2221 @node Listing Groups
2222 @section Listing Groups
2223 @cindex group listing
2225 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2233 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2234 List all groups that have unread articles
2235 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2236 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2237 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2238 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2245 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2246 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2247 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2248 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2249 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2250 unsubscribed groups).
2254 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2255 List all unread groups on a specific level
2256 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2257 with no unread articles.
2261 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2262 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2263 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2264 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2269 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2270 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2274 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2275 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2276 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2280 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2281 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2285 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2286 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2287 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2288 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2289 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2290 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2291 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2292 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2296 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2297 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2298 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2302 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2303 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2304 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2308 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2309 @cindex visible group parameter
2310 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2311 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2312 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2313 get the same effect.
2315 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2316 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2317 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2318 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2319 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2322 @node Sorting Groups
2323 @section Sorting Groups
2324 @cindex sorting groups
2326 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2327 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2328 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2329 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2330 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2331 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2336 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2338 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2340 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2341 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2342 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2344 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2345 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2346 Sort by group level.
2348 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2349 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2350 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2352 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2353 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2354 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2355 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2357 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2358 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2359 Sort by number of unread articles.
2361 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2362 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2363 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2368 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2369 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2373 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2374 some sorting criteria:
2378 @kindex G S a (Group)
2379 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2380 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2381 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2384 @kindex G S u (Group)
2385 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2386 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2387 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2390 @kindex G S l (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2392 Sort the group buffer by group level
2393 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2396 @kindex G S v (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2398 Sort the group buffer by group score
2399 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2402 @kindex G S r (Group)
2403 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2404 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2405 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2408 @kindex G S m (Group)
2409 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2410 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2411 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2415 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2416 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2418 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2419 commands will sort in reverse order.
2421 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2425 @kindex G P a (Group)
2426 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2427 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2428 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2431 @kindex G P u (Group)
2432 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2433 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2434 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2437 @kindex G P l (Group)
2438 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2439 Sort the groups by group level
2440 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2443 @kindex G P v (Group)
2444 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2445 Sort the groups by group score
2446 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2449 @kindex G P r (Group)
2450 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2451 Sort the groups by group rank
2452 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2455 @kindex G P m (Group)
2456 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2457 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2458 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2464 @node Group Maintenance
2465 @section Group Maintenance
2466 @cindex bogus groups
2471 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2472 Find bogus groups and delete them
2473 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2478 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2479 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2480 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2481 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2485 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2486 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2487 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2488 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2491 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2492 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2493 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2494 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2499 @node Browse Foreign Server
2500 @section Browse Foreign Server
2501 @cindex foreign servers
2502 @cindex browsing servers
2507 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2508 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2509 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2510 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2513 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2514 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2515 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2516 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2518 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2523 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2524 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2529 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2532 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2533 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2534 Enter the current group and display the first article
2535 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2538 @kindex RET (Browse)
2539 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2540 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2544 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2545 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2546 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2552 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2553 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2557 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2558 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2559 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2564 @section Exiting Gnus
2565 @cindex exiting Gnus
2567 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2572 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2573 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2574 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2575 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2579 @findex gnus-group-exit
2580 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2581 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-quit
2586 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2587 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2590 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2591 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2592 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2593 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2594 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2599 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2600 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2601 trying to customize meta-variables.
2606 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2607 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2608 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2614 @section Group Topics
2617 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2618 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2619 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2620 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2621 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2622 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2626 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2627 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2638 2: alt.religion.emacs
2641 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2643 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2644 13: comp.sources.unix
2647 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2649 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2650 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2651 is a toggling command.)
2653 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2654 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2655 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2656 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2659 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2660 the hook for the group mode:
2663 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2667 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2668 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2669 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2670 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2671 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2675 @node Topic Variables
2676 @subsection Topic Variables
2677 @cindex topic variables
2679 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2680 really neat, I think.
2682 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2683 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2684 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2697 Number of groups in the topic.
2699 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2701 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2704 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2705 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2706 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2709 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2710 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2712 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2713 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2714 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2717 @node Topic Commands
2718 @subsection Topic Commands
2719 @cindex topic commands
2721 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2722 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2723 definitions slightly.
2729 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2730 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2731 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2735 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2736 Move the current group to some other topic
2737 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2738 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2742 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
2743 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
2747 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2748 Copy the current group to some other topic
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2750 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2754 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2755 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2756 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2757 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2758 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2759 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2760 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2763 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2764 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2768 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2769 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2770 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2774 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2775 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2776 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2780 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2781 Toggle hiding empty topics
2782 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2786 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2787 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2788 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2791 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2792 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2793 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2794 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2798 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2800 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2801 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2802 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2803 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2806 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2807 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2808 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2809 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2813 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2815 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2816 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2817 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2818 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2819 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2820 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2823 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2824 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2825 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2826 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2830 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2831 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2832 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2836 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2837 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2838 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2843 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2844 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2847 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2848 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2849 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2853 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2854 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2855 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2859 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2860 @cindex group parameters
2861 @cindex topic parameters
2863 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2864 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2870 @subsection Topic Sorting
2871 @cindex topic sorting
2873 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2879 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2880 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2881 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2882 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2885 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2886 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2887 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2888 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2891 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2892 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2893 Sort the current topic by group level
2894 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2897 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2898 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2899 Sort the current topic by group score
2900 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2903 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2904 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2905 Sort the current topic by group rank
2906 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2909 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2910 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2911 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2912 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2916 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2919 @node Topic Topology
2920 @subsection Topic Topology
2921 @cindex topic topology
2924 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2930 2: alt.religion.emacs
2933 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2935 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2936 13: comp.sources.unix
2939 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2940 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2941 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2946 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2947 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2951 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2952 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2953 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2954 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2955 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2956 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2958 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2959 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2960 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2963 @node Topic Parameters
2964 @subsection Topic Parameters
2965 @cindex topic parameters
2967 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2968 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2969 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2971 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
2976 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
2977 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
2978 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
2983 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2984 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2985 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2986 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2992 2: alt.religion.emacs
2996 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2998 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2999 13: comp.sources.unix
3003 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3004 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3005 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3006 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3007 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3008 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3010 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3011 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3012 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3013 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3014 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3016 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3017 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3018 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3019 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3020 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3021 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3022 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3023 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3026 @node Misc Group Stuff
3027 @section Misc Group Stuff
3030 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3031 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3032 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3033 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3040 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3041 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3042 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3046 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3047 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3048 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3052 @findex gnus-group-mail
3053 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3057 Variables for the group buffer:
3061 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3062 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3063 is called after the group buffer has been
3066 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3067 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3068 is called after the group buffer is
3069 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3072 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3073 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3074 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3075 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3077 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3078 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3079 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3080 whether they are empty or not.
3085 @node Scanning New Messages
3086 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3087 @cindex new messages
3088 @cindex scanning new news
3094 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3095 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3096 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3097 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3098 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3099 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3104 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3105 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3106 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3107 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3108 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3109 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3110 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3112 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3113 @cindex activating groups
3115 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3116 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3121 @findex gnus-group-restart
3122 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3123 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3124 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3128 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3129 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3131 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3132 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3136 @node Group Information
3137 @subsection Group Information
3138 @cindex group information
3139 @cindex information on groups
3146 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3147 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3150 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3151 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3152 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3153 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3154 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3155 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3156 for fetching the file.
3158 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3159 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3163 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3165 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3166 @cindex describing groups
3167 @cindex group description
3168 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3169 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3170 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3174 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3175 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3176 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3183 @findex gnus-version
3184 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3188 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3189 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3192 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3196 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3200 @node Group Timestamp
3201 @subsection Group Timestamp
3203 @cindex group timestamps
3205 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3206 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3207 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3210 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3213 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3215 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3216 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3219 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3220 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3223 This will result in lines looking like:
3226 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3227 0: custom 19961002T012713
3230 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3231 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3235 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3236 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3241 @subsection File Commands
3242 @cindex file commands
3248 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3249 @vindex gnus-init-file
3250 @cindex reading init file
3251 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3252 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3256 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3257 @cindex saving .newsrc
3258 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3259 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3260 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3263 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3264 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3265 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3270 @node The Summary Buffer
3271 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3272 @cindex summary buffer
3274 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3275 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3277 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3278 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3280 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3283 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3284 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3285 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3286 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3287 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3288 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3289 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3290 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3291 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3292 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3293 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3294 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3295 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3296 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3297 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3298 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3299 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3300 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3301 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3302 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3303 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3304 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3305 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3306 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3307 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3308 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3309 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3310 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3311 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3315 @node Summary Buffer Format
3316 @section Summary Buffer Format
3317 @cindex summary buffer format
3321 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3322 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3323 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3329 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3330 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3331 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3332 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3335 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3336 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3337 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3338 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3339 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3340 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3341 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3342 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3343 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3344 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3345 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3348 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3349 'mail-extract-address-components)
3352 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3353 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3354 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3355 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3358 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3359 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3361 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3362 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3363 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3364 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3365 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3367 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3369 The following format specification characters are understood:
3375 Subject string. List identifiers stripped, @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3377 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3378 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3379 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3381 Full @code{From} header.
3383 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3385 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3386 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3388 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3389 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3390 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3391 may be more thorough.
3393 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3396 Number of lines in the article.
3398 Number of characters in the article.
3400 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3402 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3403 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3405 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3406 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3408 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3409 for adopted articles.
3411 One space for each thread level.
3413 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3418 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3419 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3423 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3425 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3426 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3427 default level. If the difference between
3428 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3429 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3437 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3439 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3445 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3446 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3448 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3449 article has any children.
3455 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3456 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3457 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3458 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3459 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3460 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3463 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3464 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3465 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3466 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3467 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3468 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3470 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3471 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3473 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3476 @node To From Newsgroups
3477 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3481 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3482 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3483 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3484 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3485 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3489 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3490 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3491 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3495 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3496 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3499 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3500 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3503 @findex gnus-extra-header
3504 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3505 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3506 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3509 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3513 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3514 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3515 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3516 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3517 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3518 headers are used instead.
3522 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3523 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3524 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3525 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3528 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3529 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3530 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3531 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3533 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3536 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3538 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3539 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3540 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3541 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3545 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3546 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3553 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3554 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3557 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3558 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3560 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3561 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3562 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3563 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3565 Here are the elements you can play with:
3571 Unprefixed group name.
3573 Current article number.
3575 Current article score.
3579 Number of unread articles in this group.
3581 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3584 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3585 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3586 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3587 and no unselected ones.
3589 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3590 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3592 Subject of the current article.
3594 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3596 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3598 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3600 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3602 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3604 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3608 @node Summary Highlighting
3609 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3613 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3614 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3615 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3616 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3617 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3619 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3620 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3621 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3622 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3624 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3625 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3626 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3627 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3629 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3630 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3631 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3632 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
3633 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
3634 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
3637 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3638 ((> score default) . bold))
3640 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3641 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
3645 @node Summary Maneuvering
3646 @section Summary Maneuvering
3647 @cindex summary movement
3649 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3650 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3652 None of these commands select articles.
3657 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3658 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3659 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3660 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3661 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3665 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3666 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3667 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3668 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3669 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3674 @kindex G j (Summary)
3675 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3676 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3677 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3680 @kindex G g (Summary)
3681 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3682 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3683 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3686 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3687 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3688 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3689 to the group buffer.
3691 Variables related to summary movement:
3695 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3696 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3697 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3698 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3699 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3700 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3701 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3702 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3703 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3704 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3705 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3706 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3707 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3708 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3710 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3711 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3712 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3713 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3714 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3715 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3716 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3718 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3720 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3721 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3722 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3723 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3724 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3726 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3727 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3728 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3729 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3730 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3731 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3732 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3733 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3736 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3737 the given number of lines from the top.
3742 @node Choosing Articles
3743 @section Choosing Articles
3744 @cindex selecting articles
3747 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3748 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3752 @node Choosing Commands
3753 @subsection Choosing Commands
3755 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3756 and they all select and display an article.
3760 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3761 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3762 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3763 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3768 @kindex G n (Summary)
3769 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3770 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3771 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3776 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3777 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3778 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3783 @kindex G N (Summary)
3784 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3785 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3790 @kindex G P (Summary)
3791 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3792 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3795 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3796 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3797 Go to the next article with the same subject
3798 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3801 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3802 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3803 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3804 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3808 @kindex G f (Summary)
3810 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3811 Go to the first unread article
3812 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3816 @kindex G b (Summary)
3818 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3819 Go to the article with the highest score
3820 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3825 @kindex G l (Summary)
3826 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3827 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3830 @kindex G o (Summary)
3831 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3833 @cindex article history
3834 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3835 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3836 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3837 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3838 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3839 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3843 @node Choosing Variables
3844 @subsection Choosing Variables
3846 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3849 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3850 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3851 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3852 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3853 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3854 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3856 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3857 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3858 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3859 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3861 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3862 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3863 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3864 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3865 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3866 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3867 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3868 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3869 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3870 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3871 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3872 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3873 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3874 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3879 @node Paging the Article
3880 @section Scrolling the Article
3881 @cindex article scrolling
3886 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3887 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3888 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3889 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3890 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3893 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3894 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3895 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3898 @kindex RET (Summary)
3899 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3900 Scroll the current article one line forward
3901 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3904 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3905 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3906 Scroll the current article one line backward
3907 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3911 @kindex A g (Summary)
3913 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3914 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3915 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3916 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3917 the way it came from the server.
3922 @kindex A < (Summary)
3923 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3924 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3925 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3930 @kindex A > (Summary)
3931 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3932 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3936 @kindex A s (Summary)
3938 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3939 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3940 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3944 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3945 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3950 @node Reply Followup and Post
3951 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3954 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3955 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3959 @node Summary Mail Commands
3960 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3962 @cindex composing mail
3964 Commands for composing a mail message:
3970 @kindex S r (Summary)
3972 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3973 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3974 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3975 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3976 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3981 @kindex S R (Summary)
3982 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3983 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3984 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3985 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3986 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3989 @kindex S w (Summary)
3990 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3991 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3992 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3993 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3994 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3997 @kindex S W (Summary)
3998 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3999 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4000 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4001 the process/prefix convention.
4004 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4005 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4006 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4007 Forward the current article to some other person
4008 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4009 headers of the forwarded article.
4014 @kindex S m (Summary)
4015 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4016 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4017 Send a mail to some other person
4018 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4021 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4022 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4023 @cindex bouncing mail
4024 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4025 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4026 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4027 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4028 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4029 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4030 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4031 very well fail, though.
4034 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4035 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4036 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4037 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4038 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4039 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4040 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4041 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4042 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4043 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4045 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4046 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4047 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4048 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4049 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4051 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4052 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4055 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4056 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4057 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4058 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4059 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4062 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4063 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4064 @cindex crossposting
4065 @cindex excessive crossposting
4066 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4067 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4069 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4070 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4071 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4072 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4073 command understands the process/prefix convention
4074 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4078 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4081 @node Summary Post Commands
4082 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4084 @cindex composing news
4086 Commands for posting a news article:
4092 @kindex S p (Summary)
4093 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4094 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4095 Post an article to the current group
4096 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4101 @kindex S f (Summary)
4102 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4103 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4104 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4108 @kindex S F (Summary)
4110 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4111 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4112 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4113 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4114 process/prefix convention.
4117 @kindex S n (Summary)
4118 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4119 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4120 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4123 @kindex S N (Summary)
4124 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4125 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4126 message through mail and include the original message
4127 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4128 the process/prefix convention.
4131 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4132 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4133 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4134 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4135 headers of the forwarded article.
4138 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4139 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4141 @cindex making digests
4142 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4143 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4144 process/prefix convention.
4147 @kindex S u (Summary)
4148 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4149 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4150 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4151 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4154 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4157 @node Canceling and Superseding
4158 @section Canceling Articles
4159 @cindex canceling articles
4160 @cindex superseding articles
4162 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4163 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4165 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4167 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4169 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4170 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4171 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4172 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4173 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4174 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4176 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4177 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4180 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4181 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4182 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4184 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4185 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4186 your original article.
4188 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4190 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4191 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4192 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4195 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4196 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4197 have posted almost the same article twice.
4199 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4200 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4201 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4202 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4203 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4204 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4205 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4206 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4207 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4208 canceled/superseded.
4210 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4213 @node Marking Articles
4214 @section Marking Articles
4215 @cindex article marking
4216 @cindex article ticking
4219 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4221 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4222 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4223 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4225 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4228 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4229 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4230 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4234 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4238 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4239 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4240 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4244 @node Unread Articles
4245 @subsection Unread Articles
4247 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4252 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4253 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4255 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4256 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4257 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4258 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4259 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4263 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4264 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4266 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4267 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4268 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4271 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4272 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4274 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4279 @subsection Read Articles
4280 @cindex expirable mark
4282 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4287 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4288 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4289 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4292 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4293 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4296 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4297 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4298 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4301 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4302 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4305 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4306 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4309 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4310 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4313 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4314 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4317 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4318 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4321 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4322 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4325 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4326 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4330 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4331 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4332 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4336 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4337 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4339 One more special mark, though:
4343 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4344 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4346 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4347 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4348 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4349 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4355 @subsection Other Marks
4356 @cindex process mark
4359 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4365 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4366 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4367 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4368 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4369 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4372 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4373 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4374 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4375 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4378 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4379 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4380 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4383 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4384 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4385 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4386 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4389 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4390 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4391 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4392 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4393 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4396 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4397 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4398 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4399 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4400 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4401 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4405 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4406 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4407 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4409 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4410 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4411 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4415 @subsection Setting Marks
4416 @cindex setting marks
4418 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4423 @kindex M c (Summary)
4424 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4425 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4426 @cindex mark as unread
4427 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4428 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4434 @kindex M t (Summary)
4435 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4436 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4437 @xref{Article Caching}.
4442 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4443 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4444 Mark the current article as dormant
4445 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4449 @kindex M d (Summary)
4451 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4452 Mark the current article as read
4453 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4457 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4458 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4459 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4464 @kindex M k (Summary)
4465 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4466 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4467 and then select the next unread article
4468 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4472 @kindex M K (Summary)
4473 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4474 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4475 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4476 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4479 @kindex M C (Summary)
4480 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4481 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4482 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4485 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4487 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4488 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4491 @kindex M H (Summary)
4492 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4493 Catchup the current group to point
4494 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4497 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4498 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4499 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4500 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4503 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4504 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4505 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4506 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4510 @kindex M e (Summary)
4512 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4513 Mark the current article as expirable
4514 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4517 @kindex M b (Summary)
4518 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4519 Set a bookmark in the current article
4520 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4523 @kindex M B (Summary)
4524 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4525 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4526 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4529 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4531 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4532 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4535 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4536 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4537 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4538 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4541 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4542 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4543 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4544 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4545 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4548 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4549 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4550 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4551 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4552 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4553 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4554 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4555 The default is @code{t}.
4558 @node Generic Marking Commands
4559 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4561 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4562 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4563 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4564 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
4565 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4568 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4569 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4572 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4573 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4574 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4575 to list in this manual.
4577 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4578 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4579 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
4580 article, you could say something like:
4583 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4584 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4585 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4591 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4592 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4596 @node Setting Process Marks
4597 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4598 @cindex setting process marks
4605 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4606 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4607 Mark the current article with the process mark
4608 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4609 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4613 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4614 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4615 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4616 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4619 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4620 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4621 Remove the process mark from all articles
4622 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4625 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4626 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4627 Invert the list of process marked articles
4628 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4631 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4633 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4634 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4637 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4639 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4642 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4644 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4645 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4648 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4650 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4651 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4654 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4656 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4657 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4660 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4662 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4665 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4666 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4667 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4668 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4671 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4673 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4676 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4678 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4679 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4682 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4683 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4684 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4685 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4688 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4689 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4690 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4691 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4694 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4695 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4696 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4697 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4706 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4707 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4708 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4711 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4712 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4713 additional articles.
4719 @kindex / / (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4721 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4722 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4725 @kindex / a (Summary)
4726 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4727 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4728 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4731 @kindex / x (Summary)
4732 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
4733 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
4734 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
4735 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4739 @kindex / u (Summary)
4741 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4742 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4743 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4744 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4745 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4748 @kindex / m (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4750 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4751 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4754 @kindex / t (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4756 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4758 articles younger than that number of days.
4761 @kindex / n (Summary)
4762 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4763 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4764 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4765 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4768 @kindex / w (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4770 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4771 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4775 @kindex / v (Summary)
4776 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4777 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4778 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4782 @kindex M S (Summary)
4783 @kindex / E (Summary)
4784 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4785 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4786 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4789 @kindex / D (Summary)
4790 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4791 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4792 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4795 @kindex / * (Summary)
4796 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4797 Include all cached articles in the limit
4798 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4801 @kindex / d (Summary)
4802 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4803 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4804 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4807 @kindex / M (Summary)
4808 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4809 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4812 @kindex / T (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4814 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4817 @kindex / c (Summary)
4818 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4819 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4820 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4823 @kindex / C (Summary)
4824 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4825 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4826 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4827 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4835 @cindex article threading
4837 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4838 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4839 hierarchical fashion.
4841 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4842 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4843 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4844 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4845 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4846 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4847 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4849 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4853 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4856 A tree-like article structure.
4859 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4862 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4863 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4864 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4865 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4866 called loose threads.
4868 @item thread gathering
4869 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4871 @item sparse threads
4872 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4873 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4879 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4880 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4884 @node Customizing Threading
4885 @subsection Customizing Threading
4886 @cindex customizing threading
4889 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4890 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4891 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4892 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4897 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4900 @cindex loose threads
4903 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4904 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4905 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4906 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4907 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4908 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4910 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4911 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4912 There are four possible values:
4916 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4917 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4918 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4919 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4920 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4925 @cindex adopting articles
4930 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4931 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4932 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4933 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4936 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4937 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4938 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4939 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4940 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4941 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4942 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4945 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4946 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4947 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4951 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4952 display them after one another.
4955 Don't gather loose threads.
4958 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4959 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4960 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4961 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4962 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4963 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4964 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4965 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4966 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4967 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4968 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4970 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4971 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4972 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4975 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4976 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4977 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4978 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4979 simplification is used.
4981 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4982 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4983 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4984 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4986 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4988 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4994 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4995 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4996 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4997 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5002 (mapconcat 'identity
5003 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5005 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5008 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5011 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5012 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5013 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5014 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5015 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5016 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5018 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5021 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5022 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5023 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5025 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5026 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5029 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5030 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5031 Remove excessive whitespace.
5034 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5037 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5038 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5039 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5040 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5041 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5042 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5043 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5044 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5046 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5047 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5048 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5049 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5050 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5051 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5052 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5053 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5054 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5058 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5059 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5060 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5061 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5063 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5064 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5065 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5068 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5072 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5073 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5079 @node Filling In Threads
5080 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5083 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5084 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5085 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5086 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5087 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5088 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5089 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5090 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5091 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5092 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5093 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5094 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5096 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5097 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5098 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5100 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5101 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5102 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5103 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5104 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5105 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5106 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5107 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5108 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5109 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5110 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5111 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5112 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5113 @code{nil} by default.
5118 @node More Threading
5119 @subsubsection More Threading
5122 @item gnus-show-threads
5123 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5124 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5125 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5126 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5127 slower and more awkward.
5129 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5130 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5131 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5134 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5135 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5136 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5137 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5138 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5139 threads are expunged.
5141 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5142 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5143 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5146 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5147 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5148 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5149 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5150 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5153 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5154 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5155 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5158 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5159 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5160 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5161 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5162 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5163 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5164 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to. Setting
5165 this variable to an alternate value
5166 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5167 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5168 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5173 @node Low-Level Threading
5174 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5178 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5179 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5180 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5182 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5183 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5184 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5185 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5186 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5187 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5188 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5189 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5190 meaningful. Here's one example:
5193 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5195 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5196 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5198 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5200 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5207 @node Thread Commands
5208 @subsection Thread Commands
5209 @cindex thread commands
5215 @kindex T k (Summary)
5216 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5218 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5220 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5225 @kindex T l (Summary)
5226 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5228 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5229 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5232 @kindex T i (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5234 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5235 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5238 @kindex T # (Summary)
5239 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5240 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5241 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5244 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5245 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5246 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5247 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5250 @kindex T T (Summary)
5251 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5252 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5255 @kindex T s (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5257 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5258 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5261 @kindex T h (Summary)
5262 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5263 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5266 @kindex T S (Summary)
5267 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5268 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5271 @kindex T H (Summary)
5272 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5273 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5276 @kindex T t (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5278 Re-thread the current article's thread
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5280 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5283 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5285 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5290 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5291 understand the numeric prefix.
5296 @kindex T n (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5298 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5301 @kindex T p (Summary)
5302 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5303 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5306 @kindex T d (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5308 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5311 @kindex T u (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5313 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5316 @kindex T o (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5318 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5321 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5322 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5323 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5324 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5325 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5326 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5327 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5328 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5329 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5330 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5331 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5332 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5339 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5340 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5341 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5342 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5343 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5344 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5345 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5346 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5347 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5348 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5349 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5351 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5352 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5353 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5354 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5355 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5357 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5358 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5359 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5361 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5362 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5363 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5364 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5365 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5366 ascending article order.
5368 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5369 by number, you could do something like:
5372 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5373 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5374 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5375 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5378 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5379 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5380 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5381 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5382 which the articles arrived.
5384 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5388 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5390 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5391 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5394 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5395 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5396 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5397 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5400 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5401 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5402 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5403 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5404 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5405 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5406 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5407 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5408 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5409 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5410 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5411 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5412 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5414 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5418 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5419 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5420 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5425 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5426 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5427 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5428 @cindex article pre-fetch
5431 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5432 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5433 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5434 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5435 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5437 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5438 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5440 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5441 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5442 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5443 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5444 connection is blocked.
5446 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5447 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5448 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5449 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5451 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5452 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5453 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5454 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5457 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5460 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5461 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5462 happen automatically.
5464 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5465 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5466 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5467 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5468 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5469 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5470 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5472 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5473 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5474 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5475 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5476 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5477 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5478 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5479 data structure as the only parameter.
5481 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5484 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5485 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5486 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5487 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5490 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5493 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5494 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5495 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5497 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5498 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5499 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5500 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5504 Remove articles when they are read.
5507 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5510 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5512 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5513 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5514 @c from the next group.
5517 @node Article Caching
5518 @section Article Caching
5519 @cindex article caching
5522 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5523 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5524 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5525 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5526 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5528 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5530 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5531 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5532 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5533 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5534 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5535 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5536 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5537 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5539 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5540 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5541 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5542 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5543 as dormant, and don't worry.
5545 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5547 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5548 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5549 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5550 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5551 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5552 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5553 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5554 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5555 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5556 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5558 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5559 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5560 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5561 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5562 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5563 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5564 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5565 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5566 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5567 not then be downloaded by this command.
5569 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5570 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5571 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5572 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5573 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5574 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5576 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5577 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5578 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5579 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5580 variables, the group is not cached.
5582 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5583 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5584 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5585 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5586 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5587 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5588 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5589 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5590 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5594 @node Persistent Articles
5595 @section Persistent Articles
5596 @cindex persistent articles
5598 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5599 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5600 useful in my opinion.
5602 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5603 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5604 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5605 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5606 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5607 the expiry going on at the news server.
5609 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5610 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5611 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5617 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5618 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5621 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5622 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5623 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5624 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5628 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5630 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5631 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5632 interested in persistent articles:
5635 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5639 @node Article Backlog
5640 @section Article Backlog
5642 @cindex article backlog
5644 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5645 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5646 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5647 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5648 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5649 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5650 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5651 increase memory usage some.
5653 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5654 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5655 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5656 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5657 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5658 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5659 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5661 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5664 @node Saving Articles
5665 @section Saving Articles
5666 @cindex saving articles
5668 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5669 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5670 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5671 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5672 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5674 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5675 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5676 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5678 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5679 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5680 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5681 deleted before saving.
5687 @kindex O o (Summary)
5689 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5690 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5691 Save the current article using the default article saver
5692 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5695 @kindex O m (Summary)
5696 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5697 Save the current article in mail format
5698 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5701 @kindex O r (Summary)
5702 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5703 Save the current article in rmail format
5704 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5707 @kindex O f (Summary)
5708 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5709 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5710 Save the current article in plain file format
5711 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5714 @kindex O F (Summary)
5715 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5716 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5717 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5720 @kindex O b (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5722 Save the current article body in plain file format
5723 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5726 @kindex O h (Summary)
5727 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5728 Save the current article in mh folder format
5729 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5732 @kindex O v (Summary)
5733 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5734 Save the current article in a VM folder
5735 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5738 @kindex O p (Summary)
5739 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5740 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5741 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5744 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5745 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5746 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5747 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5748 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5749 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5750 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5751 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5752 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5753 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5754 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5755 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5759 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5760 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5761 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5762 functions below, or you can create your own.
5766 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5767 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5768 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5769 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5770 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5771 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5772 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5774 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5775 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5776 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5777 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5778 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5779 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5781 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5782 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5783 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5784 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5785 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5786 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5787 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5789 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5790 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5791 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5792 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5793 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5795 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5796 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5797 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5798 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5799 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5802 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5803 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5804 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5805 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5806 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5808 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5809 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5810 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5811 reader to use this setting.
5814 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5815 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5816 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5817 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5820 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5821 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5822 available functions that generate names:
5826 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5827 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5828 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5830 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5831 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5832 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5834 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5835 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5836 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5838 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5839 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5840 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5843 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5844 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5845 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5846 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5847 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5851 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5852 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5853 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5854 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5857 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5858 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5859 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5860 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5861 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5862 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5863 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5864 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5865 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5867 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5868 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5869 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5870 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5872 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5873 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5874 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5877 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5878 lots of mail groups called things like
5879 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5880 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5881 following will do just that:
5884 (defun my-save-name (group)
5885 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5886 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5888 (setq gnus-split-methods
5889 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5894 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5895 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5896 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5897 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5898 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5899 all the files in the top level directory
5900 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5901 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5902 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5903 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5905 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5906 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5907 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5908 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5909 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5912 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5916 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5917 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5920 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5921 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5922 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5923 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5926 @node Decoding Articles
5927 @section Decoding Articles
5928 @cindex decoding articles
5930 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5931 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5934 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5935 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5936 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5937 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5938 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5939 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5943 @cindex article series
5944 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5945 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5946 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5947 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5948 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5950 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5951 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5952 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5954 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5955 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5956 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5958 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5959 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5960 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5963 @node Uuencoded Articles
5964 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5966 @cindex uuencoded articles
5971 @kindex X u (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5973 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5974 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5977 @kindex X U (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5979 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5980 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5983 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5985 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5988 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5989 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5990 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5991 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5995 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5996 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5997 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5998 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5999 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6001 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6002 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6003 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6004 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6007 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6008 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6009 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6010 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6011 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6012 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6016 @node Shell Archives
6017 @subsection Shell Archives
6019 @cindex shell archives
6020 @cindex shared articles
6022 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6023 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6024 some commands to deal with these:
6029 @kindex X s (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6031 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6034 @kindex X S (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6036 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6039 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6040 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6041 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6044 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6045 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6046 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6047 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6051 @node PostScript Files
6052 @subsection PostScript Files
6058 @kindex X p (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6060 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6063 @kindex X P (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6065 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6066 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6069 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6070 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6071 View the current PostScript series
6072 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6075 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6076 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6077 View and save the current PostScript series
6078 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6083 @subsection Other Files
6087 @kindex X o (Summary)
6088 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6089 Save the current series
6090 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6093 @kindex X b (Summary)
6094 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6095 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6096 doesn't really work yet.
6100 @node Decoding Variables
6101 @subsection Decoding Variables
6103 Adjective, not verb.
6106 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6107 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6108 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6112 @node Rule Variables
6113 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6114 @cindex rule variables
6116 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6117 variables are of the form
6120 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6127 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6128 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6130 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6131 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6134 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6135 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6138 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6139 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6140 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6141 user and default view rules.
6143 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6144 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6145 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6150 @node Other Decode Variables
6151 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6154 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6156 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6157 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6158 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6159 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6160 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6164 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6165 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6168 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6169 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6170 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6173 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6174 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6175 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6176 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6177 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6180 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6181 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6182 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6184 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6185 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6186 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6187 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6188 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6191 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6192 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6193 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6195 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6196 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6197 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6198 looking for files to display.
6200 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6201 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6202 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6205 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6206 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6207 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6210 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6211 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6212 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6215 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6216 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6217 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6220 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6221 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6222 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6223 decoded articles as unread.
6225 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6226 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6227 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6228 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6230 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6231 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6232 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6234 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6235 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6237 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6238 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6239 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6240 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6242 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6243 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6244 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6245 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6246 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6247 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6248 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6249 simply dropped them.
6254 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6255 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6259 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6260 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6261 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6262 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6263 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6264 for you when you post the article.
6266 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6267 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6268 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6269 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6271 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6272 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6273 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6274 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6275 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6276 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6277 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6279 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6280 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6281 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6282 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6283 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6284 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6285 Default is @code{t}.
6291 @subsection Viewing Files
6292 @cindex viewing files
6293 @cindex pseudo-articles
6295 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6296 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6297 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6298 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6299 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6300 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6301 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6303 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6304 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6305 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6306 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6308 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6309 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6310 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6312 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6313 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6314 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6315 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6316 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6318 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6319 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6320 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6321 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6322 a list of parameters to that command.
6324 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6325 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6326 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6328 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6329 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6330 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6333 @node Article Treatment
6334 @section Article Treatment
6336 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6337 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6338 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6339 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6340 these articles easier.
6343 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6344 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6345 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6346 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6347 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6348 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6349 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6350 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6354 @node Article Highlighting
6355 @subsection Article Highlighting
6356 @cindex highlighting
6358 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6359 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6364 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6365 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6366 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6367 Do much highlighting of the current article
6368 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6369 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6372 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6373 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6374 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6375 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6376 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6377 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6378 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6379 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6380 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6381 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6382 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6383 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6386 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6387 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6388 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6390 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6393 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6395 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6396 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6397 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6399 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6400 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6401 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6403 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6404 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6405 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6407 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6408 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6409 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6410 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6411 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6412 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6414 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6415 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6416 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6418 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6419 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6420 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6422 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6423 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6424 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6425 that it's a citation.
6427 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6428 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6429 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6431 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6432 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6433 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6435 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6436 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6437 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6438 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6444 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6445 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6446 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6447 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6448 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6449 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6450 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6451 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6456 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6459 @node Article Fontisizing
6460 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6462 @cindex article emphasis
6464 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6465 @kindex W e (Summary)
6466 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6467 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6468 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6469 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6471 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6472 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6473 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6474 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6475 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6476 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6477 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6478 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6482 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6483 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6484 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6493 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6494 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6495 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6496 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6497 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6498 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6499 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6500 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6501 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6502 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6503 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6504 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6505 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6507 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6508 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6509 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6513 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6516 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
6518 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
6519 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
6520 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
6521 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
6523 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6526 @node Article Hiding
6527 @subsection Article Hiding
6528 @cindex article hiding
6530 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6531 too much cruft in most articles.
6536 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6537 @findex gnus-article-hide
6538 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6539 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6540 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6543 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6545 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6549 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6551 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6552 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6555 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6557 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6561 @kindex W W l (Summary)
6562 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
6563 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6564 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. Theese
6565 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
6566 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
6570 @item gnus-list-identifiers
6571 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6572 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
6573 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
6578 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6579 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6580 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6581 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6582 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6583 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6584 articles that have signatures in them do:
6586 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6588 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6590 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6591 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6593 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6596 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6601 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6602 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6603 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6604 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6607 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6608 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6611 @cindex stripping advertisments
6612 @cindex advertisments
6613 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6614 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6615 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6616 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6617 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6618 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6619 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6620 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6621 signature should be removed.
6624 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6625 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6626 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6627 customizing the hiding:
6631 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6632 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6633 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6634 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6635 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6636 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6637 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6642 Starting point of the hidden text.
6644 Ending point of the hidden text.
6646 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6648 Number of lines of hidden text.
6651 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6652 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6653 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6658 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6659 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6661 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6662 following two variables:
6665 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6666 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6667 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6668 50), hide the cited text.
6670 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6671 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6672 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6677 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6679 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6680 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6681 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6682 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6686 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6687 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6688 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6690 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6691 citation customization.
6693 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6697 @node Article Washing
6698 @subsection Article Washing
6700 @cindex article washing
6702 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6703 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6705 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6706 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6712 @kindex W l (Summary)
6713 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6714 Remove page breaks from the current article
6715 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6719 @kindex W r (Summary)
6720 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6721 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6722 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6723 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6724 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6725 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6727 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6728 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6729 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6730 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6733 @kindex W t (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6735 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6736 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6739 @kindex W v (Summary)
6740 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6741 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6742 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6745 @kindex W o (Summary)
6746 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6747 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6750 @kindex W d (Summary)
6751 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6752 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6754 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6756 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6757 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6758 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6759 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6763 @kindex W w (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6765 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6767 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6771 @kindex W Q (Summary)
6772 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6773 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6776 @kindex W C (Summary)
6777 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
6778 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6779 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6782 @kindex W c (Summary)
6783 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6784 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6785 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6786 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6787 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6790 @kindex W q (Summary)
6791 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6792 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6793 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6794 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6795 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6796 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6797 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6798 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6801 @kindex W f (Summary)
6803 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6804 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6805 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6806 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6812 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6813 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6814 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6815 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6816 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6817 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6818 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6819 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6820 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6821 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6822 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6823 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6824 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6825 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6829 @kindex W b (Summary)
6830 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6831 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6832 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6835 @kindex W B (Summary)
6836 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6837 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6838 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6841 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6842 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6843 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6844 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6847 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6848 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6849 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6850 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6853 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6854 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6855 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6856 lines with a single empty line.
6857 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6860 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6861 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6862 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6863 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6866 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6867 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6868 Do all the three commands above
6869 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6872 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6873 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6874 Remove all blank lines
6875 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6878 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6879 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6880 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6881 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6884 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6885 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6886 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6887 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6891 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6894 @node Article Buttons
6895 @subsection Article Buttons
6898 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6899 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6900 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6901 button on these references.
6903 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6904 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6905 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6910 @item gnus-button-alist
6911 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6912 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6915 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6921 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6922 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6923 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6926 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6927 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6928 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6931 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6932 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6933 avoid false matches.
6936 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6939 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6940 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6944 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6947 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6950 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6951 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6952 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6953 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6954 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6957 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6960 @var{header} is a regular expression.
6962 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6963 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6964 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6965 default values of the variables above.
6967 @item gnus-article-button-face
6968 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6969 Face used on buttons.
6971 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6972 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6973 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6977 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6981 @subsection Article Date
6983 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6984 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6985 when the article was sent.
6990 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6991 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6992 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6993 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6996 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6997 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6999 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7000 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7003 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7004 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7005 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7008 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7009 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7010 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7011 @findex format-time-string
7012 Display the date using a user-defined format
7013 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7014 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7015 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7016 for a list of possible format specs.
7019 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7020 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7021 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7022 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7023 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7024 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7027 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7030 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7031 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7034 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7035 into wonderful absurdities.
7037 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7040 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7043 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7044 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7048 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7049 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7050 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7051 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7052 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7053 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7054 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7058 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7059 preferred format automatically.
7062 @node Article Signature
7063 @subsection Article Signature
7065 @cindex article signature
7067 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7068 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7069 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7070 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7071 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7072 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7073 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7074 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7075 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7078 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7079 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7080 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7081 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7082 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7083 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7084 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7085 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7088 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7091 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7092 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7093 signature when displaying articles.
7097 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7100 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7103 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7104 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7106 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7107 in question is not a signature.
7110 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7111 listed above. Here's an example:
7114 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7115 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7118 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7119 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7120 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7121 signature after all.
7124 @node Article Miscellania
7125 @subsection Article Miscellania
7129 @kindex A t (Summary)
7130 @findex gnus-article-babel
7131 Translate the article from one language to another
7132 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7138 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7139 @cindex MIME decoding
7141 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7142 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7148 @kindex K b (Summary)
7149 View the @sc{mime} part.
7152 @kindex K o (Summary)
7153 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7156 @kindex K c (Summary)
7157 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7160 @kindex K e (Summary)
7161 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7164 @kindex K i (Summary)
7165 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7168 @kindex K | (Summary)
7169 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7172 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7177 @kindex K b (Summary)
7178 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
7181 @kindex K m (Summary)
7182 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7183 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7184 be viewed in a more pleasant manner.
7187 @kindex X m (Summary)
7188 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7189 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7190 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7191 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7194 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7195 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7196 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7197 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7200 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7201 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7202 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7205 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7206 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7207 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7209 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7210 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7211 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7212 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7213 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7214 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7217 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7218 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7219 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7226 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7227 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7228 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7229 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7232 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7235 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7239 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7240 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7241 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7242 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7243 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7245 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7246 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7247 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7248 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7249 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7250 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7251 save all jpegs into some directory).
7253 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7256 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7257 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7259 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7260 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7261 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7262 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7263 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7266 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7267 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7268 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7277 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7278 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7279 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7280 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7281 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7282 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7283 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7285 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7286 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7287 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7288 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7290 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7291 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7292 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7293 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7294 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7295 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7296 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7297 something some agents insist on having in there.
7300 @node Article Commands
7301 @section Article Commands
7308 @kindex A P (Summary)
7309 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7310 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7311 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7312 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7313 run just before printing the buffer.
7318 @node Summary Sorting
7319 @section Summary Sorting
7320 @cindex summary sorting
7322 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7323 can't really see why you'd want that.
7328 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7329 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7330 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7333 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7334 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7335 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7338 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7339 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7340 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7343 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7344 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7345 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7348 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7350 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7353 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7354 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7355 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7358 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7360 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7363 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7364 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7365 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7366 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7367 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7371 @node Finding the Parent
7372 @section Finding the Parent
7373 @cindex parent articles
7374 @cindex referring articles
7379 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7380 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7381 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7382 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7383 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7384 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7385 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7386 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7387 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7389 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7390 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7391 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7392 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7393 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7397 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7398 @kindex A R (Summary)
7399 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7400 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7403 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7404 @kindex A T (Summary)
7405 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7406 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7407 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7408 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7409 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7410 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7411 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7413 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7414 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7415 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7416 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7417 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7418 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7421 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7422 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7424 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7425 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7426 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7427 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7428 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7429 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7430 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7433 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7434 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7435 by giving this command a prefix.
7437 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7438 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7439 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7440 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7441 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7442 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7445 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
7446 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
7447 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
7450 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
7451 then ask Deja if that fails:
7454 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
7456 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
7459 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7460 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7461 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7462 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7463 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7464 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7467 @node Alternative Approaches
7468 @section Alternative Approaches
7470 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7471 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7474 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7475 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7480 @subsection Pick and Read
7481 @cindex pick and read
7483 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7484 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7485 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7486 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7488 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7489 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7490 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7491 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7492 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7493 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7495 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7500 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7501 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7502 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7503 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7504 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7505 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7506 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7507 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7510 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7511 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7512 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7513 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7517 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7518 Unpick the thread or article
7519 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7520 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7521 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7522 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7523 the thread or article at that line.
7527 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7528 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7529 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7530 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7531 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7532 will still be visible when you are reading.
7536 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7537 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7538 which is mapped to the same function
7539 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7541 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7544 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7547 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7548 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7550 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7551 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7552 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7554 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7555 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7556 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7557 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7558 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7559 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7560 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7564 @subsection Binary Groups
7565 @cindex binary groups
7567 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7568 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7569 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7570 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7571 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7572 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7573 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7576 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7577 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7578 command, when you have turned on this mode
7579 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7581 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7582 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7586 @section Tree Display
7589 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7590 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7591 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7592 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7595 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7598 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7599 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7600 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7602 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7603 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7604 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7605 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7606 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7608 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7609 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7610 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7611 default is @code{modeline}.
7613 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7614 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7615 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7616 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7617 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7618 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7619 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7625 The name of the poster.
7627 The @code{From} header.
7629 The number of the article.
7631 The opening bracket.
7633 The closing bracket.
7638 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7640 Variables related to the display are:
7643 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7644 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7645 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7646 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
7647 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
7648 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7650 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7651 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7652 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7653 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7657 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7658 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7659 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7660 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7661 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7662 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7663 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7664 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7665 other windows displayed next to it.
7667 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7668 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7669 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7670 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7671 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7672 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7673 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7677 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7680 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7690 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7694 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7695 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7697 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7699 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7704 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7705 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7706 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7709 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7710 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7711 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7712 (gnus-add-configuration
7716 (summary 0.75 point)
7721 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7724 @node Mail Group Commands
7725 @section Mail Group Commands
7726 @cindex mail group commands
7728 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7729 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7731 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7732 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7737 @kindex B e (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7739 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7740 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7743 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7744 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7745 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7746 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7747 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7748 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7751 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7753 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7754 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7755 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7756 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7759 @kindex B m (Summary)
7761 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7762 Move the article from one mail group to another
7763 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7766 @kindex B c (Summary)
7768 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7770 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7771 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7774 @kindex B B (Summary)
7775 @cindex crosspost mail
7776 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7777 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7778 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7779 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7780 be properly updated.
7783 @kindex B i (Summary)
7784 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7785 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7786 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7787 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7790 @kindex B r (Summary)
7791 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7792 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7793 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7794 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7795 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7799 @kindex B w (Summary)
7801 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7802 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7803 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7804 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7805 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7806 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7809 @kindex B q (Summary)
7810 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7811 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7812 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7813 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7816 @kindex B t (Summary)
7817 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7818 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7819 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7822 @kindex B p (Summary)
7823 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7824 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7825 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7826 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7827 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7828 article from your news server (or rather, from
7829 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7830 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7831 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7832 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7833 just not have arrived yet.
7837 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7838 @cindex moving articles
7839 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7840 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7841 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7842 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7843 suggestions you find reasonable.
7846 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7847 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7848 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7849 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7853 @node Various Summary Stuff
7854 @section Various Summary Stuff
7857 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7858 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7859 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7860 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7864 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7865 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7866 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7868 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7869 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7870 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7871 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7872 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7873 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7876 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7877 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7878 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7879 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7880 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7882 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7883 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7884 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7887 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7888 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7889 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7890 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7891 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7892 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7893 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7894 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7895 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7896 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7901 @node Summary Group Information
7902 @subsection Summary Group Information
7907 @kindex H f (Summary)
7908 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7909 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7910 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7911 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7912 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7913 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7914 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7915 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7916 be used for fetching the file.
7919 @kindex H d (Summary)
7920 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7921 Give a brief description of the current group
7922 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7923 rereading the description from the server.
7926 @kindex H h (Summary)
7927 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7928 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7929 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7932 @kindex H i (Summary)
7933 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7934 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7938 @node Searching for Articles
7939 @subsection Searching for Articles
7944 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7945 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7946 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7947 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7950 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7952 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7953 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7957 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7958 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7959 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7960 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7964 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7965 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7966 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7967 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7970 @node Summary Generation Commands
7971 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7976 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7977 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7978 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7981 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7982 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7983 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7984 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7989 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7990 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7996 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7997 @kindex A D (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7999 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8000 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8001 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8002 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8003 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8004 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8005 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8009 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8011 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8012 several documents into one biiig group
8013 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8014 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8015 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8016 command understands the process/prefix convention
8017 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8020 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8021 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8022 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8023 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8024 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8025 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8029 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8030 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8031 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8034 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8035 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8036 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8037 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8040 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
8041 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8042 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8043 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8048 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8049 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8050 @cindex summary exit
8051 @cindex exiting groups
8053 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8054 group and return you to the group buffer.
8060 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8062 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8063 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8064 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8065 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8066 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8067 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8068 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8069 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8070 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8071 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8072 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8076 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8078 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8079 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8080 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8084 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8086 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8087 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8088 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8089 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8092 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8093 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8094 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8095 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8098 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8099 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8100 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8101 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8104 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8105 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8106 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8107 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8108 all articles, both read and unread.
8112 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8113 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8115 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8116 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8117 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8118 articles, both read and unread.
8121 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8122 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8123 Exit the group and go to the next group
8124 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8127 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8128 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8129 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8130 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8133 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8134 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8135 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8136 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8137 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8138 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8141 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8142 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
8145 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8146 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8147 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8148 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8149 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8150 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8151 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8152 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8153 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8154 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8155 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8156 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8158 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8160 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8161 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8162 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8163 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8164 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8165 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8166 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8167 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8168 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8171 @node Crosspost Handling
8172 @section Crosspost Handling
8176 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8177 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8178 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8179 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8180 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8181 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8184 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8185 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8186 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8187 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8188 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8190 @cindex cross-posting
8193 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8194 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8195 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8196 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8197 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8198 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8199 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8200 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8201 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8202 the cross reference mechanism.
8204 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8205 @cindex overview.fmt
8206 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8207 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8208 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8209 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8210 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8211 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8214 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8215 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8216 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8221 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8224 @node Duplicate Suppression
8225 @section Duplicate Suppression
8227 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8228 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8229 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8230 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8235 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8236 is evil and not very common.
8239 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8240 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8243 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8244 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8247 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8250 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8251 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8253 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8254 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8255 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8256 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8257 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8258 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8259 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8262 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8263 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8264 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8265 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8266 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8270 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8271 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8272 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8274 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8275 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8276 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8277 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8278 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8279 session are suppressed.
8281 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8282 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8283 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8284 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8286 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8287 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8288 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8289 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8292 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8293 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8294 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8295 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8296 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8297 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8298 to you to figure out, I think.
8301 @node The Article Buffer
8302 @chapter The Article Buffer
8303 @cindex article buffer
8305 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8306 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8307 tell Gnus otherwise.
8310 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8311 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8312 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8313 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8314 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8318 @node Hiding Headers
8319 @section Hiding Headers
8320 @cindex hiding headers
8321 @cindex deleting headers
8323 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8324 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8326 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8327 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8328 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8329 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8330 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8331 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8332 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8333 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8334 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8336 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8340 @item gnus-visible-headers
8341 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8342 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8343 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8344 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8346 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8347 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8350 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8353 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8356 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8357 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8358 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8359 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8360 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8361 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8363 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8364 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8367 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8370 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8373 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8374 variable will have no effect.
8378 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8379 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8380 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8381 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8382 the headers are to be displayed.
8384 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8385 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8388 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8391 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8392 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8394 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8395 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8396 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8397 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8398 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8399 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8400 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8403 These conditions are:
8406 Remove all empty headers.
8408 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8409 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8411 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8414 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8417 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8420 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8422 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8425 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8428 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8429 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8432 This is also the default value for this variable.
8436 @section Using @sc{mime}
8439 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8440 while people stand around yawning.
8442 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8443 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8445 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8446 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8447 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8449 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8450 @findex gnus-display-mime
8451 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8452 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8453 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8454 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8456 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8460 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8462 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8463 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8464 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8466 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8467 @item M-RET (Article)
8469 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8470 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8472 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8474 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8475 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8477 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8479 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8480 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8482 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
8484 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
8485 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}.
8487 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8489 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8492 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8493 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8496 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8497 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8498 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8499 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8500 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8501 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8502 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8503 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8504 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8506 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8508 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
8511 @node Customizing Articles
8512 @section Customizing Articles
8513 @cindex article customization
8515 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8516 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8517 called automatically when you select the articles.
8519 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8520 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8521 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8522 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8524 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
8525 for sensible values.
8529 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8532 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8535 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8538 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8541 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8545 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
8546 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
8547 regexps in the list.
8550 A list where the first element is not a string:
8552 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8553 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8554 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8558 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8563 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8564 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8565 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8566 considered to contain just a single part.
8568 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8569 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8570 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8571 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8572 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8573 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8574 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8576 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8577 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8578 group. Values in brackets are suggested sensible values. Others are possible
8579 but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
8582 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
8583 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
8584 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
8585 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
8586 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
8587 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
8588 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
8589 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
8590 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
8591 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
8592 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
8593 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
8594 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
8595 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
8596 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
8597 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
8598 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
8599 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
8600 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
8601 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
8602 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
8603 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
8604 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
8605 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
8606 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
8607 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
8608 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
8609 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
8610 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
8611 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
8612 @item gnus-treat-translate
8615 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8616 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8617 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8618 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8619 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8623 @node Article Keymap
8624 @section Article Keymap
8626 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8627 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8628 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8629 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8632 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8637 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8638 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8639 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8642 @kindex DEL (Article)
8643 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8644 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8647 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8648 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8649 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8650 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8651 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8654 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8655 @findex gnus-article-mail
8656 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8657 given a prefix, include the mail.
8661 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8662 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8663 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8667 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8668 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8669 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8672 @kindex TAB (Article)
8673 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8674 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8675 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8678 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8679 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8680 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8686 @section Misc Article
8690 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8691 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8692 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8693 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8696 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8697 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8699 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8700 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8702 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8703 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8704 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8705 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8706 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8707 the contents of the article buffer.
8709 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8710 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8711 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8713 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8714 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8715 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8716 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8718 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8719 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8720 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8721 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8722 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8727 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8728 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8731 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8734 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8736 @item gnus-break-pages
8737 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8738 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8739 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8740 paging will not be done.
8742 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8743 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8744 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8749 @node Composing Messages
8750 @chapter Composing Messages
8751 @cindex composing messages
8754 @cindex sending mail
8759 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8760 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8761 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8762 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8763 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8764 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8765 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8768 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8769 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8770 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8771 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8772 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8773 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8774 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8775 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8778 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8779 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8785 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8788 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8789 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8790 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8791 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8793 @item gnus-add-to-list
8794 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8795 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8796 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8804 Variables for composing news articles:
8807 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8808 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8809 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8810 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8811 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8812 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8813 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8814 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8815 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8818 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8819 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8820 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8821 file. It is 1000 by default.
8826 @node Posting Server
8827 @section Posting Server
8829 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8830 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8832 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8834 @vindex gnus-post-method
8836 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8837 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8838 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8839 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8840 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8843 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8846 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8847 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8848 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8849 the ``current'' server for posting.
8851 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8852 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8854 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8855 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8858 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8859 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8860 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8865 @section Mail and Post
8867 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8871 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8872 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8873 @cindex mailing lists
8875 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8876 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8877 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8878 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8879 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8880 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8881 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8882 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8883 still a pain, though.
8887 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8888 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8889 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8892 @findex ispell-message
8894 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8898 @node Archived Messages
8899 @section Archived Messages
8900 @cindex archived messages
8901 @cindex sent messages
8903 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8904 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8905 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8906 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8909 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8910 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8911 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8915 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8916 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8917 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8918 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8921 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8922 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8923 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8924 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8927 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8928 '(nnfolder "archive"
8929 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8930 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8931 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8934 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8936 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8937 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8938 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8940 This variable can be used to do the following:
8944 Messages will be saved in that group.
8945 @item a list of strings
8946 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8947 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8948 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8950 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8955 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8957 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8960 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8962 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8965 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8967 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8968 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8969 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8970 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8975 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8976 '((if (message-news-p)
8981 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8982 messages in one file per month:
8985 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8986 '((if (message-news-p)
8988 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
8991 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8992 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8994 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8995 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8996 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8997 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8998 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8999 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9000 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9001 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9002 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9003 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9005 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9006 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9007 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9008 this will disable archiving.
9011 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9012 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9013 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9014 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9015 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9018 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9019 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9020 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9023 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9024 but the latter is the preferred method.
9028 @node Posting Styles
9029 @section Posting Styles
9030 @cindex posting styles
9033 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9035 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9036 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9037 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9040 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9041 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9042 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9043 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9044 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9049 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9050 (organization "What me?"))
9052 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9053 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9054 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9057 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9058 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9059 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9060 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9061 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9062 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9063 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9064 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9066 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9067 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9068 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9069 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9070 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9071 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9072 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9073 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9076 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9077 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9078 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9079 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9080 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9081 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9082 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9083 and the result is thrown away.
9085 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9086 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9087 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9088 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9089 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9090 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9092 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9093 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9094 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9096 @findex message-mail-p
9097 @findex message-news-p
9099 So here's a new example:
9102 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9104 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9106 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9107 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9109 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9110 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9111 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9113 (signature my-news-signature))
9114 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9115 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9116 ((posting-from-work-p)
9117 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9118 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9119 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9120 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9122 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9130 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9131 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9132 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9133 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9134 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9136 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9137 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9138 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9139 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9140 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9144 @vindex nndraft-directory
9145 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9146 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9147 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9148 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9149 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9150 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9152 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9153 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9156 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9157 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9158 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9159 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9160 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9161 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9162 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9163 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9164 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9165 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9166 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9167 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9168 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9169 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9171 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9172 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9173 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9175 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9177 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9178 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9179 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9181 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9184 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9185 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9186 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9187 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9188 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9189 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9190 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9193 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9194 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9195 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9198 @node Rejected Articles
9199 @section Rejected Articles
9200 @cindex rejected articles
9202 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9203 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9204 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9205 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9207 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9208 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9209 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9210 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9211 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9213 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9214 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9215 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9218 @node Select Methods
9219 @chapter Select Methods
9220 @cindex foreign groups
9221 @cindex select methods
9223 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9224 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9225 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9226 personal mail group.
9228 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9229 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9230 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9231 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9232 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9233 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9235 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9236 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9238 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9241 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9242 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9243 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9244 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9245 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9247 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9250 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9251 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9252 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9253 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9254 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9255 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9256 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9260 @node The Server Buffer
9261 @section The Server Buffer
9263 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9264 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9265 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9266 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9267 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9268 backend represents a virtual server.
9270 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9271 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9272 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9273 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9275 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9276 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9277 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9278 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9279 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9280 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9281 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9283 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9284 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9287 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9288 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9289 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9290 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9291 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9292 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9293 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9296 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9297 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9300 @node Server Buffer Format
9301 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9302 @cindex server buffer format
9304 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9305 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9306 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9307 variable, with some simple extensions:
9312 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9315 The name of this server.
9318 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9321 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9324 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9325 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9326 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9327 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9337 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9340 @node Server Commands
9341 @subsection Server Commands
9342 @cindex server commands
9348 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9349 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9353 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9354 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9357 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9358 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9359 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9363 @findex gnus-server-exit
9364 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9368 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9369 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9373 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9374 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9378 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9379 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9383 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9384 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9388 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9389 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9390 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9395 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9396 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9397 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9398 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9403 @node Example Methods
9404 @subsection Example Methods
9406 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9409 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9412 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9418 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9419 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9422 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9423 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
9425 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9426 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9430 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9433 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9434 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9436 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9437 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9438 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9442 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9445 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9448 Here's the method for a public spool:
9452 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9453 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9456 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9457 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9458 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9459 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9460 should probably look something like this:
9464 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9465 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9466 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9467 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9468 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9471 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9472 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9473 server that would look something like this:
9477 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9478 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9479 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9480 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9481 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9482 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9485 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9486 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9487 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9488 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9491 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9492 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9494 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9495 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9497 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9498 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9499 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9501 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9503 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9504 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9505 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9506 will contain the following:
9516 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9517 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9518 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9521 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9522 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9523 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9526 @node Server Variables
9527 @subsection Server Variables
9529 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9530 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9531 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9532 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9533 won't change the "derived" variables.
9535 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9536 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9537 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9538 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9539 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9540 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9541 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9542 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9543 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9547 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9548 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9549 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9553 @node Servers and Methods
9554 @subsection Servers and Methods
9556 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9557 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9558 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9559 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9563 @node Unavailable Servers
9564 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9566 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9567 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9568 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9569 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9570 actually the case or not.
9572 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9573 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9574 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9575 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9576 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9577 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9578 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9579 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9581 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9582 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9584 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9585 with the following commands:
9591 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9592 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9593 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9597 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9598 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9599 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9603 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9604 Mark the current server as unreachable
9605 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9608 @kindex M-o (Server)
9609 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9610 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9611 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9614 @kindex M-c (Server)
9615 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9616 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9617 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9621 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9622 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9623 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9629 @section Getting News
9630 @cindex reading news
9631 @cindex news backends
9633 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9634 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9635 or it can read from a local spool.
9638 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9639 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9644 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9647 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9648 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9649 server as the, uhm, address.
9651 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9652 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9653 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9654 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9656 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9657 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9658 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9660 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9665 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9666 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9667 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9669 @cindex authentification
9670 @cindex nntp authentification
9671 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9672 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9673 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9674 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9675 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9676 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9677 present in this hook.
9679 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9680 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9681 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9682 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9683 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9684 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9685 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9686 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9687 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9688 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9689 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9690 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9694 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9697 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9698 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9699 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9700 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9701 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9706 Here's an example file:
9709 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9710 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9713 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9714 have to be first, for instance.
9716 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9717 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9718 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9719 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9720 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9721 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9722 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9724 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9725 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9731 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9732 previously mentioned.
9734 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9736 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9737 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9738 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9739 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9740 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9743 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9747 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9749 The default value is
9752 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9753 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9756 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9757 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9759 @item nntp-maximum-request
9760 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9761 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9762 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9763 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9764 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9765 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9766 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9768 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9769 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9770 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9771 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9772 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9773 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9774 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9775 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9776 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9777 no timeouts are done.
9779 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9780 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9781 @c @cindex PPP connections
9782 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9783 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9784 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9785 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9786 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9787 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9788 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9789 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9790 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9791 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9793 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9794 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9795 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9796 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9799 @item nntp-server-hook
9800 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9801 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9804 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9805 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9806 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9807 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9808 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9809 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9810 functions are supplied:
9813 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9814 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9817 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9818 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9819 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9822 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9826 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9827 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9828 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9829 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9831 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9832 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9833 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9835 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9836 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9837 User name on the remote system.
9841 @item nntp-open-telnet
9842 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9843 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9845 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9848 @item nntp-telnet-command
9849 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9850 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9852 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9853 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9854 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9856 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9857 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9858 User name for log in on the remote system.
9860 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9861 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9862 Password to use when logging in.
9864 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9865 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9866 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9869 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9870 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9871 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9872 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9874 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9875 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9876 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9877 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9878 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9882 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9883 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9884 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9885 you must have SSLay installed
9886 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9887 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9888 define a server as follows:
9891 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9893 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9895 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9896 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9897 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9898 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9903 @item nntp-end-of-line
9904 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9905 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9906 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9907 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9909 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9910 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9911 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9915 @vindex nntp-address
9916 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9918 @item nntp-port-number
9919 @vindex nntp-port-number
9920 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9923 @item nntp-buggy-select
9924 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9925 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9927 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9928 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9929 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9930 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9933 @item nntp-xover-commands
9934 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9937 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9938 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9942 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9943 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9944 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9945 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9946 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9947 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9948 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9949 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9950 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9951 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9952 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9954 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9955 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9956 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9958 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9959 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9960 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9961 server closes connection.
9963 @item nntp-record-commands
9964 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9965 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9966 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9967 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9968 that doesn't seem to work.
9974 @subsection News Spool
9978 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9979 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9980 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9983 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9984 anything else) as the address.
9986 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9987 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9988 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9989 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9993 @item nnspool-inews-program
9994 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9995 Program used to post an article.
9997 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9998 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9999 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10001 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10002 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10003 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10004 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10006 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10007 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10008 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10009 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10011 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10012 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10013 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10015 @item nnspool-active-file
10016 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10017 The path to the active file.
10019 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10020 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10021 The path to the group descriptions file.
10023 @item nnspool-history-file
10024 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10025 The path to the news history file.
10027 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10028 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10029 The path to the active date file.
10031 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10032 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10033 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10036 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10037 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10039 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10040 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10041 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10047 @section Getting Mail
10048 @cindex reading mail
10051 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10055 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10056 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10057 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10058 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10059 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10060 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10061 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10062 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10063 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10064 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10065 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10066 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10067 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10071 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10072 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10074 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10075 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10076 of a culture shock.
10078 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10079 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10081 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10082 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10083 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10084 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10086 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10088 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10089 deleted? How awful!
10091 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10092 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10093 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10094 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10097 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10098 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10099 they want to treat a message.
10101 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10102 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10103 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10104 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10105 archived somewhere else.
10107 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10108 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10109 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10110 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10111 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10113 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10114 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10115 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10117 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10118 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10121 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10122 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10123 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10124 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10125 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10127 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10128 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10129 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10130 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10131 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10132 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10136 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10137 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10139 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10140 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10141 and things will happen automatically.
10143 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10144 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10147 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10148 '((nnml "private")))
10151 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10152 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10153 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10154 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10155 like any other group.
10157 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10160 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10161 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10162 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10166 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10167 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10168 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10171 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10172 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10173 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10176 @node Splitting Mail
10177 @subsection Splitting Mail
10178 @cindex splitting mail
10179 @cindex mail splitting
10181 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10182 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10183 to be split into groups.
10186 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10187 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10188 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10189 ("mail.other" "")))
10192 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10193 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10194 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10195 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10196 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10197 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10198 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10201 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10204 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10205 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10206 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10207 mail belongs in that group.
10209 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10210 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10211 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10212 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10213 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10214 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10216 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10217 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10218 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10219 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10220 thinks should carry this mail message.
10222 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10223 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10224 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10225 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10227 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10228 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10229 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10230 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10231 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10233 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10236 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10237 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10238 links. If that's the case for you, set
10239 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10240 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10242 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10243 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10244 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10245 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10247 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10248 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10249 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10250 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10251 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10252 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10253 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10254 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10255 month's rent money.
10259 @subsection Mail Sources
10261 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10262 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
10265 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10266 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10267 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10271 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10272 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10274 @cindex mail server
10277 @cindex mail source
10279 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10280 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10285 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10288 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10289 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10290 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10293 The following mail source types are available:
10297 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10303 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10304 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10307 An example file mail source:
10310 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10313 Or using the default path:
10319 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10320 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10321 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10324 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10328 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10331 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10335 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10338 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10340 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10343 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10347 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10348 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10354 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10358 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10362 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10363 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10364 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10365 predicate are considered.
10369 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10373 An example directory mail source:
10376 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10381 Get mail from a POP server.
10387 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10388 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10391 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10394 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10398 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10402 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10403 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10406 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10409 The valid format specifier characters are:
10413 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10414 included in this string.
10417 The name of the server.
10420 The port number of the server.
10423 The user name to use.
10426 The password to use.
10429 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10430 corresponding keywords.
10433 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10434 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10437 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10438 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10441 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10442 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10445 @item :authentication
10446 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10447 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10452 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10453 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10455 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10456 default user name, and default fetcher:
10462 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10465 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10466 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10469 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10472 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10476 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox currently only
10477 supported by qmail, where each file in a special directory contains
10484 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10485 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10487 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10488 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10489 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the following example.
10493 An example maildir mail source:
10496 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10500 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as intended,
10501 as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some reason or
10502 other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and fetches
10503 articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
10509 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
10510 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10513 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
10514 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
10517 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
10521 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
10525 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
10526 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
10527 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
10529 @item :authenticator
10530 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
10531 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this means
10532 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
10536 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
10537 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
10540 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default,
10541 @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people,
10542 but if you sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark
10543 some articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to
10544 @samp{nil}. Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter
10545 what. For a complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
10548 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
10549 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
10550 would simply mark them as read. Theese are the two most likely choices,
10551 but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
10554 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
10555 after finishing the fetch.
10559 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
10562 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
10566 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
10567 mail.yahoo.com, and www.netaddress.com.
10569 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
10570 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
10572 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
10578 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
10579 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}.
10582 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
10586 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
10591 An example webmail source:
10594 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10599 @node Mail Source Customization
10600 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10602 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10603 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10607 @item mail-source-crash-box
10608 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10609 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10610 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10612 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10613 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10614 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10616 @item mail-source-directory
10617 @vindex mail-source-directory
10618 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10619 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10620 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10623 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10624 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10625 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10630 @node Fetching Mail
10631 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10633 @vindex mail-sources
10634 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10635 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10636 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10637 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10639 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10640 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10643 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10644 mail server, you'd say something like:
10649 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10650 :password "secret")))
10653 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10657 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10658 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10661 :password "secret")))
10665 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10666 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10667 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10668 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10669 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10670 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10674 @node Mail Backend Variables
10675 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10677 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10681 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10682 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10683 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10684 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10686 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10687 @item nnmail-split-hook
10688 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10689 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10690 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10691 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10692 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10693 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10694 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10695 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10696 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10699 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10700 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10701 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10702 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10703 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10704 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10705 starting to handle the new mail) and
10706 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10707 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10708 default file modes the new mail files get:
10711 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10712 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10714 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10715 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10718 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10719 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10720 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10721 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10722 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10723 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10724 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10726 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10727 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10728 @findex delete-file
10729 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10731 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10732 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10733 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10734 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10735 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10740 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10741 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10742 @cindex mail splitting
10743 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10745 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10746 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10747 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10748 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10749 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10750 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10752 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10755 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10756 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10757 ;; from real errors.
10758 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10760 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10761 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10762 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10763 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10764 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10765 ;; Other mailing lists...
10766 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10767 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10768 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
10769 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
10770 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
10771 ;; message was really cross-posted.
10772 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
10773 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
10775 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10776 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10780 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10781 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10782 the five possible split syntaxes:
10787 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10788 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10792 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict} @code{[-} @var{restrict} @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]]}
10793 @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the first element of which is a
10794 string, then store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header
10795 @var{field} (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If
10796 @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
10797 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
10798 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
10799 @var{split} is processed.
10802 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10803 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
10804 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
10805 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
10808 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10809 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
10812 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10813 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10816 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
10817 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
10818 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
10819 function should return a @var{split}.
10822 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10823 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
10824 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
10828 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10832 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
10833 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10834 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10835 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
10836 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10838 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10839 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10840 are expanded as specified by the variable
10841 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10842 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10845 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10846 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10847 when all this splitting is performed.
10849 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10850 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10851 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10854 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10857 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10858 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10860 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10861 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10862 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10863 groupings 1 through 9.
10866 @node Group Mail Splitting
10867 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
10868 @cindex mail splitting
10869 @cindex group mail splitting
10871 @findex gnus-group-split
10872 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
10873 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
10874 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
10875 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
10876 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
10877 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
10878 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
10879 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
10881 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
10882 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
10883 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
10884 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
10886 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
10887 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
10888 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
10889 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
10890 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
10891 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
10892 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
10894 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
10895 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
10896 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
10897 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
10898 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
10899 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
10900 @code{gnus-group-split}.
10902 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
10903 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
10904 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
10905 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
10906 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
10907 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
10908 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
10909 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
10910 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
10912 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
10917 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
10918 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
10920 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
10921 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
10922 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
10923 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
10925 ((split-spec . catch-all))
10928 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
10929 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
10930 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
10933 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
10934 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
10935 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
10939 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
10940 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
10941 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
10945 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
10948 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
10949 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
10950 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
10951 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
10952 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
10953 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
10954 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
10955 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
10956 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
10958 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
10959 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
10960 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
10961 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
10962 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
10963 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
10964 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
10965 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
10966 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
10968 @findex gnus-group-split-update
10969 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
10970 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
10971 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
10972 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
10973 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
10976 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
10979 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
10980 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
10981 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
10982 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
10983 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
10986 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
10987 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
10988 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
10989 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
10991 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10992 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10994 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10995 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10996 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10999 Doing so can be quite easy.
11001 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11002 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11003 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11004 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11005 your @code{nnml} groups.
11011 Go to the group buffer.
11014 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11015 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11018 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11021 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11022 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11025 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11026 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11029 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11030 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11031 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11032 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11033 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11035 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11036 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11037 using the new mail backend.
11040 @node Expiring Mail
11041 @subsection Expiring Mail
11042 @cindex article expiry
11044 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11045 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11046 different approach to mail reading.
11048 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11049 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11050 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11051 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11052 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11053 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11056 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11057 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11058 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11059 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11060 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11061 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11062 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11063 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11065 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11066 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11067 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11068 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11069 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11070 column in the summary buffer.
11072 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11073 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11074 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11075 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11078 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11080 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11081 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11082 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11085 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11086 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11087 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11088 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11089 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11091 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11092 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11095 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11096 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11099 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11100 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11102 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11103 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11104 don't really mix very well.
11106 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11107 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11108 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11109 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11112 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11113 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11114 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11115 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11118 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11120 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11122 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11124 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11126 ((string= group "important")
11132 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11133 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11135 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11136 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11137 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11140 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11141 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11143 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11144 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11145 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11146 easier for procmail users.
11148 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11149 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11150 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11151 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11152 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11153 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11154 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11155 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11156 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11157 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11158 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11159 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11160 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11163 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11165 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11166 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11167 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11168 auto-expire turned on.
11172 @subsection Washing Mail
11173 @cindex mail washing
11174 @cindex list server brain damage
11175 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11177 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11178 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11179 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11180 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11181 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11182 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11184 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11185 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11186 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11189 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11190 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11191 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11192 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11195 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11196 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11197 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11198 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11199 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11202 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11203 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11204 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11205 Emacs running on MS machines.
11209 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11210 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11211 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11212 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11215 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11216 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11217 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11218 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11220 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11221 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11222 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11223 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11224 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11225 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11226 also be a list of regexp.
11228 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11229 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11232 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11233 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11236 This can also be done non-destructively with
11237 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11239 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11240 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11241 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11243 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11244 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11246 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11247 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11248 @code{References} headers.
11252 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11253 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11254 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11258 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11259 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11260 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11267 @subsection Duplicates
11269 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11270 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11271 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11272 @cindex duplicate mails
11273 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11274 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11275 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11276 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11277 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11278 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11279 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11280 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11281 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11282 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11283 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11284 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11285 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11287 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11288 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11289 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11290 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11292 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11295 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11296 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11300 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11301 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11302 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11303 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11304 (any mail "mail.misc")
11311 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11312 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11317 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11318 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11319 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11320 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11321 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11324 @node Not Reading Mail
11325 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11327 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11328 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11329 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11331 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11332 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11333 mail, which should help.
11335 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11336 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11337 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11338 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11339 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11340 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11341 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11342 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11343 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11344 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11345 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11347 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11348 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11352 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11353 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11355 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11356 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11357 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11359 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11360 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11361 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11362 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11365 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11366 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11367 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11368 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11369 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11370 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11374 @node Unix Mail Box
11375 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11377 @cindex unix mail box
11379 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11380 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11381 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11382 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11383 which group it belongs in.
11385 Virtual server settings:
11388 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
11389 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11390 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
11392 @item nnmbox-active-file
11393 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11394 The name of the active file for the mail box.
11396 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
11397 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11398 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
11404 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
11408 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11409 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11410 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
11411 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
11412 article to say which group it belongs in.
11414 Virtual server settings:
11417 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
11418 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11419 The name of the rmail mbox file.
11421 @item nnbabyl-active-file
11422 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11423 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
11425 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11426 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11427 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
11432 @subsubsection Mail Spool
11434 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
11436 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
11437 format. It should be used with some caution.
11439 @vindex nnml-directory
11440 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
11441 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
11442 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
11443 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
11445 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
11448 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
11449 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
11450 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
11451 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
11452 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
11453 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
11454 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
11455 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
11457 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
11458 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
11459 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
11460 backend when it comes to reading mail.
11462 Virtual server settings:
11465 @item nnml-directory
11466 @vindex nnml-directory
11467 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
11469 @item nnml-active-file
11470 @vindex nnml-active-file
11471 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
11473 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
11474 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
11475 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
11478 @item nnml-get-new-mail
11479 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11480 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
11482 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
11483 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
11484 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
11486 @item nnml-nov-file-name
11487 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
11488 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
11490 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11491 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11492 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
11496 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
11497 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
11498 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
11499 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
11500 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
11501 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
11502 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
11507 @subsubsection MH Spool
11509 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11511 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11512 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11513 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11514 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11516 Virtual server settings:
11519 @item nnmh-directory
11520 @vindex nnmh-directory
11521 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11523 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11524 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11525 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11528 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11529 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11530 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11531 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11532 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11533 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11534 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11539 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11541 @cindex mbox folders
11542 @cindex mail folders
11544 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11545 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11546 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11549 Virtual server settings:
11552 @item nnfolder-directory
11553 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11554 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11556 @item nnfolder-active-file
11557 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11558 The name of the active file.
11560 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11561 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11562 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11564 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11565 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11566 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11568 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11569 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11570 @cindex backup files
11571 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11572 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11573 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11574 your @file{.emacs} file:
11577 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11578 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11580 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11583 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11584 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11585 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11586 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11587 extract some information from it before removing it.
11592 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11593 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11594 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11595 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11596 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11597 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11600 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11601 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11603 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11604 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11605 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11606 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11607 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11609 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11610 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11611 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11612 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
11613 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11614 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11615 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11616 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11619 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11620 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11621 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11622 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11627 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11628 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11629 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11630 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11631 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11632 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11633 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11634 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11635 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11636 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11637 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11638 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11639 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11644 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11645 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11646 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11647 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11648 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11649 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11650 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11651 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11652 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11653 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11654 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11655 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11656 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11657 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11659 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11660 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11665 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11666 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11667 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11668 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11669 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11670 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11671 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11672 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11673 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11674 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11675 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11676 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11677 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11678 provided by the active file and overviews.
11680 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11681 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11682 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11683 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11684 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11687 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11688 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11693 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11694 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11695 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11696 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11697 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11698 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11699 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11703 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11704 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11705 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11706 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11707 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11708 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11709 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11710 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11711 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11713 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11714 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11715 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11716 friendly mail backend all over.
11721 @node Browsing the Web
11722 @section Browsing the Web
11724 @cindex browsing the web
11728 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
11729 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
11730 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
11731 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
11732 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
11733 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
11734 even know what a news group is.
11736 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
11737 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
11738 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
11739 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
11740 you mad in the end.
11742 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
11745 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
11746 interfaces to these sources.
11749 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11750 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
11751 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
11752 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
11755 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
11756 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
11757 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
11758 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
11759 though, you should be ok.
11761 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
11762 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
11763 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
11764 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
11765 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
11769 @subsection Web Searches
11773 @cindex InReference
11774 @cindex Usenet searches
11775 @cindex searching the Usenet
11777 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11778 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11779 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11780 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11781 searches without having to use a browser.
11783 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11784 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11785 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11786 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11787 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11789 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11790 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11791 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11792 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11793 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11794 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11795 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11796 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11797 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11798 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11801 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11802 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11803 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11804 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11805 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11806 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11808 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11809 to use @code{nnweb}.
11811 Virtual server variables:
11816 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11817 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11821 @vindex nnweb-search
11822 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11824 @item nnweb-max-hits
11825 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11826 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11829 @item nnweb-type-definition
11830 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11831 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11832 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11837 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11841 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11844 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11847 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11851 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11858 @subsection Slashdot
11862 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
11863 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
11864 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
11866 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
11867 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
11870 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11871 '((nnslashdot "")))
11874 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
11875 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
11876 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
11877 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
11878 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
11881 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
11882 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
11883 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
11884 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
11885 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
11886 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
11889 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
11892 @item nnslashdot-threaded
11893 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
11894 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
11895 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
11896 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
11897 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
11898 but much, much slower than untreaded.
11900 @item nnslashdot-login-name
11901 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
11902 The login name to use when posting.
11904 @item nnslashdot-password
11905 @vindex nnslashdot-password
11906 The password to use when posting.
11908 @item nnslashdot-directory
11909 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
11910 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
11911 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
11913 @item nnslashdot-active-url
11914 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
11915 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
11916 news articles and comments. The default is
11917 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
11919 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
11920 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
11921 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
11923 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
11925 @item nnslashdot-article-url
11926 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
11927 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
11929 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
11931 @item nnslashdot-threshold
11932 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
11933 The score threshold. The default is -1.
11935 @item nnslashdot-group-number
11936 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
11937 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
11938 updated. The default is 0.
11945 @subsection Ultimate
11947 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
11949 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
11950 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
11951 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
11952 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
11954 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
11955 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
11956 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
11957 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
11958 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
11959 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
11960 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
11962 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
11965 @item nnultimate-directory
11966 @vindex nnultimate-directory
11967 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
11968 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
11972 @subsection Web Archive
11974 @cindex Web Archive
11976 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
11977 (@file{http://www.egroups.com/}). It has a quite regular and nice
11978 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
11981 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
11982 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
11983 gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
11984 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
11985 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
11986 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.)
11988 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
11991 @item nnwarchive-directory
11992 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
11993 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
11994 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
11996 @item nnwarchive-login
11997 @vindex nnwarchive-login
11998 The account name on the web server.
12000 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12001 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12002 The password for your account on the web server.
12005 @node Other Sources
12006 @section Other Sources
12008 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12009 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12013 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12014 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12015 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12016 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12017 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12018 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12022 @node Directory Groups
12023 @subsection Directory Groups
12025 @cindex directory groups
12027 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12028 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12031 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12032 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12033 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12034 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12036 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12037 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12038 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12039 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12040 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12042 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12044 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12045 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12046 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12047 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12050 @node Anything Groups
12051 @subsection Anything Groups
12054 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12055 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12056 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12059 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12060 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12061 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12062 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
12063 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
12064 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
12065 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
12066 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
12067 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
12068 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12071 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12072 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12073 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12074 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12076 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12077 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12078 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12079 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12081 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12082 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12083 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12084 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12085 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12086 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12087 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12088 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12093 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12094 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12095 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12096 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12098 @item nneething-exclude-files
12099 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12100 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12101 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12103 @item nneething-include-files
12104 @vindex nneething-include-files
12105 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12106 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12108 @item nneething-map-file
12109 @vindex nneething-map-file
12110 Name of the map files.
12114 @node Document Groups
12115 @subsection Document Groups
12117 @cindex documentation group
12120 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12121 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12128 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12133 The standard Unix mbox file.
12135 @cindex MMDF mail box
12137 The MMDF mail box format.
12140 Several news articles appended into a file.
12143 @cindex rnews batch files
12144 The rnews batch transport format.
12145 @cindex forwarded messages
12148 Forwarded articles.
12151 Netscape mail boxes.
12154 MIME multipart messages.
12156 @item standard-digest
12157 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12160 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12163 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12164 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12165 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12168 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12169 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12170 group. And that's it.
12172 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12173 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12174 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12175 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12176 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12177 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12178 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12179 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12180 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12181 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12183 Virtual server variables:
12186 @item nndoc-article-type
12187 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12188 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12189 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12190 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12191 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12193 @item nndoc-post-type
12194 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12195 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12196 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12201 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12205 @node Document Server Internals
12206 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12208 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12209 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12210 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12211 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12213 First, here's an example document type definition:
12217 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12218 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12221 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12222 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12223 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12224 types can be defined with very few settings:
12227 @item first-article
12228 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12229 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12232 @item article-begin
12233 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12234 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12236 @item head-begin-function
12237 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12240 @item nndoc-head-begin
12241 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12244 @item nndoc-head-end
12245 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12246 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12248 @item body-begin-function
12249 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12253 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12256 @item body-end-function
12257 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12261 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12264 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12265 regexp will be totally ignored.
12269 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12270 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12271 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12272 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12273 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12276 @item prepare-body-function
12277 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12278 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12279 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12281 @item article-transform-function
12282 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12283 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12284 body of the article.
12286 @item generate-head-function
12287 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12288 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12289 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12290 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12294 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12299 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12300 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12301 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12302 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12303 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12304 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12305 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12306 (subtype digest guess))
12309 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
12310 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
12311 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
12312 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
12313 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
12315 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
12316 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
12317 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
12318 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
12319 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
12320 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
12321 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
12322 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
12323 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
12324 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
12332 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
12333 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
12334 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
12336 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
12337 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
12338 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
12341 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
12342 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
12343 that interested in doing things properly.
12345 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
12346 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
12349 First some terminology:
12354 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
12355 get news and/or mail from.
12358 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
12359 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
12362 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
12366 @item message packets
12367 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
12368 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
12369 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12371 @item response packets
12372 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
12373 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
12374 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12384 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
12385 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
12386 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
12387 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
12390 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
12393 You put the packet in your home directory.
12396 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
12397 the native or secondary server.
12400 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
12401 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
12404 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
12408 You transfer this packet to the server.
12411 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
12414 You then repeat until you die.
12418 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
12419 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
12422 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
12423 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
12424 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
12428 @node SOUP Commands
12429 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
12431 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
12435 @kindex G s b (Group)
12436 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
12437 Pack all unread articles in the current group
12438 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
12439 process/prefix convention.
12442 @kindex G s w (Group)
12443 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
12444 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
12447 @kindex G s s (Group)
12448 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
12449 Send all replies from the replies packet
12450 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
12453 @kindex G s p (Group)
12454 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
12455 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
12458 @kindex G s r (Group)
12459 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
12460 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
12463 @kindex O s (Summary)
12464 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
12465 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
12466 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
12467 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12472 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
12477 @item gnus-soup-directory
12478 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
12479 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
12480 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
12482 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
12483 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
12484 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
12485 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
12487 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
12488 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
12489 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
12490 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
12492 @item gnus-soup-packer
12493 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
12494 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12495 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
12497 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
12498 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
12499 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12500 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12502 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
12503 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
12504 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
12506 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12507 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12508 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
12509 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
12515 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
12518 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
12519 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
12520 you can read them at leisure.
12522 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
12526 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
12527 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
12528 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
12529 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
12531 @item nnsoup-directory
12532 @vindex nnsoup-directory
12533 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
12534 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
12536 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
12537 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
12538 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
12539 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
12541 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
12542 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
12543 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
12544 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
12545 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
12547 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
12548 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
12549 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
12550 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
12552 @item nnsoup-active-file
12553 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
12554 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
12555 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
12556 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
12557 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
12559 @item nnsoup-packer
12560 @vindex nnsoup-packer
12561 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
12562 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
12564 @item nnsoup-unpacker
12565 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
12566 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
12567 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12569 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
12570 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
12571 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
12574 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
12575 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
12576 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
12579 @item nnsoup-always-save
12580 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
12581 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
12587 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
12589 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
12590 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
12591 more for that to happen.
12593 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
12594 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
12595 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
12598 In specific, this is what it does:
12601 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
12602 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
12605 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
12606 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
12607 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
12610 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
12611 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
12612 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
12615 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
12616 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
12617 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
12619 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
12625 @item nngateway-address
12626 @vindex nngateway-address
12627 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
12629 @item nngateway-header-transformation
12630 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
12631 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
12632 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
12633 transformation should be called, and defaults to
12634 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
12635 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
12638 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
12639 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
12640 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
12643 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
12646 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
12649 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
12652 The following pre-defined functions exist:
12654 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12657 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12658 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12659 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
12661 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12663 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12664 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12665 @code{nngateway-address}.
12670 (setq gnus-post-method
12671 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
12672 (nngateway-header-transformation
12673 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
12681 So, to use this, simply say something like:
12684 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
12690 @subsection @sc{imap}
12694 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...), think of
12695 it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server is much similar to
12696 connecting to a news server, you just specify the network address of the
12699 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
12704 @item nnimap-address
12705 @vindex nnimap-address
12707 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual server
12708 name if not specified.
12710 @item nnimap-server-port
12711 @vindex nnimap-server-port
12712 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
12714 @item nnimap-list-pattern
12715 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
12716 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups
12717 to. This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
12718 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via @sc{imap},
12719 you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in @file{~/Mail/*}
12722 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
12723 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
12724 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
12730 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
12733 @item nnimap-stream
12734 @vindex nnimap-stream
12735 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
12736 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
12740 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
12742 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
12744 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
12747 @item nnimap-authenticator
12748 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
12750 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap will
12751 use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
12755 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
12757 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
12759 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
12761 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
12764 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
12766 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
12767 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
12768 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has this
12769 concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually delete
12770 them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what nnimap
12771 does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or similair).
12773 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
12774 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
12775 running in circles yet?
12777 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
12778 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
12781 The possible options are:
12786 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
12789 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing the
12790 articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients may allow
12791 you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command manually,
12792 @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
12794 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
12801 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
12802 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
12803 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
12808 @node Splitting in IMAP
12809 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
12810 @cindex splitting imap mail
12812 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
12813 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many @sc{imap}
12814 server has server side splitting and those that have splitting seem to
12815 use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap} support for Gnus
12816 has to do it's own splitting.
12820 There are three variables of interest:
12824 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
12825 @cindex splitting, crosspost
12827 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
12829 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
12830 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
12832 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
12834 @item nnimap-split-inbox
12835 @cindex splitting, inbox
12837 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
12839 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap} mailboxes
12840 to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is disabled!
12843 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
12846 No nnmail equivalent.
12848 @item nnimap-split-rule
12849 @cindex Splitting, rules
12850 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
12852 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
12855 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
12856 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles matching the
12857 regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that? Neither did I, we
12861 (setq nnimap-split-rule
12862 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
12863 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
12864 ("INBOX.private" "")))
12867 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
12868 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
12869 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
12871 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
12872 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
12876 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
12879 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12880 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
12881 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
12882 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
12884 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
12885 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
12886 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
12887 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
12888 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
12889 them every time you fetch new mail.)
12891 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
12892 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
12893 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
12895 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
12897 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
12901 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
12902 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
12903 @cindex editing imap acls
12904 @cindex Access Control Lists
12905 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
12907 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
12909 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for limiting
12910 (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all @sc{imap}
12911 servers support this, this function will give an error if it doesn't.
12913 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
12914 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
12915 editing window with detailed instructions.
12917 Some possible uses:
12921 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
12922 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
12923 follow the list without subscribing to it.
12925 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
12926 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
12927 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
12931 @node Expunging mailboxes
12932 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
12936 @cindex Manual expunging
12938 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
12940 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
12941 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
12942 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
12944 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
12949 @node Combined Groups
12950 @section Combined Groups
12952 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
12956 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
12957 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
12961 @node Virtual Groups
12962 @subsection Virtual Groups
12964 @cindex virtual groups
12965 @cindex merging groups
12967 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
12970 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
12971 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
12972 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
12974 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
12975 regexp to match component groups.
12977 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
12978 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
12979 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
12980 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
12981 the virtual group.)
12983 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
12984 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
12987 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
12990 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
12991 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
12993 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
12994 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
12995 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
12996 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
12999 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13002 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13003 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13004 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13006 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13007 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13008 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13009 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13010 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13012 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13013 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13014 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13016 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13017 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13018 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13019 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13020 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13021 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13022 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13023 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13024 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13025 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13026 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13028 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13029 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13030 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13031 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13032 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13033 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13034 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13036 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13037 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13041 @node Kibozed Groups
13042 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13046 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13047 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13048 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13049 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13051 @kindex G k (Group)
13052 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13055 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13056 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13057 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13058 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13060 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13061 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13062 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13064 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13065 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13066 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13067 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13068 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13069 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13070 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13071 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13073 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13074 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13075 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13076 Stranger things have happened.
13078 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13079 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13081 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13082 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13083 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13084 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13085 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13086 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13088 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13089 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13092 @node Gnus Unplugged
13093 @section Gnus Unplugged
13098 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13100 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13101 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13102 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13103 read news. Believe it or not.
13105 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13106 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13107 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13108 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13109 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13111 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13112 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13113 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13114 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13115 reading news on a machine.
13117 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13121 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13122 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13126 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13127 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13134 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13136 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13139 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13140 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13141 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13142 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13143 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13144 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13145 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13146 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13147 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13152 @subsection Agent Basics
13154 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13156 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13157 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13158 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13159 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13161 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13162 connected to the net continuously.
13164 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13165 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13167 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13172 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13173 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13174 already fetched while in this mode.
13177 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13178 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13179 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13182 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13183 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13184 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13185 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13188 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13189 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13190 then you read the news offline.
13193 And then you go to step 2.
13196 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13202 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13203 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13204 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13205 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13206 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13207 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13210 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13217 @node Agent Categories
13218 @subsection Agent Categories
13220 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13221 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13222 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13223 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13224 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13225 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13226 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13228 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13229 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13230 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13231 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13232 managing categories.
13235 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13236 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13237 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
13241 @node Category Syntax
13242 @subsubsection Category Syntax
13244 A category consists of two things.
13248 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
13249 are eligible for downloading; and
13252 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
13253 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
13254 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
13257 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
13258 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
13259 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
13260 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
13262 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
13263 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
13264 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
13266 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
13267 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
13268 operators sprinkled in between.
13270 Perhaps some examples are in order.
13272 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
13273 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
13279 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
13280 short (for some value of ``short'').
13282 Here's a more complex predicate:
13291 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
13292 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
13295 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
13296 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
13297 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
13299 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
13300 you want to do, you can write your own.
13304 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
13305 lines; default 100.
13308 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
13309 lines; default 200.
13312 True iff the article has a download score less than
13313 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
13316 True iff the article has a download score greater than
13317 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
13320 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
13321 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
13322 checksum and sees whether articles match.
13331 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
13332 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
13333 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
13336 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
13337 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
13338 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
13339 something along the lines of the following:
13342 (defun my-article-old-p ()
13343 "Say whether an article is old."
13344 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
13345 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
13348 with the predicate then defined as:
13351 (not my-article-old-p)
13354 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
13355 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
13356 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
13357 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
13360 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
13361 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
13362 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
13365 and simply specify your predicate as:
13371 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
13372 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
13373 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
13374 just don't give a damm.
13377 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
13378 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
13379 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
13380 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
13381 parameters like so:
13384 (agent-predicate . short)
13387 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
13388 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
13389 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
13392 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
13395 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
13398 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
13399 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
13400 predicate is assumed to be a list.
13403 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
13404 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
13405 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
13406 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
13407 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
13408 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
13410 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
13411 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
13412 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
13413 if it's to be specific to that group.
13415 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
13422 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
13423 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
13429 Category specification
13433 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13439 Group Parameter specification
13442 (agent-score ("from"
13443 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13448 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
13454 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
13461 Category specification
13464 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
13470 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
13474 Group Parameter specification
13477 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
13480 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
13485 Use @code{normal} score files
13487 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
13488 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
13489 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
13490 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
13492 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
13493 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
13494 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
13495 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
13499 Category Specification
13506 Group Parameter specification
13509 (agent-score . file)
13514 @node The Category Buffer
13515 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
13517 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
13518 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
13519 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
13521 The following commands are available in this buffer:
13525 @kindex q (Category)
13526 @findex gnus-category-exit
13527 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
13530 @kindex k (Category)
13531 @findex gnus-category-kill
13532 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
13535 @kindex c (Category)
13536 @findex gnus-category-copy
13537 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
13540 @kindex a (Category)
13541 @findex gnus-category-add
13542 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
13545 @kindex p (Category)
13546 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
13547 Edit the predicate of the current category
13548 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
13551 @kindex g (Category)
13552 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
13553 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
13554 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
13557 @kindex s (Category)
13558 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
13559 Edit the download score rule of the current category
13560 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
13563 @kindex l (Category)
13564 @findex gnus-category-list
13565 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
13569 @node Category Variables
13570 @subsubsection Category Variables
13573 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
13574 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
13575 Hook run in category buffers.
13577 @item gnus-category-line-format
13578 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
13579 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
13580 Variables}). Valid elements are:
13584 The name of the category.
13587 The number of groups in the category.
13590 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
13591 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
13592 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
13594 @item gnus-agent-short-article
13595 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
13596 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
13598 @item gnus-agent-long-article
13599 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
13600 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
13602 @item gnus-agent-low-score
13603 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
13604 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
13607 @item gnus-agent-high-score
13608 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
13609 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
13615 @node Agent Commands
13616 @subsection Agent Commands
13618 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
13619 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
13620 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
13624 * Group Agent Commands::
13625 * Summary Agent Commands::
13626 * Server Agent Commands::
13629 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
13630 following incantation:
13632 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13634 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13639 @node Group Agent Commands
13640 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
13644 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
13645 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
13646 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
13647 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
13650 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
13651 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
13652 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
13655 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
13656 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
13657 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
13658 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
13661 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
13662 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
13663 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
13664 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
13667 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
13668 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
13669 Add the current group to an Agent category
13670 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
13671 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13674 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
13675 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
13676 Remove the current group from its category, if any
13677 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
13678 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13683 @node Summary Agent Commands
13684 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
13688 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
13689 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
13690 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
13693 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
13694 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
13695 Remove the downloading mark from the article
13696 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
13699 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
13700 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
13701 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
13704 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
13705 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
13706 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
13711 @node Server Agent Commands
13712 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
13716 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
13717 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
13718 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
13719 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
13722 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
13723 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
13724 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
13725 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
13731 @subsection Agent Expiry
13733 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
13734 @findex gnus-agent-expire
13735 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
13736 @cindex Agent expiry
13737 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
13740 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
13741 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
13742 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
13743 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
13744 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
13745 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
13747 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
13748 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
13749 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
13750 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
13751 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
13754 @node Outgoing Messages
13755 @subsection Outgoing Messages
13757 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
13758 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
13759 after posting, and edit them at will.
13761 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
13762 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
13763 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
13764 messages in the draft group.
13768 @node Agent Variables
13769 @subsection Agent Variables
13772 @item gnus-agent-directory
13773 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
13774 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
13775 @file{~/News/agent/}.
13777 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
13778 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
13779 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
13780 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
13781 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
13784 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13785 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13786 Hook run when connecting to the network.
13788 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13789 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13790 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
13795 @node Example Setup
13796 @subsection Example Setup
13798 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
13799 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
13800 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
13803 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
13804 ;;; from your ISP's server.
13805 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
13807 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
13808 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
13809 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
13811 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
13812 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13814 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
13818 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
13819 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
13822 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
13823 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
13824 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
13825 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
13826 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
13829 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
13830 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
13831 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
13832 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
13833 back all the killed groups.)
13835 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
13836 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
13837 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
13840 @node Batching Agents
13841 @subsection Batching Agents
13843 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
13844 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
13845 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
13849 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
13853 @node Agent Caveats
13854 @subsection Agent Caveats
13856 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
13857 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
13861 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
13866 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
13867 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
13873 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
13874 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
13881 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
13882 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
13883 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
13886 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
13887 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
13888 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
13889 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
13890 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
13892 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
13893 before generating the summary buffer.
13895 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
13896 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
13897 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
13899 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
13900 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
13901 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
13902 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
13905 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
13906 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
13907 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
13908 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
13909 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
13910 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
13911 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
13912 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
13913 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
13914 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
13915 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
13916 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
13917 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
13918 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
13919 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
13920 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
13924 @node Summary Score Commands
13925 @section Summary Score Commands
13926 @cindex score commands
13928 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
13929 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
13930 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
13931 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
13932 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
13934 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
13935 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
13936 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
13937 score file the current one.
13939 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
13944 @kindex V s (Summary)
13945 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
13946 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
13949 @kindex V S (Summary)
13950 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
13951 Display the score of the current article
13952 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
13955 @kindex V t (Summary)
13956 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
13957 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
13958 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
13961 @kindex V R (Summary)
13962 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
13963 Run the current summary through the scoring process
13964 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
13965 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
13966 effect you're having.
13969 @kindex V c (Summary)
13970 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
13971 Make a different score file the current
13972 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
13975 @kindex V e (Summary)
13976 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
13977 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
13978 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
13982 @kindex V f (Summary)
13983 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
13984 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
13985 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
13988 @kindex V F (Summary)
13989 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13990 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
13991 after editing score files.
13994 @kindex V C (Summary)
13995 @findex gnus-score-customize
13996 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
13997 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14001 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14006 @kindex V m (Summary)
14007 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14008 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14009 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14012 @kindex V x (Summary)
14013 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14014 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14015 expunge all articles below this score
14016 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14019 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14020 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14023 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14024 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14028 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14029 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14031 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14032 keys are available:
14036 Score on the author name.
14039 Score on the subject line.
14042 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14045 Score on the @code{References} line.
14051 Score on the number of lines.
14054 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14057 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14058 the followups to this author.
14072 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14073 what headers you are scoring on.
14085 Substring matching.
14088 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14117 Greater than number.
14122 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14123 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14124 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14128 Temporary score entry.
14131 Permanent score entry.
14134 Immediately scoring.
14139 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14140 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14141 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14142 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14144 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14145 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14146 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14147 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14148 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14150 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14151 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14152 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14153 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14154 current score file.
14156 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14157 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14158 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14161 @node Group Score Commands
14162 @section Group Score Commands
14163 @cindex group score commands
14165 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14170 @kindex W f (Group)
14171 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14172 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14173 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14174 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14178 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14180 @findex gnus-batch-score
14181 @cindex batch scoring
14183 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14187 @node Score Variables
14188 @section Score Variables
14189 @cindex score variables
14193 @item gnus-use-scoring
14194 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14195 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14196 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14198 @item gnus-kill-killed
14199 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14200 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14201 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14202 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14203 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14204 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14205 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14207 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14208 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14209 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14210 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14211 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14213 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14214 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14215 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14216 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14218 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14219 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14220 @cindex score cache
14221 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14222 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14223 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
14224 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14225 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14226 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14229 @item gnus-save-score
14230 @vindex gnus-save-score
14231 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14232 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14233 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14235 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14236 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14237 across group visits.
14239 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14240 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14241 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
14242 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
14243 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
14244 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
14245 manually entered data.
14247 @item gnus-summary-default-score
14248 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
14249 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
14251 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
14252 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
14253 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
14254 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
14255 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
14256 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
14258 @item gnus-score-over-mark
14259 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
14260 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
14261 default. Default is @samp{+}.
14263 @item gnus-score-below-mark
14264 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
14265 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
14266 default. Default is @samp{-}.
14268 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14269 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14270 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
14271 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
14273 Predefined functions available are:
14276 @item gnus-score-find-single
14277 @findex gnus-score-find-single
14278 Only apply the group's own score file.
14280 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
14281 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
14282 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
14283 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
14284 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
14285 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
14286 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
14287 then a regexp match is done.
14289 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
14290 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
14292 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
14293 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
14294 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
14295 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
14297 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14298 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14299 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
14300 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
14301 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
14304 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
14305 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
14306 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
14307 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
14308 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
14309 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
14312 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
14313 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
14314 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
14315 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
14316 are expired. It's 7 by default.
14318 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14319 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14320 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
14321 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
14322 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
14323 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
14324 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
14327 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14328 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14329 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
14331 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
14332 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
14333 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
14334 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
14335 threading---according to the current value of
14336 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
14337 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
14338 simplified in this manner.
14343 @node Score File Format
14344 @section Score File Format
14345 @cindex score file format
14347 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
14348 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
14349 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
14351 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
14355 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
14357 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
14359 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
14361 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
14366 (mark-and-expunge -10)
14370 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
14371 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
14372 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
14373 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
14377 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
14378 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
14380 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
14381 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
14382 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
14384 Six keys are supported by this alist:
14389 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
14390 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
14391 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
14392 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
14393 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
14394 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
14395 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
14396 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
14397 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
14398 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
14399 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
14400 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
14401 to articles that matches these score entries.
14403 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
14404 score entry has one to four elements.
14408 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
14409 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
14413 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
14414 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
14415 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
14416 is successful. If this element is not present, the
14417 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
14418 instead. This is 1000 by default.
14421 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
14422 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
14423 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
14424 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
14425 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
14428 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
14429 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
14430 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
14431 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
14434 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
14435 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
14436 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
14437 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
14438 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
14439 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
14440 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
14441 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
14442 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
14443 instead, if you feel like.
14446 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
14447 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
14449 These predicates are true if
14452 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
14455 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
14456 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
14463 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
14464 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
14465 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
14466 it's not. I think.)
14468 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
14469 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
14470 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
14471 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
14474 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
14475 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
14476 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
14477 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
14478 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
14479 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
14480 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
14484 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
14485 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
14486 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
14487 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
14488 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
14489 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
14490 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
14491 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
14494 @item Head, Body, All
14495 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
14499 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
14500 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
14501 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
14502 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
14503 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
14504 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
14505 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
14509 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
14510 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
14511 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
14512 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
14513 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
14514 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
14515 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
14516 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
14517 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
14518 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
14519 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
14523 @cindex Score File Atoms
14525 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14526 lower than this number will be marked as read.
14529 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14530 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
14532 @item mark-and-expunge
14533 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14534 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
14537 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
14538 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
14539 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
14540 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
14541 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
14544 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
14545 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
14548 @item exclude-files
14549 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
14550 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
14554 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
14555 ignored when handling global score files.
14558 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
14559 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
14560 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
14561 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
14564 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
14565 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
14566 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
14567 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
14569 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
14573 (mark-and-expunge -100)
14576 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
14577 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
14578 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
14579 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
14580 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
14582 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
14583 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
14584 ordinary scoring rules.
14587 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
14588 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
14589 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
14590 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
14591 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
14592 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
14593 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14594 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
14595 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
14596 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
14597 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
14601 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
14602 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
14603 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
14604 file for a number of groups.
14607 @cindex local variables
14608 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
14609 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
14610 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
14611 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
14612 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
14616 @node Score File Editing
14617 @section Score File Editing
14619 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
14620 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
14621 with a mode for that.
14623 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
14624 additional commands:
14629 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
14630 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
14631 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
14632 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
14635 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
14636 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
14637 Insert the current date in numerical format
14638 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
14639 you were wondering.
14642 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
14643 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
14644 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
14645 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
14646 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
14651 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
14653 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
14654 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
14656 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
14657 e} to begin editing score files.
14660 @node Adaptive Scoring
14661 @section Adaptive Scoring
14662 @cindex adaptive scoring
14664 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
14665 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
14666 stupidity, to be precise.
14668 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
14669 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
14670 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
14671 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
14672 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14673 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
14674 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
14675 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
14676 variable to @code{(word line)}.
14678 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14679 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
14680 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
14681 might look something like this:
14684 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14685 '((gnus-unread-mark)
14686 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
14687 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
14688 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
14689 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
14690 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
14691 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
14692 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
14693 (gnus-ancient-mark)
14694 (gnus-low-score-mark)
14695 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
14698 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
14699 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
14700 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
14701 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
14702 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
14703 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
14706 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
14707 will be applied to each article.
14709 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
14710 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
14711 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
14712 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
14714 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
14715 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
14716 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
14717 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
14719 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
14720 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
14721 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
14722 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
14724 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
14725 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
14726 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
14727 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
14728 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
14729 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
14731 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
14732 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
14733 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
14734 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
14735 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
14736 aspirins afterwards.)
14738 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
14739 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
14740 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
14742 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
14743 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
14744 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
14746 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
14747 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
14748 let you use different rules in different groups.
14750 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
14751 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
14752 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
14755 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
14756 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
14757 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
14758 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
14759 the length of the match is less than
14760 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
14761 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
14764 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14765 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
14766 headers. If you adapt on words, the
14767 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
14768 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
14771 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14772 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
14773 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
14774 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
14775 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
14778 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
14779 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
14780 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
14781 score with 30 points.
14783 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
14784 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
14785 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
14786 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
14787 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
14789 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
14790 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
14791 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
14792 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
14794 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
14795 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
14796 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
14797 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
14799 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
14800 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
14801 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
14802 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
14803 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
14805 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
14806 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
14807 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
14809 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
14810 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
14811 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
14812 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
14815 @node Home Score File
14816 @section Home Score File
14818 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
14819 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
14820 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
14821 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
14823 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
14824 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
14825 could perhaps use the same home score file.
14827 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
14828 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
14833 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
14837 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
14838 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
14842 A list. The elements in this list can be:
14846 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
14847 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
14850 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
14851 the home score file.
14854 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
14857 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
14862 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
14865 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14866 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
14869 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
14870 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
14872 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
14874 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14875 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
14878 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
14879 Other functions include
14882 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
14883 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
14884 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
14885 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
14889 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
14890 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
14891 their own home score files:
14894 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14895 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
14896 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
14897 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
14898 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
14901 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
14902 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
14903 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
14904 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
14905 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
14907 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
14908 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
14909 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
14910 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
14911 precedence over this variable.
14914 @node Followups To Yourself
14915 @section Followups To Yourself
14917 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
14918 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
14919 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
14920 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
14921 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
14922 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
14926 @item gnus-score-followup-article
14927 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
14928 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
14931 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
14932 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
14933 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
14937 @vindex message-sent-hook
14938 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
14939 @code{message-sent-hook}.
14941 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
14942 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
14946 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14947 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14950 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
14951 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
14956 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
14960 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
14961 is system-dependent.
14965 @section Scoring Tips
14966 @cindex scoring tips
14972 @cindex scoring crossposts
14973 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
14974 the @code{Xref} header.
14976 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
14979 @item Multiple crossposts
14980 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
14981 more than, say, 3 groups:
14983 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
14986 @item Matching on the body
14987 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
14988 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
14989 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
14990 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
14991 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
14992 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
14993 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
14996 @item Marking as read
14997 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
14998 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
14999 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15003 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15005 @item Negated character classes
15006 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15007 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15008 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15012 @node Reverse Scoring
15013 @section Reverse Scoring
15014 @cindex reverse scoring
15016 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15017 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15018 like this in your score file:
15022 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15027 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15028 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15031 @node Global Score Files
15032 @section Global Score Files
15033 @cindex global score files
15035 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15036 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15037 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15039 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15040 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15041 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15043 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15044 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15045 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15046 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15047 files are applicable to which group.
15049 Say you want to use the score file
15050 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15051 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15054 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15055 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15056 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15059 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15060 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15061 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15062 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15063 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15065 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15066 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15068 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15069 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15070 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15071 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15072 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15073 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15075 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15081 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15083 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15085 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15087 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15088 lowered out of existence.
15090 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15091 articles completely.
15094 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15095 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15096 old articles for a long time.
15099 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15100 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15101 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15102 holding our breath yet?
15106 @section Kill Files
15109 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15110 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15111 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15113 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15114 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15115 files into score files.
15117 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15118 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15119 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15120 that isn't a very good idea.
15122 Normal kill files look like this:
15125 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15126 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15130 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15131 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15133 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15134 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15137 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15142 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15143 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15144 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15147 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15148 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15149 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15152 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15157 @kindex M-k (Group)
15158 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15159 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15162 @kindex M-K (Group)
15163 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15164 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15167 Kill file variables:
15170 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15171 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15172 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15173 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15174 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15175 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15176 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15178 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15179 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15180 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15181 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15184 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15185 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15186 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15187 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15188 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15189 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15190 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15191 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15192 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15194 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15195 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15196 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15201 @node Converting Kill Files
15202 @section Converting Kill Files
15204 @cindex converting kill files
15206 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15207 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15208 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15211 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15212 You can fetch it from
15213 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15215 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15216 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15217 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15225 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15226 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15227 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15229 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15230 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15231 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15232 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15233 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15234 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15235 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15236 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15240 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
15241 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
15242 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
15243 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
15247 @node Using GroupLens
15248 @subsection Using GroupLens
15250 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
15252 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
15253 better bit in town at the moment.
15255 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
15259 @item gnus-use-grouplens
15260 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
15261 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
15262 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
15264 @item grouplens-pseudonym
15265 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
15266 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
15267 with the Better Bit Bureau.
15269 @item grouplens-newsgroups
15270 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
15271 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
15275 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
15276 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
15277 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
15278 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
15279 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
15280 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
15283 @node Rating Articles
15284 @subsection Rating Articles
15286 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
15287 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
15288 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
15289 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
15292 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
15297 @kindex r (GroupLens)
15298 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
15299 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
15302 @kindex k (GroupLens)
15303 @findex grouplens-score-thread
15304 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
15305 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
15306 threads in rec.humor.
15310 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
15311 the score of the article you're reading.
15316 @kindex n (GroupLens)
15317 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
15318 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
15321 @kindex , (GroupLens)
15322 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
15323 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
15327 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
15328 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
15331 @node Displaying Predictions
15332 @subsection Displaying Predictions
15334 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
15335 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
15336 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
15337 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
15338 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
15340 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
15341 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
15342 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
15343 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
15344 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
15345 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
15346 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
15347 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
15348 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
15349 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
15350 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
15351 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
15352 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
15354 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
15355 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
15356 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
15357 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
15359 The following are valid values for that variable.
15362 @item prediction-spot
15363 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
15366 @item confidence-interval
15367 A numeric confidence interval.
15369 @item prediction-bar
15370 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
15372 @item confidence-bar
15373 Numerical confidence.
15375 @item confidence-spot
15376 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
15378 @item prediction-num
15379 Plain-old numeric value.
15381 @item confidence-plus-minus
15382 Prediction +/- confidence.
15387 @node GroupLens Variables
15388 @subsection GroupLens Variables
15392 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
15393 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
15394 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
15395 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
15398 @item grouplens-bbb-host
15399 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
15402 @item grouplens-bbb-port
15403 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
15405 @item grouplens-score-offset
15406 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
15407 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
15410 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
15411 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
15412 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
15417 @node Advanced Scoring
15418 @section Advanced Scoring
15420 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
15421 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
15422 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
15423 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
15424 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
15426 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
15430 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
15431 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
15432 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
15436 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
15437 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
15439 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
15440 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
15441 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
15442 non-@code{nil} value.
15444 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
15445 operator, and various match operators.
15452 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15453 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
15454 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
15459 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15460 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
15461 then this operator will return @code{false}.
15466 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
15467 logical negation of the value of its argument.
15471 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
15472 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
15473 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
15474 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
15475 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
15476 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
15477 the ancestry you want to go.
15479 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
15480 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
15481 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
15482 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
15483 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
15486 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
15487 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
15489 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
15490 when he's talking about Gnus:
15494 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15495 ("subject" "Gnus"))
15501 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
15505 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15512 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
15513 really don't want to read what he's written:
15517 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15518 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
15522 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
15523 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
15524 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
15531 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
15532 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
15533 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
15534 ("body" "white.*socks"))
15538 The possibilities are endless.
15541 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
15542 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
15544 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
15545 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
15546 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
15547 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
15548 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
15549 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
15550 @samp{subject}) first.
15552 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
15553 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
15564 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
15565 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
15571 ("subject" "Gnus")))
15578 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
15579 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
15584 @section Score Decays
15585 @cindex score decays
15588 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
15589 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
15590 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
15591 use them in any sensible way.
15593 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
15594 @findex gnus-decay-score
15595 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
15596 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
15597 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
15598 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
15599 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
15600 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
15601 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
15602 definition of that function:
15605 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
15607 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
15608 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
15611 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
15613 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
15615 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
15618 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
15619 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
15620 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
15621 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
15625 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
15628 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
15631 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
15635 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
15636 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
15637 the new score, which should be an integer.
15639 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
15640 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
15647 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
15648 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
15649 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
15650 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
15651 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
15652 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
15653 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
15654 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
15655 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
15656 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
15657 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
15658 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
15659 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
15660 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
15661 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
15662 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
15663 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
15664 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
15668 @node Process/Prefix
15669 @section Process/Prefix
15670 @cindex process/prefix convention
15672 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
15673 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
15675 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
15676 command to be performed on.
15680 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
15681 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
15682 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
15683 with the current one.
15685 @vindex transient-mark-mode
15686 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
15687 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
15689 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
15690 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
15693 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
15694 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
15696 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
15699 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
15700 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
15701 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
15702 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15704 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
15705 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
15706 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
15707 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
15708 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
15709 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
15710 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
15711 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
15715 @section Interactive
15716 @cindex interaction
15720 @item gnus-novice-user
15721 @vindex gnus-novice-user
15722 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
15723 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
15724 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
15725 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
15728 @item gnus-expert-user
15729 @vindex gnus-expert-user
15730 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
15731 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
15732 matter how strange.
15734 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
15735 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
15736 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
15737 is @code{t} by default.
15739 @item gnus-interactive-exit
15740 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
15741 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15746 @node Symbolic Prefixes
15747 @section Symbolic Prefixes
15748 @cindex symbolic prefixes
15750 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
15751 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
15752 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
15753 rule of 900 to the current article.
15755 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
15756 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
15757 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
15758 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
15759 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
15760 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
15761 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
15763 @kindex M-i (Summary)
15764 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
15765 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
15766 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
15767 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
15768 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
15769 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
15770 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
15771 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
15773 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
15774 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
15775 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
15777 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
15781 @node Formatting Variables
15782 @section Formatting Variables
15783 @cindex formatting variables
15785 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
15786 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
15787 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
15788 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
15789 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
15792 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
15793 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
15794 lots of percentages everywhere.
15797 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
15798 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
15799 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
15800 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
15801 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
15804 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
15805 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
15806 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
15807 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
15808 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
15809 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
15810 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
15811 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
15813 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
15814 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
15816 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
15817 @findex gnus-update-format
15818 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
15819 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
15820 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
15821 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
15825 @node Formatting Basics
15826 @subsection Formatting Basics
15828 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
15829 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
15830 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
15832 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
15833 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
15834 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
15835 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
15836 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
15839 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
15840 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
15841 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
15842 less than 4 characters wide.
15845 @node Mode Line Formatting
15846 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
15848 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
15849 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
15850 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
15851 with the following two differences:
15856 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
15859 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
15860 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
15861 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
15862 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
15863 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
15864 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
15865 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
15870 @node Advanced Formatting
15871 @subsection Advanced Formatting
15873 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
15874 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
15875 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
15876 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
15878 These are the valid modifiers:
15883 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
15887 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
15892 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
15895 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
15900 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
15903 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
15906 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
15909 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
15913 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
15914 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
15915 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
15916 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
15917 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
15918 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
15919 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
15921 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
15922 last operation, padding.
15924 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
15925 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
15926 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
15927 @xref{Compilation}.
15930 @node User-Defined Specs
15931 @subsection User-Defined Specs
15933 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
15934 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
15935 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
15936 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
15937 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
15938 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
15939 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
15940 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
15941 should protect against that.
15943 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
15944 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
15945 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
15946 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
15950 @node Formatting Fonts
15951 @subsection Formatting Fonts
15953 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
15954 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
15955 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
15956 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
15959 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
15960 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
15961 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
15962 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
15963 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
15964 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
15966 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
15967 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
15968 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
15969 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
15970 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
15971 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
15972 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
15973 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
15975 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
15978 ;; Create three face types.
15979 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
15980 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
15982 ;; We want the article count to be in
15983 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
15984 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
15985 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
15987 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
15988 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
15990 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
15991 (setq gnus-group-line-format
15992 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
15995 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
15996 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
15998 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
15999 mode-line variables.
16002 @node Windows Configuration
16003 @section Windows Configuration
16004 @cindex windows configuration
16006 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16008 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16009 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16010 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16011 @code{t} by default.
16013 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16014 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16016 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16017 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16018 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16021 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16022 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16023 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16027 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16028 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16029 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16030 possible names is listed below.
16032 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16033 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16036 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16040 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16041 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16042 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16043 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16044 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16045 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16046 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16047 size spec per split.
16049 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16050 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16051 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16052 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16053 present) gets focus.
16055 Here's a more complicated example:
16058 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16059 (summary 0.25 point)
16060 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16064 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16065 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16066 occupy, not a percentage.
16068 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16069 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16070 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16071 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16072 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16075 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16078 (article (horizontal 1.0
16083 (summary 0.25 point)
16088 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16089 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16091 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16092 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16093 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16094 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16095 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16097 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16098 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16099 lines from the splits.
16101 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16105 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16106 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16107 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16108 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16109 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16110 size = number | frame-params
16111 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16114 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16115 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16116 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16117 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16119 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16120 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16121 @cindex window height
16122 @cindex window width
16123 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16124 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16125 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16126 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16127 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16128 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16130 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16131 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16132 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16133 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16135 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16136 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16137 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16138 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16139 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16140 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16141 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16142 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16143 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16144 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16145 configuration list.
16148 (gnus-configure-frame
16152 (article 0.3 point))
16160 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16161 @code{frame} split:
16164 (gnus-configure-frame
16167 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16169 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16170 (user-position . t)
16171 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16176 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16177 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16178 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16179 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16180 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16181 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16182 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16183 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16185 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16186 be found in its default value.
16188 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16189 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16190 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16194 (message (horizontal 1.0
16195 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16197 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16202 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16203 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16204 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16207 (message (frame 1.0
16208 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16209 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16210 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16211 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16212 (name . "Message"))
16213 (message 1.0 point))))
16216 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16217 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16218 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16219 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16220 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16223 (gnus-add-configuration
16224 '(article (vertical 1.0
16226 (summary .25 point)
16230 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16231 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
16232 Gnus has been loaded.
16234 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
16235 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
16236 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
16237 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
16238 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
16240 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
16241 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
16242 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
16246 @node Faces and Fonts
16247 @section Faces and Fonts
16252 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
16253 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
16254 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
16259 @section Compilation
16260 @cindex compilation
16261 @cindex byte-compilation
16263 @findex gnus-compile
16265 Remember all those line format specification variables?
16266 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
16267 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
16268 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
16269 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
16270 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
16273 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
16274 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
16275 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
16276 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
16277 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
16278 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
16279 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
16283 @section Mode Lines
16286 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
16287 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
16288 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
16289 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
16290 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
16291 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
16292 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
16295 @cindex display-time
16297 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
16298 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
16299 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
16300 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
16301 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
16302 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
16303 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
16304 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
16307 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
16309 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
16310 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
16312 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
16313 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
16314 (length display-time-string)))))
16317 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
16318 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
16319 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
16320 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
16321 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
16324 @node Highlighting and Menus
16325 @section Highlighting and Menus
16327 @cindex highlighting
16330 @vindex gnus-visual
16331 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
16332 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
16333 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
16336 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
16337 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
16340 @item group-highlight
16341 Do highlights in the group buffer.
16342 @item summary-highlight
16343 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
16344 @item article-highlight
16345 Do highlights in the article buffer.
16347 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
16349 Create menus in the group buffer.
16351 Create menus in the summary buffers.
16353 Create menus in the article buffer.
16355 Create menus in the browse buffer.
16357 Create menus in the server buffer.
16359 Create menus in the score buffers.
16361 Create menus in all buffers.
16364 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
16365 buffers, you could say something like:
16368 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
16371 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
16374 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
16377 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
16378 in all Gnus buffers.
16380 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
16383 @item gnus-mouse-face
16384 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
16385 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
16386 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
16390 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
16394 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
16395 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
16396 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
16398 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
16399 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
16400 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
16402 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
16403 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
16404 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
16406 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
16407 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
16408 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
16410 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
16411 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
16412 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
16414 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
16415 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
16416 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
16427 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
16428 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
16429 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
16430 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
16431 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
16435 @vindex gnus-carpal
16436 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
16437 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
16438 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
16443 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16444 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16445 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
16447 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
16448 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
16449 Face used on buttons.
16451 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
16452 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
16453 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
16455 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16456 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16457 Buttons in the group buffer.
16459 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16460 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16461 Buttons in the summary buffer.
16463 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16464 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16465 Buttons in the server buffer.
16467 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16468 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16469 Buttons in the browse buffer.
16472 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
16473 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
16474 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
16482 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
16483 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
16484 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
16485 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
16486 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
16488 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
16489 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
16490 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
16492 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
16493 been idle for thirty minutes:
16496 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
16499 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
16503 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
16506 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
16507 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
16508 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16510 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
16511 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
16512 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
16513 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16515 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
16516 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
16517 @var{idle} minutes.
16519 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
16520 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
16523 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
16524 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
16525 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
16527 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
16528 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
16529 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
16530 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
16532 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
16533 your @file{.gnus} file:
16535 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
16537 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
16540 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
16541 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
16542 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
16543 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
16544 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
16545 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
16546 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
16547 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
16548 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
16549 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
16550 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
16552 @findex gnus-demon-init
16553 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
16554 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
16555 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
16556 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
16557 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
16559 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
16560 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
16561 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
16570 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
16571 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
16573 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
16574 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
16575 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
16576 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
16579 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
16580 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
16581 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
16582 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
16584 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
16585 this will make spam disappear.
16587 There are some variables to customize, of course:
16590 @item gnus-use-nocem
16591 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
16592 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
16595 @item gnus-nocem-groups
16596 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
16597 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
16598 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
16599 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
16601 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
16602 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
16603 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
16604 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
16605 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
16606 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
16607 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
16609 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
16612 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
16613 @cindex Chris Lewis
16614 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
16615 usenet abuse than anybody else.
16618 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
16619 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
16620 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
16622 @item jem@@xpat.com;
16624 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
16627 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
16628 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
16629 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
16632 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
16633 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
16634 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
16635 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
16636 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
16637 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
16638 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
16639 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
16640 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
16641 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
16643 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
16644 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
16647 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
16650 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
16651 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
16654 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
16657 The specs are applied left-to-right.
16660 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
16661 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
16663 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
16664 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
16665 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
16666 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
16668 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
16669 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
16672 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
16674 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
16682 This might be dangerous, though.
16684 @item gnus-nocem-directory
16685 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
16686 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
16687 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
16689 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16690 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16691 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
16692 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
16693 might then see old spam.
16697 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
16698 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
16699 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
16700 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
16707 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
16708 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
16709 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
16711 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
16712 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
16713 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
16714 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
16715 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
16716 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
16717 @code{undo} function.
16719 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
16720 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
16721 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
16722 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
16723 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
16724 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
16725 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
16726 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
16727 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
16728 never be totally undoable.
16730 @findex gnus-undo-mode
16731 @vindex gnus-use-undo
16733 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
16734 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
16735 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
16736 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
16741 @section Moderation
16744 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
16745 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
16746 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
16749 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
16753 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
16756 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
16758 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
16763 You split your incoming mail by matching on
16764 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
16765 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
16768 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
16769 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
16772 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
16773 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
16777 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
16780 (setq gnus-moderated-list
16781 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
16785 @node XEmacs Enhancements
16786 @section XEmacs Enhancements
16789 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
16793 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
16794 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
16795 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
16796 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
16809 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
16810 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
16811 over your shoulder as you read news.
16814 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
16815 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
16816 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
16817 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
16818 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
16823 @subsubsection Picon Basics
16825 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
16834 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
16835 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
16836 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
16837 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
16838 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
16839 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
16840 @code{GIF} formats.
16843 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16844 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
16845 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
16846 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
16847 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
16849 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16850 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
16851 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
16852 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
16853 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
16854 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16857 @node Picon Requirements
16858 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
16860 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
16861 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
16864 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
16865 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
16866 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
16868 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16869 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
16870 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
16871 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
16872 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
16876 @subsubsection Easy Picons
16878 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
16879 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
16882 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
16883 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
16886 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
16887 containing the Picons databases.
16889 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
16892 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16893 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
16898 @subsubsection Hard Picons
16906 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
16907 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
16908 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
16909 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
16910 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
16915 @item gnus-picons-database
16916 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16917 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
16918 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
16919 subdirectories. This is only useful if
16920 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
16921 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
16923 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16924 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16925 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
16926 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
16927 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
16928 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
16929 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16931 @item gnus-picons-display-where
16932 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16933 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
16934 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
16935 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
16936 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
16937 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
16938 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
16940 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16941 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16942 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
16947 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
16948 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
16950 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
16951 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
16954 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16956 @item gnus-article-display-picons
16957 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16958 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
16959 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
16961 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
16962 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16963 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
16969 @node Picon Useless Configuration
16970 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
16978 The following variables offer further control over how things are
16979 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
16980 don't need to worry about.
16984 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
16985 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
16986 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16987 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
16989 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
16990 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
16991 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
16992 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
16994 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
16995 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
16996 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16997 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
16998 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17000 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17001 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17002 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17003 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17004 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17005 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17006 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17008 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17009 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17010 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17011 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17013 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17014 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17015 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17016 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17017 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17018 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17019 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17021 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17022 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17023 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17024 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17026 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17027 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17028 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17029 Defaults to @code{t}.
17031 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17032 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17033 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17034 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17036 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17037 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17038 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17040 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17041 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17042 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17043 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17045 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17046 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17048 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17049 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17050 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17051 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17052 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17053 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17054 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17055 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17066 @subsection Smileys
17071 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17076 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17077 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17079 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17080 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17083 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
17086 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17087 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17088 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17089 text and maps that to file names.
17091 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17092 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17093 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17094 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17095 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17096 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17098 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17099 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17101 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17102 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17103 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17105 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17106 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17110 @item smiley-data-directory
17111 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17112 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17114 @item smiley-flesh-color
17115 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17116 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17118 @item smiley-features-color
17119 @vindex smiley-features-color
17120 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17122 @item smiley-tongue-color
17123 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17124 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17126 @item smiley-circle-color
17127 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17128 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17130 @item smiley-mouse-face
17131 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17132 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17138 @subsection Toolbar
17148 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17149 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17150 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17151 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17152 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17154 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17155 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17156 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17158 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17159 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17160 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17162 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17163 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17164 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17170 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17173 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17174 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17175 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17176 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17177 unusual directory structure.
17179 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17180 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17181 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17182 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17184 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17185 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17186 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17187 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17188 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17189 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17191 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17192 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17193 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17207 @node Fuzzy Matching
17208 @section Fuzzy Matching
17209 @cindex fuzzy matching
17211 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17212 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17214 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17215 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17216 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17218 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17219 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17220 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17221 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17222 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
17225 @node Thwarting Email Spam
17226 @section Thwarting Email Spam
17230 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
17232 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
17233 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
17234 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
17235 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
17236 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
17237 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
17238 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
17239 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
17242 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
17243 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
17244 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
17245 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
17246 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
17247 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
17251 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
17252 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
17254 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
17255 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
17256 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
17257 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
17258 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
17259 part of the mail address.)
17262 (setq message-default-news-headers
17263 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
17266 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
17267 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
17272 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
17273 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
17274 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
17280 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
17281 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
17282 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
17283 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
17285 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
17286 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
17287 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
17288 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
17289 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
17290 your fancy split rule in this way:
17295 (to "larsi" "misc")
17299 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
17300 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
17301 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
17302 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
17303 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
17305 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
17306 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
17307 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
17308 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
17309 cosmic balance somewhat.
17311 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
17312 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
17313 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
17314 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
17317 @node Various Various
17318 @section Various Various
17324 @item gnus-home-directory
17325 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
17326 defaults to @file{~/}.
17328 @item gnus-directory
17329 @vindex gnus-directory
17330 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
17331 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
17332 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
17334 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
17335 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
17336 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
17337 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
17339 @item gnus-default-directory
17340 @vindex gnus-default-directory
17341 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
17342 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
17343 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
17344 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17345 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
17346 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
17349 @vindex gnus-verbose
17350 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
17351 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
17352 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
17353 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
17354 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
17356 @item gnus-verbose-backends
17357 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
17358 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
17359 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
17361 @item nnheader-max-head-length
17362 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
17363 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
17364 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
17365 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
17366 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
17367 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
17368 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
17369 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
17370 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
17372 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
17373 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
17374 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
17375 read when doing the operation described above.
17377 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17378 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17380 @cindex invalid characters in file names
17381 @cindex characters in file names
17382 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
17383 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
17384 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
17387 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17391 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
17392 Windows (phooey) systems.
17394 @item gnus-hidden-properties
17395 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
17396 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
17397 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
17398 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
17400 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
17401 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
17402 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
17403 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
17404 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
17406 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
17407 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
17408 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
17417 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
17418 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
17420 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
17422 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
17428 Not because of victories @*
17431 but for the common sunshine,@*
17433 the largess of the spring.
17437 but for the day's work done@*
17438 as well as I was able;@*
17439 not for a seat upon the dais@*
17440 but at the common table.@*
17445 @chapter Appendices
17448 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
17449 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
17450 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
17451 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
17452 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
17453 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
17454 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
17455 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
17463 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
17464 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
17466 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
17467 can point your (feh!) web browser to
17468 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
17469 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
17470 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
17472 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
17473 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
17474 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
17475 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
17476 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
17477 appropriate name, don't you think?)
17479 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
17480 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
17481 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
17482 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
17484 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
17485 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
17486 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
17488 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
17489 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
17491 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
17492 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
17494 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
17495 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
17497 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
17498 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
17499 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
17500 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
17501 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
17505 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
17506 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
17507 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
17508 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
17509 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
17510 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
17511 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
17512 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
17519 What's the point of Gnus?
17521 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
17522 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
17523 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
17524 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
17525 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
17526 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
17527 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
17528 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
17529 keep track of millions of people who post?
17531 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
17532 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
17533 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
17534 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
17535 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
17536 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
17537 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
17538 every one of you to explore and invent.
17540 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
17541 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
17544 @node Compatibility
17545 @subsection Compatibility
17547 @cindex compatibility
17548 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
17549 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
17550 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
17555 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
17559 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
17562 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
17565 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
17566 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
17567 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
17568 important variables have their values copied into their global
17569 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
17570 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
17572 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
17573 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
17574 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
17575 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
17576 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
17580 @cindex highlighting
17581 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
17582 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
17583 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
17584 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
17585 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
17586 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
17589 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
17590 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
17591 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
17592 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
17594 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
17595 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
17596 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
17597 to stop doing it the old way.
17599 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
17601 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17603 @cindex reporting bugs
17605 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
17606 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
17607 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
17609 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
17610 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
17611 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
17612 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
17617 @subsection Conformity
17619 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
17620 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
17627 There are no known breaches of this standard.
17631 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
17633 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
17634 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
17635 We do have some breaches to this one.
17641 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
17642 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
17643 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
17644 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
17645 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
17650 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
17651 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
17652 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
17653 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
17657 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
17658 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
17663 @subsection Emacsen
17669 Gnus should work on :
17677 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
17681 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
17682 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
17685 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
17686 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
17687 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
17691 @node Gnus Development
17692 @subsection Gnus Development
17694 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
17695 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
17696 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
17697 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
17698 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
17699 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
17700 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
17701 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
17703 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
17704 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
17705 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
17706 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
17707 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
17710 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
17711 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
17712 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
17713 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
17714 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
17716 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
17717 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
17718 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
17719 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
17720 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
17721 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
17722 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
17723 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
17724 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
17725 can't be assumed to do so.
17730 @subsection Contributors
17731 @cindex contributors
17733 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
17734 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
17735 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
17736 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
17737 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
17738 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
17739 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
17740 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
17741 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
17742 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
17744 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
17750 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
17753 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
17754 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
17755 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
17756 functionality and stuff.
17759 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
17760 well as numerous other things).
17763 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
17766 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
17769 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
17770 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
17773 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
17776 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
17777 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17780 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
17783 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
17786 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
17789 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
17792 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
17793 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
17796 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
17799 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
17802 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
17805 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
17809 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
17812 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
17815 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
17818 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
17819 well as autoconf support.
17823 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
17824 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
17826 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
17835 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
17839 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
17849 Alexei V. Barantsev,
17864 Massimo Campostrini,
17869 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
17870 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
17874 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
17877 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
17883 Michael Welsh Duggan,
17888 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
17892 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
17900 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
17902 Michelangelo Grigni,
17906 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
17908 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
17910 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
17917 François Felix Ingrand,
17918 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
17919 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
17921 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
17932 Peter Skov Knudsen,
17933 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
17935 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
17936 Thor Kristoffersen,
17939 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
17957 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
17958 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
17965 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
17970 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
17974 John McClary Prevost,
17980 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
17985 Christian von Roques,
17988 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
17995 Philippe Schnoebelen,
17997 Randal L. Schwartz,
18012 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18017 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18033 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18038 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18039 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18040 (550kB and counting).
18042 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18045 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18046 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18050 @subsection New Features
18051 @cindex new features
18054 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18055 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18056 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18057 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18060 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18061 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18062 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18066 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18068 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18073 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18074 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18077 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18078 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18081 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18084 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18085 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18086 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18089 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18090 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18091 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18092 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18095 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18096 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18099 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18100 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18101 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18104 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18105 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18108 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18109 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18110 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18113 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18114 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18115 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18118 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18119 the @file{.emacs} file.
18122 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18123 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18126 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18127 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18130 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18131 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18134 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18135 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18138 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18139 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18142 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18145 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18146 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18149 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18150 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18153 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18154 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18157 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18160 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18161 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18164 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18168 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18172 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18173 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18176 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18182 @node September Gnus
18183 @subsubsection September Gnus
18187 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18191 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
18196 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
18197 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
18201 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
18202 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
18206 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
18210 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
18211 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
18214 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
18218 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18221 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
18224 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
18227 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
18231 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
18232 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
18235 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
18239 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
18243 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
18247 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
18251 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
18254 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
18255 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
18258 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
18262 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
18263 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
18266 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
18269 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
18270 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
18271 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18274 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
18278 The Gnus cache is much faster.
18281 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
18285 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
18286 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18289 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
18290 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
18293 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
18294 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18297 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
18298 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
18299 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
18302 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
18303 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
18306 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
18309 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18312 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
18315 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
18318 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
18319 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
18322 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
18326 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
18329 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
18334 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
18337 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
18341 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18344 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
18348 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
18351 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
18354 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
18355 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18358 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
18359 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
18363 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
18364 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
18367 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
18371 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
18372 buffer to allow easier treatment.
18375 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
18378 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
18382 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
18386 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
18387 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
18390 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
18394 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
18395 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18398 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
18399 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18402 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
18406 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18409 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
18412 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
18418 @subsubsection Red Gnus
18420 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
18424 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
18431 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
18434 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
18435 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18438 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
18439 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
18443 Article washing status can be displayed in the
18444 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
18447 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
18450 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
18451 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
18454 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
18458 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
18459 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
18463 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
18464 Server Internals}).
18467 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
18471 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
18474 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
18475 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
18478 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
18479 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
18480 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
18483 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
18484 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18487 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
18488 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
18491 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
18495 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
18496 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18499 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
18500 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18503 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
18507 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
18510 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
18514 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
18515 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18518 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
18519 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18522 A new command for reading collections of documents
18523 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
18524 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
18527 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
18531 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
18532 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
18535 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
18536 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
18537 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
18540 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
18541 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
18545 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
18549 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
18553 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
18558 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
18562 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
18566 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
18567 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
18570 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
18576 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
18578 New features in Gnus 5.6:
18583 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
18584 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
18585 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
18588 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
18589 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
18590 group, which is created automatically.
18593 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
18597 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
18600 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
18601 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
18604 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
18608 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
18611 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
18612 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
18615 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
18618 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
18619 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
18622 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
18623 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
18626 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
18627 control over simplification.
18630 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
18633 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
18637 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
18640 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18643 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
18644 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
18645 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
18648 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
18649 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
18652 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
18656 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
18657 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
18660 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
18661 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
18664 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
18668 A history of where mails have been split is available.
18671 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
18674 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
18675 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
18678 A new function for citing in Message has been
18679 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
18682 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
18685 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
18689 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
18690 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
18693 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
18694 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
18697 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
18700 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
18705 @node Newest Features
18706 @subsection Newest Features
18709 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
18712 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
18714 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
18715 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
18718 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
18723 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
18724 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
18727 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
18730 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
18733 facep is not declared.
18736 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
18737 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
18740 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
18745 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
18746 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
18747 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
18748 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
18749 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
18750 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
18751 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
18756 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
18759 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
18762 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
18764 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
18765 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
18767 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
18769 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
18771 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
18772 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
18774 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
18776 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
18777 be marked as unread.
18779 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
18781 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
18783 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
18784 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
18786 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
18788 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
18790 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
18791 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
18793 topics that contain just groups with ticked
18794 articles aren't displayed.
18796 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
18798 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
18799 make the mail groups killed.
18801 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
18803 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
18804 and articles have to be removed.
18806 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
18809 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
18811 finding short score file names takes forever.
18813 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18815 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
18817 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
18819 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
18821 nnweb doesn't work properly.
18823 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
18825 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
18826 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
18830 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
18832 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
18833 bar and the Gnus bar.
18836 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
18837 `(canonize-message-id id)'
18838 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
18839 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
18840 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
18841 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
18846 nnml .overview directory with splits.
18850 postponed commands.
18852 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
18854 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
18857 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
18858 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
18860 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
18861 inherit copy prompts and save files.
18863 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
18865 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
18866 for backends that support that.
18868 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
18870 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
18871 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
18873 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
18874 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
18876 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
18878 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
18880 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
18882 server mode command: close/open all connections
18884 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
18885 has been changed before using it.
18887 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
18889 hide (sub)threads with low score.
18891 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
18893 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
18895 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
18896 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
18898 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
18899 contain groups that match a regexp.
18901 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
18904 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
18907 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
18908 from subject lines.
18910 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
18912 nntp-ping-before-connect
18914 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
18916 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
18917 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
18919 message annotations.
18921 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
18923 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
18924 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
18926 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
18931 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
18933 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
18935 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
18937 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
18938 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
18940 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
18942 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
18944 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
18945 finds and generate proper active ranges.
18947 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
18948 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
18950 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
18952 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
18954 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
18955 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
18957 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
18959 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
18961 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
18962 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
18965 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
18967 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
18969 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
18970 `C-c C-c' when posting.
18972 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
18975 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
18976 should be marker as expirable.
18978 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
18980 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
18981 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
18983 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
18984 Also consult Date headers.
18986 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
18988 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
18990 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
18991 Message-ID, delete the "original".
18993 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
18994 into a See-Also header.
18996 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
18998 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19000 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19001 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19003 generate font names dynamically.
19005 score file mode auto-alist.
19007 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19008 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19010 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19011 absolutely all headers there is.
19013 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19014 and pipe them to the process.
19016 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19017 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19018 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19020 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19021 the current mail group.
19023 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19025 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19026 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19028 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19029 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19031 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19033 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19034 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19036 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19037 groups it has been mailed to.
19039 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19041 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19043 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19045 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19046 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19048 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19049 newlines) should be ignored.
19051 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19052 groups in subtopics as well.
19054 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19056 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19059 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19061 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19063 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19065 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19067 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19069 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19071 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19072 or the formatted article.
19074 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19076 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19077 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19079 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19081 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19083 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19085 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19086 even unread articles.
19088 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19090 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19092 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19094 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19096 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19098 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19101 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19102 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19104 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19105 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19107 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19109 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19111 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19112 from a particular server? Hm.
19114 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19115 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19117 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19119 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19120 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19122 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19123 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19125 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19126 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19127 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19130 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19131 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19133 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19135 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19137 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19139 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19142 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19145 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19146 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19148 command to show and edit group scores
19150 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19153 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19155 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19157 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19158 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19161 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19162 that are of that length.
19164 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19166 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19168 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19170 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19172 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19174 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19176 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19177 a score lower than this number.
19179 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19181 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19183 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19184 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19186 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19188 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19189 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19191 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
19194 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
19195 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
19196 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
19197 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
19199 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
19202 command to remove all topic stuff.
19204 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
19205 and splitting the resulting digests.
19207 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
19209 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
19211 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
19212 matches an alist -- before saving.
19214 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
19216 variable to activate each group before entering them
19217 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
19219 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
19220 starting Gnus first if necessary.
19222 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
19223 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
19225 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
19227 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
19228 of several groups at once.
19230 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
19231 matches some regexp(s).
19233 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
19235 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
19237 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
19239 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
19241 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
19243 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
19245 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
19247 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
19248 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
19249 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
19250 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
19252 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
19253 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
19255 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
19257 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
19258 recently cited text.
19260 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
19262 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
19265 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
19266 server and just read the articles in the server
19268 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
19269 value of nnoo variables.
19271 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
19273 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
19274 listed in each group info.
19276 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
19279 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
19280 should only be applied to some groups.
19282 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
19283 mail-copies-to: never.
19285 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
19286 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
19288 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
19290 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
19293 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
19296 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
19298 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
19301 group user-defined meta-parameters.
19305 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
19307 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
19308 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
19309 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
19310 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
19311 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
19313 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
19314 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
19321 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
19322 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
19324 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
19325 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
19327 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
19328 "Return the date the group was last read."
19329 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
19334 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
19335 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
19336 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
19337 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
19341 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
19342 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
19344 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
19347 They could be used like this:
19351 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
19352 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
19353 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
19355 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
19357 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
19360 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
19363 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
19364 affect the summary line format.
19368 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
19370 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
19371 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
19373 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
19376 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
19378 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
19380 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
19382 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
19384 - For other files, just find them normally.
19386 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
19387 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
19390 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
19391 tell him what you are doing.
19394 Currently, I get prompted:
19398 decend into sci.something ?
19402 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
19403 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
19404 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
19405 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
19408 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
19409 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
19410 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
19411 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
19414 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
19415 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
19421 more than n blank lines
19423 more than m identical lines
19424 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
19426 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
19430 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
19431 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
19432 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
19433 "same" subject for threading purposes.
19436 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
19437 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
19438 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
19439 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
19442 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
19445 soup - bowl of soup
19446 score below - dim light bulb
19447 score over - bright light bulb
19450 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
19455 show-list-of-articles-in-group
19456 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19457 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
19458 if (articles-selected)
19459 start-reading-selected-articles;
19460 junk-unread-articles;
19465 else if (key-pressed = '.')
19466 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
19467 select-thread-under-cursor;
19469 select-article-under-cursor;
19473 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19474 if (more-pages-in-article)
19476 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
19483 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
19484 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
19485 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
19488 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
19489 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
19490 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
19491 the wildcard expression).
19494 It would be nice if it also handled
19496 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
19498 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
19503 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
19504 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
19505 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
19506 article versions) variable.
19508 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
19510 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
19511 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
19515 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
19518 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
19519 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
19520 (message-sent-hook).
19522 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
19525 * Enhancements to Gnus:
19529 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
19530 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
19533 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
19534 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
19535 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
19538 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
19539 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
19543 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
19546 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
19550 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
19551 the nnmail duplicate checking.
19554 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
19555 value of the signature file.
19558 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
19559 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
19562 (setq message-tab-alist
19563 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
19564 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
19566 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
19570 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
19573 a command to import a buffer into a group.
19576 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
19579 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
19580 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
19583 a command to process mark all unread articles.
19586 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
19587 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
19588 do more gathering by subject.
19591 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
19592 article numerical order.
19595 (gnus-thread-total-score
19596 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
19600 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
19603 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
19604 in the summary buffer.
19607 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
19608 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
19611 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
19612 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
19613 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
19614 and/or newsgroup name.
19617 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
19620 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
19623 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
19626 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
19627 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
19628 will automatically get the process mark.
19631 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
19632 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
19633 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
19636 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
19640 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
19641 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
19644 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
19645 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
19649 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
19650 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
19653 be able to post via DejaNews.
19656 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
19659 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
19660 allow them to be displayed separately.
19663 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
19664 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
19667 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
19668 articles that match a certain From header.
19671 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
19672 saving living summary buffers.
19675 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
19676 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
19679 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
19680 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
19683 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
19684 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
19687 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
19688 (goto-char (point-min))
19689 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
19690 (replace-match "`" t t))
19691 (goto-char (point-min))
19692 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
19693 (replace-match "'" t t))
19694 (goto-char (point-min))
19695 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
19696 (replace-match "\"" t t))
19697 (goto-char (point-min))
19698 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
19699 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
19704 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
19706 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
19707 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
19708 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
19709 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
19713 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
19716 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
19717 numbers and match on the age of the article.
19721 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
19722 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
19723 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
19725 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
19726 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
19728 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
19729 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
19734 all commands that react to the process mark should push
19735 the current process mark set onto the stack.
19738 gnus-article-hide-pgp
19739 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
19741 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
19743 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
19744 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
19747 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
19748 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
19751 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
19755 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
19756 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
19759 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
19762 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
19765 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
19768 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
19772 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
19778 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
19781 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
19785 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
19786 X characters in the body.
19789 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
19792 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
19795 format spec to "tab" to a position.
19798 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
19801 command to display all dormant articles.
19804 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
19807 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
19808 to something someone else has said.
19811 Read Netscape discussion groups:
19812 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
19815 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
19816 the displayed version.
19819 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
19823 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
19826 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
19827 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
19828 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
19832 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
19833 in the head or body.
19836 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
19839 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
19842 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
19843 in a special, unique buffer.
19846 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
19849 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
19850 is less than a certain number of days old.
19853 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
19856 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
19859 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
19860 file, for instance.
19863 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
19864 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
19865 dummy root instead of the first article.
19868 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
19869 topics for displaying.
19872 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
19873 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
19876 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
19879 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
19880 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
19881 summary buffer for each article.
19884 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
19887 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
19891 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
19894 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
19898 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
19901 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
19904 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
19905 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
19908 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
19909 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
19912 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
19913 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
19916 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
19917 timeout for all commands.
19920 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
19921 It should go somewhere else.
19924 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
19925 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
19926 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
19928 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
19929 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
19931 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
19932 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
19939 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
19940 --text follows this line--
19941 Sorry I killfiled you...
19943 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19945 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19950 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
19954 - Edit article's summary line.
19956 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
19958 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
19964 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
19968 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
19969 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
19973 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
19976 Solve the halting problem.
19985 @section The Manual
19989 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
19990 either @code{texi2dvi}
19992 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
19993 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
19995 to get what you hold in your hands now.
19997 The following conventions have been used:
20002 This is a @samp{string}
20005 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20008 This is a @file{file}
20011 This is a @code{symbol}
20015 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20019 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20022 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20025 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20028 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20029 ever get them confused.
20033 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20034 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20035 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20036 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20037 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20038 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20039 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20045 @node On Writing Manuals
20046 @section On Writing Manuals
20048 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20049 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20050 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20051 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20052 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20053 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20056 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20057 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20058 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20061 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20062 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20067 @section Terminology
20069 @cindex terminology
20074 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20075 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20076 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20077 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20078 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20082 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20083 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20084 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20085 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20089 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20093 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20098 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20099 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20100 is all done by the backends.
20104 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20105 default, way of getting news.
20109 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20110 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20115 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20116 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20120 A message that has been posted as news.
20123 @cindex mail message
20124 A message that has been mailed.
20128 A mail message or news article
20132 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20137 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20142 A line from the head of an article.
20146 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20147 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20151 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20152 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20153 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20154 normal @sc{head} format.
20158 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20159 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20160 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20161 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20162 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20163 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20165 @item killed groups
20166 @cindex killed groups
20167 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20168 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20170 @item zombie groups
20171 @cindex zombie groups
20172 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20175 @cindex active file
20176 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20177 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20178 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20181 @cindex bogus groups
20182 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20183 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20184 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20187 @cindex activating groups
20188 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20189 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20190 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20194 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20196 @item select method
20197 @cindex select method
20198 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20201 @item virtual server
20202 @cindex virtual server
20203 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20204 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20205 whole is a virtual server.
20209 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20210 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20213 @item ephemeral groups
20214 @cindex ephemeral groups
20215 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20216 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20217 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20220 @cindex solid groups
20221 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20222 group buffer are solid groups.
20224 @item sparse articles
20225 @cindex sparse articles
20226 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20227 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20231 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20232 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20236 @cindex thread root
20237 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20238 articles in the thread.
20242 An article that has responses.
20246 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20250 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20251 specified by RFC1153.
20257 @node Customization
20258 @section Customization
20259 @cindex general customization
20261 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20262 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20263 for some quite common situations.
20266 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20267 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20268 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20269 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20273 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20274 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20276 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20277 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20278 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20282 @item gnus-read-active-file
20283 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20284 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20285 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20286 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20287 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20289 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20290 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20291 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20292 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20296 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20297 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20299 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20300 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20301 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20305 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20306 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20307 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20308 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20309 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20311 @item gnus-visible-headers
20312 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20313 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20314 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20315 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20317 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20319 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20320 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20321 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20324 @item gnus-use-full-window
20325 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20326 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20327 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20328 want to read them anyway.
20330 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20331 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20334 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20335 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20336 lines, which might save some time.
20340 @node Little Disk Space
20341 @subsection Little Disk Space
20344 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20345 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20349 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20350 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20351 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20352 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20355 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20356 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20357 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20358 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20361 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20362 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20363 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20364 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20365 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20371 @subsection Slow Machine
20372 @cindex slow machine
20374 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20375 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20377 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20378 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20380 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20381 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20382 summary buffer faster.
20386 @node Troubleshooting
20387 @section Troubleshooting
20388 @cindex troubleshooting
20390 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20398 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20401 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20402 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20406 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20407 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20408 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20409 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20412 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20416 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20417 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20418 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20419 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20420 something like that.
20423 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20426 @cindex reporting bugs
20428 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20430 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20431 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20432 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20433 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20435 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20436 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20437 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20438 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20441 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20442 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20443 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20444 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20445 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20446 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20448 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20449 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20450 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20453 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20454 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20456 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20457 @cindex ding mailing list
20458 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20459 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20463 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20464 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20466 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20467 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20468 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20469 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20472 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20473 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20474 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20475 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20476 and general methods of operation.
20479 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20480 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20481 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20482 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20483 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20484 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20485 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20486 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20487 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20491 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20492 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20493 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20494 @cindex utility functions
20496 @cindex internal variables
20498 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20499 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20500 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20504 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20505 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20506 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20508 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20509 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20510 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20512 @item gnus-group-real-name
20513 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20514 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20517 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20518 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20519 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20520 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20522 @item gnus-get-info
20523 @findex gnus-get-info
20524 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20526 @item gnus-group-unread
20527 @findex gnus-group-unread
20528 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20532 @findex gnus-active
20533 The active entry for @var{group}.
20535 @item gnus-set-active
20536 @findex gnus-set-active
20537 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20539 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20540 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20541 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20544 @item gnus-continuum-version
20545 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20546 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20547 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20550 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20551 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20552 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20554 @item gnus-news-group-p
20555 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20556 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20558 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20559 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20560 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20562 @item gnus-server-to-method
20563 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20564 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20566 @item gnus-server-equal
20567 @findex gnus-server-equal
20568 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20570 @item gnus-group-native-p
20571 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20572 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20574 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20575 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20576 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20578 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20579 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20580 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20582 @item group-group-find-parameter
20583 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20584 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20585 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20587 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20588 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20589 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20591 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20592 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20593 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20595 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20596 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20597 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20598 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20601 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20605 @item gnus-read-method
20606 @findex gnus-read-method
20607 Prompts the user for a select method.
20612 @node Backend Interface
20613 @subsection Backend Interface
20615 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20616 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20617 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20618 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20619 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20620 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20622 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20623 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20624 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20625 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20626 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20627 been opened, the function should fail.
20629 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20630 name. Take this example:
20634 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20635 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20638 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20639 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20641 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20642 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20643 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20645 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20646 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20647 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20649 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20650 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20651 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20652 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20653 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20654 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20657 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20658 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20659 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20660 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20663 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20666 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20669 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20670 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20671 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20672 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20673 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20674 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20678 @node Required Backend Functions
20679 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20683 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20685 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20686 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20687 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20688 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20690 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20691 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20692 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20693 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20695 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20696 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20697 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20698 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20699 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20700 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20701 number, do maximum fetches.
20703 Here's an example HEAD:
20706 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20707 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20708 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20709 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
20710 Subject: Re: Something very droll
20711 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
20712 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
20714 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
20715 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
20716 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
20720 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
20721 these in the data buffer.
20723 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
20727 head = error / valid-head
20728 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
20729 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
20730 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
20731 header = <text> eol
20734 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
20735 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
20739 nov-buffer = *nov-line
20740 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
20741 field = <text except TAB>
20744 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
20748 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
20750 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
20751 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
20753 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
20754 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
20755 server. In fact, it should do so.
20757 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
20758 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
20761 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
20763 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
20764 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
20767 There should be no data returned.
20770 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
20772 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
20773 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
20774 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
20775 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
20777 There should be no data returned.
20780 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
20782 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
20783 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
20784 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
20785 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
20787 There should be no data returned.
20790 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
20792 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
20794 There should be no data returned.
20797 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
20799 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
20800 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
20801 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
20802 it would be nice if that were possible.
20804 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
20805 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
20806 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
20807 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
20808 into its article buffer.
20810 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
20811 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
20812 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
20813 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
20814 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
20815 on successful article retrieval.
20818 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
20820 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
20821 making @var{group} the current group.
20823 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
20826 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
20829 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
20832 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
20833 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
20834 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
20835 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
20836 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
20837 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
20838 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
20839 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
20842 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
20843 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
20844 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
20848 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20850 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
20851 a no-op on most backends.
20853 There should be no data returned.
20856 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
20858 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
20861 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
20864 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
20865 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
20868 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
20869 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
20872 active-file = *active-line
20873 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
20875 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
20878 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
20879 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
20880 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
20883 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
20885 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
20886 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
20887 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
20888 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
20889 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
20890 clear if the posting could not be completed.
20892 There should be no result data from this function.
20897 @node Optional Backend Functions
20898 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
20902 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
20904 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
20905 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
20906 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
20908 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
20909 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
20910 former is in the same format as the data from
20911 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
20912 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
20915 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
20919 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
20921 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
20922 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
20923 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
20924 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
20925 should return the (altered) group info.
20927 There should be no result data from this function.
20930 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
20932 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
20933 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
20934 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
20935 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
20936 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
20937 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
20938 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
20939 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
20941 There should be no result data from this function.
20944 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
20946 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
20947 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
20948 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry all
20949 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
20950 the mark information to the server.
20952 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
20955 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
20958 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
20959 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
20960 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
20961 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
20962 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
20963 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
20964 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
20965 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
20966 not limit itself to theese.
20968 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
20969 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
20970 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
20971 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
20973 An example action list:
20976 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
20977 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
20978 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
20981 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
20982 mark on (currently not used for anything).
20984 There should be no result data from this function.
20986 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
20988 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
20989 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
20990 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
20991 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
20992 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
20994 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
20995 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
20996 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
20999 There should be no result data from this function.
21002 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21004 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21005 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21006 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21007 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21008 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21009 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21010 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21012 There should be no result data from this function.
21015 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21017 The result data from this function should be a description of
21021 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21023 description = <text>
21026 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21028 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21029 groups available on the server.
21032 description-buffer = *description-line
21036 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21038 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21039 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21040 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21043 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21045 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21047 There should be no return data.
21050 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21052 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21053 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21054 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21055 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21056 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21059 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21062 There should be no result data returned.
21065 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21068 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21069 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21071 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21072 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21073 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21074 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21075 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21076 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21078 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21079 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21082 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21083 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21085 There should be no data returned.
21088 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21090 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21091 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21092 this function in short order.
21094 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21095 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21097 There should be no data returned.
21100 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21102 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21103 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21105 There should be no data returned.
21108 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21110 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21111 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21112 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21114 There should be no data returned.
21117 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21119 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21120 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21122 There should be no data returned.
21127 @node Error Messaging
21128 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21130 @findex nnheader-report
21131 @findex nnheader-get-report
21132 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21133 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21134 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21135 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21136 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21137 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21140 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21142 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21145 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21146 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21147 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21148 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21150 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21151 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21152 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21155 @node Writing New Backends
21156 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21158 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21159 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21160 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21161 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21162 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21165 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21166 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21167 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21169 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21170 package called @code{nnoo}.
21172 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21173 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21179 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21180 parameters. For instance:
21183 (nnoo-declare nndir
21187 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21188 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21191 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21192 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21193 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21195 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21196 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21197 a function in those backends.
21200 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21201 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21202 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21205 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21206 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21207 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21209 @item nnoo-define-basics
21210 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21214 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21218 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21219 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21220 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21222 @item nnoo-map-functions
21223 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21224 functions from the parent backends.
21227 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21228 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21229 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21232 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21233 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21234 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21235 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21238 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21239 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21240 haven't already been defined.
21246 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21250 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21251 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21252 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21257 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21260 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21261 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21265 (require 'nnheader)
21269 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21271 (nnoo-declare nndir
21274 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21275 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21276 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21278 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21279 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21282 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21283 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21284 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21286 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21287 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21289 ;;; Interface functions.
21291 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21293 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21294 (setq nndir-directory
21295 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21297 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21298 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21299 (push `(nndir-current-group
21300 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21302 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21303 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21305 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21307 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21308 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21309 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21310 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21311 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21315 nnmh-status-message
21317 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21323 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21324 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21326 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21327 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21328 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21329 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21331 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21332 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21337 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21340 The abilities can be:
21344 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21346 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21348 This backend supports both mail and news.
21350 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21353 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21354 articles and groups.
21356 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21357 true for almost all backends.
21358 @item prompt-address
21359 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21360 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21361 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21365 @node Mail-like Backends
21366 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21368 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21369 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21370 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21371 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21374 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21375 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21376 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21379 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21380 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21383 This function takes four parameters.
21387 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21390 @item exit-function
21391 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21393 @item temp-directory
21394 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21397 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21398 performed for one group only.
21401 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21402 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21403 find the article number assigned to this article.
21405 The function also uses the following variables:
21406 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21407 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21408 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21409 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21413 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21414 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21418 @node Score File Syntax
21419 @subsection Score File Syntax
21421 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21422 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21423 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21425 Here's a typical score file:
21429 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21436 BNF definition of a score file:
21439 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21440 element = rule / atom
21441 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21442 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21443 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21444 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21446 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21447 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21448 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21449 date-header = "date"
21450 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21451 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21452 score = "nil" / <integer>
21453 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21454 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21455 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21456 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21457 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21458 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21459 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21460 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21461 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21462 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21463 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21464 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21465 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21466 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21467 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21468 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21469 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21470 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21471 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21472 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21473 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21474 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21475 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21476 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21477 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21478 eval = "eval" space <form>
21479 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21482 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21485 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21486 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21487 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21488 one looong line, then that's ok.
21490 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21491 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21495 @subsection Headers
21497 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21498 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21499 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21500 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21502 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21503 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21504 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21505 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21506 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21507 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21508 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21510 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21511 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21512 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21513 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21514 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21516 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21517 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21523 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21524 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21526 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21527 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21528 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21529 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21531 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21535 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21538 is transformed into
21541 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21544 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21545 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21548 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21551 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21552 is slightly tricky:
21555 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21561 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21564 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21570 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21577 and is equal to the previous range.
21579 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21580 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21581 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21585 range = simple-range / normal-range
21586 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21587 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21588 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21589 number *[ " " contents ]
21592 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21593 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21594 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21595 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21596 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21601 @subsection Group Info
21603 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21604 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21605 describes the group.
21607 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21608 second is a more complex one:
21611 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21613 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21614 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21616 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21619 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21620 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21621 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21622 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21623 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21624 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21625 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21626 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21627 this section is about.
21629 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21630 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21631 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21633 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21636 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21637 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21638 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21639 group = quote <string> quote
21640 ralevel = rank / level
21641 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21642 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21643 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21645 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21646 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21647 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21648 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21651 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21652 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21655 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21656 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21659 @item gnus-info-group
21660 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21661 @findex gnus-info-group
21662 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21663 Get/set the group name.
21665 @item gnus-info-rank
21666 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21667 @findex gnus-info-rank
21668 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21669 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21671 @item gnus-info-level
21672 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21673 @findex gnus-info-level
21674 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21675 Get/set the group level.
21677 @item gnus-info-score
21678 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21679 @findex gnus-info-score
21680 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21681 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21683 @item gnus-info-read
21684 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21685 @findex gnus-info-read
21686 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21687 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21689 @item gnus-info-marks
21690 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21691 @findex gnus-info-marks
21692 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21693 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21695 @item gnus-info-method
21696 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21697 @findex gnus-info-method
21698 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21699 Get/set the group select method.
21701 @item gnus-info-params
21702 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21703 @findex gnus-info-params
21704 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21705 Get/set the group parameters.
21708 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21709 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
21711 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
21712 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
21713 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
21714 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
21717 @node Extended Interactive
21718 @subsection Extended Interactive
21719 @cindex interactive
21720 @findex gnus-interactive
21722 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
21723 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
21724 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
21727 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
21728 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
21733 The best thing to do would have been to implement
21734 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
21735 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
21736 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
21737 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
21738 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
21739 @code{interactive}.
21741 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
21746 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
21747 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
21751 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
21752 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
21753 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
21756 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
21760 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
21764 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
21770 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
21771 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
21775 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
21776 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
21777 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
21779 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
21780 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
21781 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
21782 Gnus, that's very useful.
21784 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
21785 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
21786 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
21787 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
21788 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
21789 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
21790 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
21791 following function:
21794 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
21798 (,function ,@@args))
21802 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
21803 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
21804 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
21807 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
21808 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
21809 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
21811 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
21812 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
21813 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
21816 @node Various File Formats
21817 @subsection Various File Formats
21820 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
21821 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
21825 @node Active File Format
21826 @subsubsection Active File Format
21828 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
21829 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
21832 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
21835 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
21836 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
21837 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
21838 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
21839 no.general 1000 900 y
21842 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
21845 active = *group-line
21846 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
21847 group = <non-white-space string>
21849 high-number = <non-negative integer>
21850 low-number = <positive integer>
21851 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
21854 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
21855 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
21858 @node Newsgroups File Format
21859 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
21861 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
21862 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
21863 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
21866 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
21867 Here's the definition:
21871 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
21872 group = <non-white-space string>
21874 description = <string>
21879 @node Emacs for Heathens
21880 @section Emacs for Heathens
21882 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
21883 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
21884 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
21885 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
21886 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
21887 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
21888 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
21892 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
21893 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
21898 @subsection Keystrokes
21902 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
21905 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
21908 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
21909 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
21910 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
21911 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
21912 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
21913 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
21915 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
21916 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
21917 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
21918 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
21919 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
21920 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
21921 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
21923 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
21924 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
21925 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
21926 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
21927 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
21928 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
21929 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
21931 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
21932 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
21933 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
21934 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
21935 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
21941 @subsection Emacs Lisp
21943 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
21944 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
21945 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
21946 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
21948 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
21949 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
21950 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
21951 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
21952 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
21953 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
21954 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
21957 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
21958 write the following:
21961 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
21964 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
21965 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
21966 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
21969 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
21970 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
21971 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
21972 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
21973 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
21975 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
21976 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
21977 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
21981 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
21985 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
21988 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
21989 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
21992 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
21995 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
21996 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
21999 @include gnus-faq.texi