10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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282 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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291 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
292 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
295 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
296 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
297 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
298 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
299 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
300 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
301 License'' in the Emacs manual.
303 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
304 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
305 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
307 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
308 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
309 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
310 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
318 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
320 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
321 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
323 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
324 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
325 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
326 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
327 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
328 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
329 License'' in the Emacs manual.
331 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
332 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
333 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
335 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
336 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
337 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
338 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
346 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
350 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
351 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
353 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
354 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
355 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
356 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
357 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
358 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
359 License'' in the Emacs manual.
361 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
362 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
363 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
365 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
366 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
367 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
368 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
377 @top The Gnus Newsreader
381 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
382 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
383 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
386 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.07.
397 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
398 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
400 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
401 being accused of plagiarism:
403 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
404 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
405 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
406 can even read news with it!
408 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
409 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
410 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
411 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
412 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
418 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
419 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
420 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
421 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
422 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
423 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
424 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
425 * Various:: General purpose settings.
426 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
427 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
428 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
429 * Key Index:: Key Index.
431 Other related manuals
433 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
434 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
435 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
436 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
439 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
443 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
444 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
445 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
446 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
447 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
448 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
449 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
450 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
451 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
452 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
453 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
457 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
458 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
459 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
463 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
464 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
465 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
466 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
467 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
468 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
469 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
470 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
471 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
472 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
473 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
474 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
475 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
476 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
477 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
478 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
479 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
483 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
484 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
485 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
489 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
490 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
491 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
492 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
493 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
497 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
498 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
499 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
500 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
501 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
505 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
506 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
507 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
508 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
509 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
510 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
511 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
512 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
513 * Threading:: How threads are made.
514 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
515 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
516 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
517 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
518 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
519 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
520 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
521 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
522 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
523 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
524 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
525 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
526 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
527 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
528 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
529 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
530 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
531 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
532 or reselecting the current group.
533 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
534 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
535 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
536 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
538 Summary Buffer Format
540 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
541 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
542 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
543 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
547 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
548 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
550 Reply, Followup and Post
552 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
553 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
554 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
555 * Canceling and Superseding::
559 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
560 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
561 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
563 * Generic Marking Commands::
564 * Setting Process Marks::
568 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
569 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
570 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
574 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
575 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
577 Customizing Threading
579 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
580 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
581 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
582 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
586 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
587 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
588 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
589 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
590 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
591 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
595 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
596 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
597 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
601 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
602 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
603 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
604 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
605 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
606 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
607 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
608 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
609 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
610 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
612 Alternative Approaches
614 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
615 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
617 Various Summary Stuff
619 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
620 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
621 * Summary Generation Commands::
622 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
626 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
627 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
628 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
629 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
630 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
634 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
635 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
636 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
637 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
638 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
639 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
640 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
641 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
645 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
646 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
647 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
648 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
649 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
650 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
651 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
652 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
656 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
657 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
658 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
659 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
660 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
661 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
662 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
666 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
667 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
671 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
672 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
673 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
677 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
678 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
679 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
680 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
681 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
682 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
683 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
684 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
685 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
686 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
687 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
688 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
689 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
693 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
694 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
695 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
697 Choosing a Mail Back End
699 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
700 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
701 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
702 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
703 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
704 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
709 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
710 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
711 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
712 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
713 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
714 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
718 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
719 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
720 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
721 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
722 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
726 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
727 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
728 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
729 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
730 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
734 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
738 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
739 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
740 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
744 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
745 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
749 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
750 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
751 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
752 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
753 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
754 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
755 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
756 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
757 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
758 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
759 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
763 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
764 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
765 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
769 * Group Agent Commands::
770 * Summary Agent Commands::
771 * Server Agent Commands::
775 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
776 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
777 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
778 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
779 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
780 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
781 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
782 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
783 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
784 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
785 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
786 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
787 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
788 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
789 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
790 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
791 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
795 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
796 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
797 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
798 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
802 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
803 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
804 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
808 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
809 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
810 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
811 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
812 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
813 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
814 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
815 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
816 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
817 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
818 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
819 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
820 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
821 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
822 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
823 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
824 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
825 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
826 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
830 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
831 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
832 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
833 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
834 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
835 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
836 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
837 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
841 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
842 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
843 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
844 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
845 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
849 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
850 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
851 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
852 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
853 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
857 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
858 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
859 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
860 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
861 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
862 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
866 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
867 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
868 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
869 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
870 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
871 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
872 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
873 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
874 * Frequently Asked Questions::
878 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
879 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
880 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
881 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
882 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
883 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
884 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
885 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
886 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
890 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
891 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
892 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
893 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
894 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
898 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
899 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
900 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
901 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
905 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
906 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
907 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
908 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
909 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
910 * Group Info:: The group info format.
911 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
912 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
913 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
917 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
918 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
919 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
920 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
921 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
922 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
926 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
927 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
931 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
932 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
938 @chapter Starting Gnus
943 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
944 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
947 @findex gnus-other-frame
948 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
949 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
950 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
952 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
953 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
954 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
956 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
957 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
960 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
961 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
962 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
963 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
964 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
965 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
966 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
967 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
968 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
969 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
970 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
974 @node Finding the News
975 @section Finding the News
978 @vindex gnus-select-method
980 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
981 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
982 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
983 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
986 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
987 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
990 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
993 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
996 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
999 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1000 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1001 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1003 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1005 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1006 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1007 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1008 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1009 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1010 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1012 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1013 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1014 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1015 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1018 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1019 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1020 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1021 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1022 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1023 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1024 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1025 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1028 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1030 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1031 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1032 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1033 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1034 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1035 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1037 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1039 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1040 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1041 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1042 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1043 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1044 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1047 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1048 you would typically set this variable to
1051 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1055 @node The First Time
1056 @section The First Time
1057 @cindex first time usage
1059 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1060 be subscribed by default.
1062 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1063 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1064 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1065 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1068 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1069 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1070 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1072 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1073 help you with most common problems.
1075 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1076 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1080 @node The Server is Down
1081 @section The Server is Down
1082 @cindex server errors
1084 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1085 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1086 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1088 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1089 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1090 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1091 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1092 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1093 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1094 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1096 @findex gnus-no-server
1097 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1099 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1100 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1101 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1102 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1103 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1104 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1105 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1109 @section Slave Gnusae
1112 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1113 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1114 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1115 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1117 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1118 @code{.newsrc} file.
1120 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1121 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1122 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1123 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1124 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1125 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1126 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1128 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1129 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1130 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1131 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1132 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1133 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1134 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1135 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1137 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1138 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1140 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1141 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1142 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1143 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1144 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1146 @node Fetching a Group
1147 @section Fetching a Group
1148 @cindex fetching a group
1150 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1151 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1152 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1153 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1154 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1155 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1161 @cindex subscription
1163 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1164 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1165 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1166 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1167 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1168 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1169 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1170 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1171 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1174 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1175 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1176 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1180 @node Checking New Groups
1181 @subsection Checking New Groups
1183 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1184 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1185 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1186 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1187 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1188 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1189 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1190 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1191 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1192 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1194 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1195 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1196 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1197 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1198 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1199 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1200 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1201 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1202 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1203 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1204 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1206 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1207 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1208 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1209 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1210 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1211 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1214 @node Subscription Methods
1215 @subsection Subscription Methods
1217 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1218 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1219 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1221 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1222 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1224 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1230 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1231 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1232 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1236 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1237 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1241 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1245 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1246 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1247 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1248 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1249 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1250 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1251 up. Or something like that.
1253 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1254 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1255 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1256 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1257 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1259 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1260 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1261 Kill all new groups.
1263 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1265 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1266 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1267 topic parameter that looks like
1273 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1276 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1282 A closely related variable is
1283 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1284 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1285 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1286 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1289 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1290 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1291 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1292 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1295 @node Filtering New Groups
1296 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1298 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1299 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1300 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1303 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1306 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1307 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1308 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1309 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1310 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1311 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1312 subscribing these groups.
1313 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1314 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1316 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1317 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1318 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1319 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1320 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1321 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1322 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1323 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1325 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1326 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1327 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1328 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1329 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1330 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1331 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1332 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1333 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1334 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1337 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1338 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1341 @node Changing Servers
1342 @section Changing Servers
1343 @cindex changing servers
1345 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1346 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1347 very flaky and you want to use another.
1349 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1350 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1354 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1355 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1356 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1357 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1360 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1361 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1362 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1363 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1365 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1366 @findex gnus-change-server
1367 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1368 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1369 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1371 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1374 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1375 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1376 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1377 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1379 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1381 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1382 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1383 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1384 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1386 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1387 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1388 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1389 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1391 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1392 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1393 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1394 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1395 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1396 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1397 cache for all groups).
1401 @section Startup Files
1402 @cindex startup files
1407 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1408 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1410 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1411 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1412 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1414 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1415 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1416 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1418 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1419 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1420 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1421 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1422 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1423 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1425 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1426 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1427 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1428 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1429 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1430 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1431 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1432 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1433 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1434 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1436 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1437 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1438 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1439 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1440 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1441 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1442 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1443 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1444 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1445 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1446 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1447 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1449 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1450 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1451 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1452 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1454 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1455 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1456 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1457 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1458 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1459 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1460 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1461 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1462 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1463 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1466 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1467 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1469 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1470 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1473 @vindex gnus-init-file
1474 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1475 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1476 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1477 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1478 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1479 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1480 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1481 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1482 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1488 @cindex dribble file
1491 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1492 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1493 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1494 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1495 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1498 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1499 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1502 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1503 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1504 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1506 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1507 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1508 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1509 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1510 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1511 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1513 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1514 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1515 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1518 @node The Active File
1519 @section The Active File
1521 @cindex ignored groups
1523 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1524 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1525 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1527 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1528 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1529 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1530 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1531 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1532 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1533 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1536 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1537 @c if you set it to anything else.
1539 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1541 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1542 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1543 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1545 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1546 you actually subscribe to.
1548 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1549 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1550 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1551 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1553 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1554 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1555 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1556 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1557 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1558 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1560 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1561 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1562 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1565 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1566 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1567 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1568 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1569 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1570 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1572 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1573 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1575 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1576 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1578 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1579 secondary select methods.
1582 @node Startup Variables
1583 @section Startup Variables
1587 @item gnus-load-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1589 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1590 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1591 times you start Gnus.
1593 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1595 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1597 @item gnus-startup-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1599 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1601 @item gnus-started-hook
1602 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1603 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1606 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1607 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1608 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1609 generating the group buffer.
1611 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1612 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1613 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1614 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1615 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1616 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1617 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1618 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1620 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1621 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1622 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1623 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1624 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1625 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1627 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1628 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1629 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1631 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1632 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1633 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1635 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1636 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1637 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1638 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1644 @chapter Group Buffer
1645 @cindex group buffer
1647 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1649 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1650 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1651 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1652 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1653 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1654 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1655 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1656 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1657 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1658 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1659 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1660 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1661 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1662 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1663 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1664 @c human rights at 9...
1667 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1668 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1669 long as Gnus is active.
1673 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1674 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1675 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1676 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1677 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1678 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1679 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1680 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1686 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1687 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1688 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1689 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1690 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1691 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1692 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1693 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1694 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1695 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1696 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1697 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1698 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1699 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1700 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1701 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1702 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1706 @node Group Buffer Format
1707 @section Group Buffer Format
1710 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1711 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1712 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1716 @node Group Line Specification
1717 @subsection Group Line Specification
1718 @cindex group buffer format
1720 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1721 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1723 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1726 25: news.announce.newusers
1727 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1732 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1733 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1734 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1735 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1737 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1738 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1739 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1740 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1741 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1742 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1744 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1746 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1747 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1748 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1749 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1750 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1752 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1753 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1754 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1756 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1761 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1764 Whether the group is subscribed.
1767 Level of subscribedness.
1770 Number of unread articles.
1773 Number of dormant articles.
1776 Number of ticked articles.
1779 Number of read articles.
1782 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1783 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1785 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1786 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1787 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1788 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1789 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1790 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1791 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1792 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1795 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1798 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1807 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1808 comment element in the group parameters.
1811 Newsgroup description.
1814 @samp{m} if moderated.
1817 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1826 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1830 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1833 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1834 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1835 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1836 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1837 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1840 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1842 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1846 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1849 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1853 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1854 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1855 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1856 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1857 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1858 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1863 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1864 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1865 group, or a bogus native group.
1868 @node Group Modeline Specification
1869 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1870 @cindex group modeline
1872 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1873 The mode line can be changed by setting
1874 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1875 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1879 The native news server.
1881 The native select method.
1885 @node Group Highlighting
1886 @subsection Group Highlighting
1887 @cindex highlighting
1888 @cindex group highlighting
1890 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1891 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1892 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1893 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1894 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1896 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1900 (cond (window-system
1901 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1902 (defface my-group-face-1
1903 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1904 (defface my-group-face-2
1905 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1906 (defface my-group-face-3
1907 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1908 (defface my-group-face-4
1909 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1910 (defface my-group-face-5
1911 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1913 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1914 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1915 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1916 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1917 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1918 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1921 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1923 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1930 The number of unread articles in the group.
1934 Whether the group is a mail group.
1936 The level of the group.
1938 The score of the group.
1940 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1942 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1943 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1945 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1946 topic being inserted.
1949 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1950 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1951 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1953 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1954 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1955 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1956 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1957 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1960 @node Group Maneuvering
1961 @section Group Maneuvering
1962 @cindex group movement
1964 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1965 expected, hopefully.
1971 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1972 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1973 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1979 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1980 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1981 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1985 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1986 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1990 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1991 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1996 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1997 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2002 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2003 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2006 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2012 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2013 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2014 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2019 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2020 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2021 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2025 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2026 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2027 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2030 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2031 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2032 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2033 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2037 @node Selecting a Group
2038 @section Selecting a Group
2039 @cindex group selection
2044 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2045 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2046 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2047 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2048 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2049 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2050 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2051 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2052 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2053 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2055 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2056 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2057 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2059 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2060 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2065 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2066 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2067 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2068 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2069 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2073 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2074 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2075 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2076 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2077 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2078 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2079 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2080 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2081 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2082 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2085 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2086 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2087 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2088 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2089 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2092 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2093 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2094 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2095 doing any processing of its contents
2096 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2097 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2098 manner will have no permanent effects.
2102 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2103 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2104 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2105 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2106 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2107 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2108 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2109 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2112 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2113 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2114 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2115 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2116 Which article this is is controlled by the
2117 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2123 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2126 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2129 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2131 @item unseen-or-unread
2132 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2133 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2137 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2141 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2142 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2144 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2145 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2146 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2147 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2151 @node Subscription Commands
2152 @section Subscription Commands
2153 @cindex subscription
2161 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2162 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2163 Toggle subscription to the current group
2164 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2170 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2171 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2172 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2173 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2179 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2180 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2181 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2187 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2188 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2191 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2192 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2193 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2194 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2195 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2201 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2202 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2206 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2207 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2210 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2211 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2212 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2213 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2214 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2215 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2216 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2217 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2218 @file{.newsrc} file.
2222 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2232 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2233 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2234 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2235 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2236 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2237 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2242 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2243 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2244 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2248 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2249 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2250 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2252 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2253 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2254 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2255 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2256 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2257 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2264 @section Group Levels
2268 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2269 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2270 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2271 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2272 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2274 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2280 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2281 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2282 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2283 prompted for a level.
2286 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2287 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2288 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2289 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2290 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2291 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2292 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2293 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2294 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2295 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2296 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2297 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2298 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2299 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2300 reasons of efficiency.
2302 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2303 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2305 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2306 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2307 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2308 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2309 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2310 groups are hidden, in a way.
2312 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2313 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2314 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2315 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2316 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2317 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2319 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2320 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2321 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2322 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2323 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2324 list of killed groups.)
2326 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2327 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2328 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2330 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2331 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2332 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2333 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2334 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2335 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2336 relevant valid ranges.
2338 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2339 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2340 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2341 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2342 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2343 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2346 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2347 one with the best level.
2349 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2350 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2351 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2354 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2355 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2356 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2357 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2360 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2361 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2362 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2363 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2365 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2366 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2367 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2368 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2369 to 5. The default is 6.
2373 @section Group Score
2378 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2379 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2380 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2383 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2384 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2385 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2386 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2387 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2388 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2389 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2390 least significant part.))
2392 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2393 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2394 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2395 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2396 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2397 action after each summary exit, you can add
2398 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2399 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2400 slow things down somewhat.
2403 @node Marking Groups
2404 @section Marking Groups
2405 @cindex marking groups
2407 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2408 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2409 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2410 bidding on those groups.
2412 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2413 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2414 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2422 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2423 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2429 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2430 Remove the mark from the current group
2431 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2435 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2436 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2440 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2441 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2445 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2446 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2451 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2452 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2455 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2457 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2458 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2459 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2460 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2461 the command to be executed.
2464 @node Foreign Groups
2465 @section Foreign Groups
2466 @cindex foreign groups
2468 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2469 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2470 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2471 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2478 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2479 @cindex making groups
2480 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2481 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2482 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2486 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2487 @cindex renaming groups
2488 Rename the current group to something else
2489 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2490 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2496 @findex gnus-group-customize
2497 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2502 @cindex renaming groups
2503 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2504 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2508 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2509 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2510 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2515 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2516 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2520 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2522 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2523 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2529 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2533 @cindex (ding) archive
2534 @cindex archive group
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2536 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2537 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2538 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2539 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2540 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2541 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2547 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2548 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2549 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2550 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2554 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2556 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2557 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2558 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2563 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2565 Make a group based on some file or other
2566 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2567 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2568 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2569 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2570 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2571 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2572 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2573 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2574 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2578 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2580 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2581 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2589 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2590 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2591 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2592 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2593 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2594 @xref{Web Searches}.
2596 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2597 to a particular group by using a match string like
2598 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2601 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2602 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2603 This function will delete the current group
2604 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2605 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2606 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2607 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2608 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2613 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2614 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2618 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2619 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2620 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2623 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2626 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2627 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2628 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2629 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2630 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2631 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2635 @node Group Parameters
2636 @section Group Parameters
2637 @cindex group parameters
2639 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2640 Here's an example group parameter list:
2643 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2647 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2648 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2649 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2650 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2652 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2653 is an alist of regexps and values.
2655 The following group parameters can be used:
2660 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2663 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2666 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2667 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2668 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2669 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2670 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2672 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2673 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2674 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2675 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2676 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2677 list address instead.
2679 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2683 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2686 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2689 It is totally ignored
2690 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2691 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2693 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2694 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2695 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2696 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2697 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2699 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2700 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2701 sending the message.
2703 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2704 @cindex Mail List Groups
2705 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2706 entering summary buffer.
2708 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2713 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2714 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2715 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2716 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2717 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2718 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2720 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2721 directly uses this group parameter.
2725 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2726 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2727 of whether it has any unread articles.
2729 @item broken-reply-to
2730 @cindex broken-reply-to
2731 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2732 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2733 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2734 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2735 broken behavior. So there!
2739 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2740 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2744 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2745 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2746 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2751 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2752 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2753 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2754 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2755 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2756 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2757 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2758 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2759 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2763 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2764 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2765 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2767 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2770 @cindex total-expire
2771 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2772 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2773 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2774 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2777 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2781 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2782 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2783 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2784 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2785 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2786 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2787 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2790 @cindex score file group parameter
2791 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2792 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2793 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2796 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2797 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2798 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2799 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2802 @cindex admin-address
2803 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2804 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2805 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2806 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2810 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2811 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2815 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2818 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2819 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2822 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2826 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2828 Here are some examples:
2832 Display only unread articles.
2835 Display everything except expirable articles.
2837 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2838 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2842 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2843 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2844 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2845 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2846 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2850 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2851 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2852 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2856 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2857 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2858 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2862 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2863 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2864 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2866 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2868 @item ignored-charsets
2869 @cindex ignored-charset
2870 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2871 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2872 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2874 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2877 @cindex posting-style
2878 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2879 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2880 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2881 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2882 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2884 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2885 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2886 like this in the group parameters:
2891 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2896 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2897 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2901 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2902 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2903 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2904 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2905 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2909 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2910 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2911 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2912 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2914 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2915 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2916 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2917 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2920 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2921 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2925 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2928 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2929 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2930 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2931 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2932 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2933 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2934 @code{eval}ed there.
2936 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2937 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2938 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2939 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2940 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2941 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2942 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2943 parameters for the group.
2946 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2947 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2948 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2949 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2950 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2954 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2955 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2956 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2957 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2958 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2960 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2961 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2965 (setq gnus-parameters
2967 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2968 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2969 (gnus-summary-line-format
2970 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2974 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2978 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2982 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2985 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2986 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2989 @node Listing Groups
2990 @section Listing Groups
2991 @cindex group listing
2993 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3001 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3002 List all groups that have unread articles
3003 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3004 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3005 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3006 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3014 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3015 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3016 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3017 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3018 unsubscribed groups).
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3023 List all unread groups on a specific level
3024 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3025 with no unread articles.
3029 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3030 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3031 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3032 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3037 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3038 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3042 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3043 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3044 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3048 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3049 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3053 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3054 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3055 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3056 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3057 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3058 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3059 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3060 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3064 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3065 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3066 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3070 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3071 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3072 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3076 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3077 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3081 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3082 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3086 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3087 List groups limited within the current selection
3088 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3092 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3093 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3097 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3098 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3102 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3103 @cindex visible group parameter
3104 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3105 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3106 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3107 get the same effect.
3109 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3110 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3111 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3112 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3113 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3116 @node Sorting Groups
3117 @section Sorting Groups
3118 @cindex sorting groups
3120 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3122 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3123 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3124 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3125 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3130 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3131 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3132 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3134 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3135 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3136 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3138 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3139 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3140 Sort by group level.
3142 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3143 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3144 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3146 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3147 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3148 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3149 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3153 Sort by number of unread articles.
3155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3157 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3161 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3166 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3167 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3171 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3172 some sorting criteria:
3176 @kindex G S a (Group)
3177 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3178 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3179 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3182 @kindex G S u (Group)
3183 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3184 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3185 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3188 @kindex G S l (Group)
3189 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3190 Sort the group buffer by group level
3191 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3194 @kindex G S v (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3196 Sort the group buffer by group score
3197 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3200 @kindex G S r (Group)
3201 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3202 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3203 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3206 @kindex G S m (Group)
3207 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3208 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3209 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3212 @kindex G S n (Group)
3213 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3214 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3215 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3219 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3220 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3222 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3223 commands will sort in reverse order.
3225 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3229 @kindex G P a (Group)
3230 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3231 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3232 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3235 @kindex G P u (Group)
3236 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3237 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3238 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3241 @kindex G P l (Group)
3242 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3243 Sort the groups by group level
3244 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3247 @kindex G P v (Group)
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3249 Sort the groups by group score
3250 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3253 @kindex G P r (Group)
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3255 Sort the groups by group rank
3256 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3259 @kindex G P m (Group)
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3261 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3262 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3265 @kindex G P n (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3267 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3271 @kindex G P s (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3273 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3277 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3281 @node Group Maintenance
3282 @section Group Maintenance
3283 @cindex bogus groups
3288 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3289 Find bogus groups and delete them
3290 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3294 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3295 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3296 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3297 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3298 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3302 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3303 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3304 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3305 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3306 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3307 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3310 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3311 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3312 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3313 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3318 @node Browse Foreign Server
3319 @section Browse Foreign Server
3320 @cindex foreign servers
3321 @cindex browsing servers
3326 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3327 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3328 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3329 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3332 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3333 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3334 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3335 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3337 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3342 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3343 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3347 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3348 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3351 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3352 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3353 Enter the current group and display the first article
3354 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3357 @kindex RET (Browse)
3358 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3359 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3363 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3364 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3365 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3371 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3372 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3376 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3377 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3381 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3382 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3383 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3388 @section Exiting Gnus
3389 @cindex exiting Gnus
3391 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3396 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3397 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3398 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3399 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3403 @findex gnus-group-exit
3404 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3405 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3409 @findex gnus-group-quit
3410 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3411 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3414 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3415 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3416 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3417 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3418 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3423 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3424 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3425 trying to customize meta-variables.
3430 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3431 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3432 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3438 @section Group Topics
3441 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3442 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3443 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3444 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3445 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3446 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3450 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3451 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3462 2: alt.religion.emacs
3465 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3467 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3468 13: comp.sources.unix
3471 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3473 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3474 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3475 is a toggling command.)
3477 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3478 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3479 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3480 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3483 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3484 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3485 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3488 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3492 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3493 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3494 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3495 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3496 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3500 @node Topic Commands
3501 @subsection Topic Commands
3502 @cindex topic commands
3504 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3505 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3506 definitions slightly.
3508 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3509 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3510 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3511 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3512 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3513 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3515 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3522 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3523 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3524 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3528 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3530 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3531 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3532 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3533 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3536 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3537 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3538 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3539 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3543 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3544 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3545 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3546 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3552 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3553 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3554 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3558 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3559 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3560 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3563 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3564 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3565 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3566 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3567 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3569 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3570 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3574 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3575 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3582 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3584 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3585 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3586 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3587 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3588 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3589 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3593 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3599 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3600 Move the current group to some other topic
3601 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3602 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3606 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3607 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3611 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3612 Copy the current group to some other topic
3613 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3614 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3618 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3619 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3620 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3624 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3625 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3626 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3630 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3631 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3632 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3633 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3634 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3635 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3636 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3639 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3640 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3644 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3645 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3646 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3650 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3651 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3652 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3656 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3657 Toggle hiding empty topics
3658 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3662 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3663 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3664 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3667 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3668 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3669 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3670 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3673 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3674 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3675 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3676 expiry process (if any)
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3681 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3682 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3685 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3686 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3687 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3691 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3692 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3696 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3697 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3698 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3701 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3702 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3703 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3707 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3708 @cindex group parameters
3709 @cindex topic parameters
3711 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3712 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3717 @node Topic Variables
3718 @subsection Topic Variables
3719 @cindex topic variables
3721 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3722 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3724 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3725 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3726 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3739 Number of groups in the topic.
3741 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3743 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3746 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3747 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3748 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3751 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3752 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3754 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3755 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3756 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3760 @subsection Topic Sorting
3761 @cindex topic sorting
3763 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3769 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3770 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3771 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3772 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3775 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3776 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3777 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3778 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3781 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3782 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3783 Sort the current topic by group level
3784 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3787 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3788 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3789 Sort the current topic by group score
3790 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3793 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3794 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3795 Sort the current topic by group rank
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3799 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3800 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3801 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3802 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3805 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3806 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3807 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3808 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3812 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3813 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3814 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3819 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3820 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3824 @node Topic Topology
3825 @subsection Topic Topology
3826 @cindex topic topology
3829 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3835 2: alt.religion.emacs
3838 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3840 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3841 13: comp.sources.unix
3844 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3845 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3846 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3851 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3852 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3856 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3857 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3858 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3859 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3860 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3861 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3863 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3864 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3865 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3868 @node Topic Parameters
3869 @subsection Topic Parameters
3870 @cindex topic parameters
3872 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3873 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3874 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3876 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3881 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3882 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3883 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3886 @item subscribe-level
3887 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3888 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3889 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3893 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3894 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3895 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3896 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3902 2: alt.religion.emacs
3906 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3908 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3909 13: comp.sources.unix
3913 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3914 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3915 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3916 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3917 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3918 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3920 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3921 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3922 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3923 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3924 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3926 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3927 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3928 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3929 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3930 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3931 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3932 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3933 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3936 @node Misc Group Stuff
3937 @section Misc Group Stuff
3940 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3941 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3942 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3943 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3944 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3951 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3952 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3953 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3957 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3958 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3959 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3960 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3961 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3962 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3963 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3967 @findex gnus-group-mail
3968 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3969 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3970 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3971 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3975 @findex gnus-group-news
3976 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3977 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3978 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3980 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3981 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3982 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3983 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3984 for this to work though.
3988 Variables for the group buffer:
3992 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3993 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3994 is called after the group buffer has been
3997 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3998 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3999 is called after the group buffer is
4000 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4003 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4004 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4005 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4006 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4008 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4009 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4010 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4011 whether they are empty or not.
4013 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4014 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4015 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4016 non-ASCII group names.
4020 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4021 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4024 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4025 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4026 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4027 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4028 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4029 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4033 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4034 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4039 @node Scanning New Messages
4040 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4041 @cindex new messages
4042 @cindex scanning new news
4048 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4049 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4050 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4051 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4052 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4053 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4058 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4059 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4060 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4061 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4062 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4063 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4064 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4066 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4067 @cindex activating groups
4069 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4070 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4075 @findex gnus-group-restart
4076 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4077 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4078 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4082 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4083 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4085 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4086 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4090 @node Group Information
4091 @subsection Group Information
4092 @cindex group information
4093 @cindex information on groups
4100 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4101 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4104 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4105 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4106 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4107 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4108 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4109 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4110 for fetching the file.
4112 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4113 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4117 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4118 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4120 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4121 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4124 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4125 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4126 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4130 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4131 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4132 @cindex control message
4133 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4134 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4135 group if given a prefix argument.
4137 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-nil, Gnus
4138 will open the control messages in a browser using @code{browse-url}.
4139 Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp} and displayed in an
4142 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4143 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4144 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4148 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4150 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4151 @cindex describing groups
4152 @cindex group description
4153 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4154 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4155 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4159 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4160 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4161 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4168 @findex gnus-version
4169 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4173 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4174 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4177 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4180 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4181 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4185 @node Group Timestamp
4186 @subsection Group Timestamp
4188 @cindex group timestamps
4190 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4191 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4192 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4195 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4198 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4200 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4201 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4204 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4205 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4208 This will result in lines looking like:
4211 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4212 0: custom 19961002T012713
4215 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4216 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4220 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4221 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4224 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4225 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4229 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4230 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4231 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4232 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4234 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4240 @subsection File Commands
4241 @cindex file commands
4247 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4248 @vindex gnus-init-file
4249 @cindex reading init file
4250 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4251 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4255 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4256 @cindex saving .newsrc
4257 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4258 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4259 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4262 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4263 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4264 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4269 @node Sieve Commands
4270 @subsection Sieve Commands
4271 @cindex group sieve commands
4273 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4274 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4275 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4276 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4277 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4279 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4280 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4281 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4282 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4283 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4284 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4285 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4286 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4287 regenerate the Sieve script.
4289 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4290 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4291 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4292 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4293 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4294 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4295 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4296 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4297 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4298 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4301 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4302 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4307 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4313 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4314 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4315 @cindex generating sieve script
4316 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4317 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4321 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4322 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4323 @cindex updating sieve script
4324 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4325 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4326 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4331 @node Summary Buffer
4332 @chapter Summary Buffer
4333 @cindex summary buffer
4335 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4336 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4338 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4339 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4341 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4344 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4345 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4346 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4347 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4348 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4349 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4350 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4351 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4352 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4353 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4354 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4355 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4356 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4357 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4358 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4359 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4360 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4361 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4362 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4363 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4364 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4365 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4366 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4367 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4368 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4369 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4370 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4371 or reselecting the current group.
4372 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4373 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4374 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4375 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4379 @node Summary Buffer Format
4380 @section Summary Buffer Format
4381 @cindex summary buffer format
4385 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4386 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4387 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4393 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4394 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4395 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4396 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4399 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4400 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4401 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4402 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4403 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4404 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4405 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4406 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4407 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4408 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4409 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4412 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4413 'mail-extract-address-components)
4416 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4417 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4418 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4419 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4422 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4423 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4425 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4426 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4427 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4428 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4429 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4431 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4432 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4433 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4434 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4435 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4436 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4438 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4440 The following format specification characters and extended format
4441 specification(s) are understood:
4447 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4448 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4450 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4451 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4454 Full @code{From} header.
4456 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4458 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4461 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4462 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4463 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4464 may be more thorough.
4466 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4469 Number of lines in the article.
4471 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4472 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4474 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4475 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4477 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4479 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4482 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4483 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4485 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4486 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4488 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4489 for adopted articles.
4491 One space for each thread level.
4493 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4495 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4498 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4499 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4500 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4503 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4505 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4506 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4507 default level. If the difference between
4508 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4509 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4517 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4519 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4525 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4526 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4528 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4529 article has any children.
4535 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4536 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4538 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4539 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4540 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4541 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4542 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4543 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4546 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4547 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4548 There can only be one such area.
4550 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4551 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4552 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4553 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4554 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4555 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4557 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4558 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4560 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4563 @node To From Newsgroups
4564 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4568 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4569 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4570 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4571 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4572 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4576 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4577 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4578 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4582 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4583 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4586 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4587 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4590 @findex gnus-extra-header
4591 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4592 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4593 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4596 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4600 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4601 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4602 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4603 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4604 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4605 headers are used instead.
4609 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4610 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4611 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4612 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4613 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4614 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4616 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4617 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4618 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4619 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4621 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4625 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4627 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4628 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4629 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4630 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4634 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4637 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4638 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4641 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4642 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4643 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4649 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4650 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4653 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4654 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4656 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4657 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4658 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4659 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4661 Here are the elements you can play with:
4667 Unprefixed group name.
4669 Current article number.
4671 Current article score.
4675 Number of unread articles in this group.
4677 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4680 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4681 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4682 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4683 and no unselected ones.
4685 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4686 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4688 Subject of the current article.
4690 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4692 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4694 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4696 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4698 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4700 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4704 @node Summary Highlighting
4705 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4709 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4710 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4711 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4712 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4713 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4715 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4716 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4717 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4718 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4720 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4721 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4722 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4723 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4725 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4726 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4727 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4728 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4729 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4730 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4733 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4734 ((> score default) . bold))
4736 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4737 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4741 @node Summary Maneuvering
4742 @section Summary Maneuvering
4743 @cindex summary movement
4745 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4746 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4748 None of these commands select articles.
4753 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4754 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4756 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4761 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4762 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4763 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4764 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4765 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4768 @kindex G g (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4770 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4771 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4774 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4775 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4776 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4777 to the group buffer.
4779 Variables related to summary movement:
4783 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4784 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4785 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4786 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4787 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4788 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4789 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4790 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4791 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4792 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4793 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4794 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4795 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4796 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4798 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4799 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4800 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4801 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4802 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4803 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4804 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4806 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4808 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4809 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4810 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4811 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4812 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4814 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4815 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4816 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4817 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4818 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4819 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4820 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4821 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4824 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4825 the given number of lines from the top.
4830 @node Choosing Articles
4831 @section Choosing Articles
4832 @cindex selecting articles
4835 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4836 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4840 @node Choosing Commands
4841 @subsection Choosing Commands
4843 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4844 and they all select and display an article.
4846 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4847 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4851 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4852 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4853 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4854 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4859 @kindex G n (Summary)
4860 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4861 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4862 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4867 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4868 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4869 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4874 @kindex G N (Summary)
4875 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4876 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4881 @kindex G P (Summary)
4882 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4883 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4886 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4887 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4888 Go to the next article with the same subject
4889 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4892 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4893 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4894 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4895 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4899 @kindex G f (Summary)
4901 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4902 Go to the first unread article
4903 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4907 @kindex G b (Summary)
4909 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4910 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4911 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4912 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4917 @kindex G l (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4919 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4922 @kindex G o (Summary)
4923 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4925 @cindex article history
4926 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4927 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4928 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4929 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4930 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4931 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4936 @kindex G j (Summary)
4937 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4938 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4939 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4944 @node Choosing Variables
4945 @subsection Choosing Variables
4947 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4950 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4951 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4952 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4953 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4954 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4955 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4957 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4958 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4959 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4960 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4962 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4963 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4964 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4965 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4966 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4967 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4968 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4969 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4970 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4971 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4972 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4973 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4974 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4975 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4980 @node Paging the Article
4981 @section Scrolling the Article
4982 @cindex article scrolling
4987 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4989 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4990 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4991 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4994 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4995 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4996 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4999 @kindex RET (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5001 Scroll the current article one line forward
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5005 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5007 Scroll the current article one line backward
5008 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5012 @kindex A g (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5015 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5016 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5017 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5018 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5019 the way it came from the server.
5021 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5022 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5023 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5026 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5031 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5036 @kindex A < (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5038 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5039 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5044 @kindex A > (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5046 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5050 @kindex A s (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5053 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5054 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5058 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5059 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5064 @node Reply Followup and Post
5065 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5068 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5069 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5070 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5071 * Canceling and Superseding::
5075 @node Summary Mail Commands
5076 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5078 @cindex composing mail
5080 Commands for composing a mail message:
5086 @kindex S r (Summary)
5088 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5089 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5090 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5091 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5092 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5097 @kindex S R (Summary)
5098 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5099 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5100 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5101 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5102 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5105 @kindex S w (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5107 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5108 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5109 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5110 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5113 @kindex S W (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5115 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5116 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5117 the process/prefix convention.
5120 @kindex S v (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5122 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5124 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5125 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5126 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5129 @kindex S V (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5131 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5132 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5133 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5136 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5137 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5138 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5139 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5142 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5143 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5144 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5145 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5150 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5151 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5153 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5154 Forward the current article to some other person
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5156 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5157 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5158 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5159 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5160 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5161 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5162 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5163 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5169 @kindex S m (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5171 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5172 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5173 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5174 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5179 @kindex S i (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5181 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5182 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5183 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5185 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5186 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5187 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5188 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5189 for this to work though.
5192 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5194 @cindex bouncing mail
5195 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5196 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5197 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5198 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5199 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5200 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5201 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5202 very well fail, though.
5205 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5207 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5208 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5209 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5210 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5211 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5212 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5213 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5214 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5216 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5217 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5218 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5219 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5220 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5222 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5223 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5226 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5228 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5229 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5230 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5233 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5235 @cindex crossposting
5236 @cindex excessive crossposting
5237 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5238 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5240 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5241 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5242 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5243 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5244 command understands the process/prefix convention
5245 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5249 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5250 Manual}, for more information.
5253 @node Summary Post Commands
5254 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5256 @cindex composing news
5258 Commands for posting a news article:
5264 @kindex S p (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5266 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5267 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5268 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5269 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5274 @kindex S f (Summary)
5275 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5276 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5277 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5281 @kindex S F (Summary)
5283 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5284 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5285 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5287 process/prefix convention.
5290 @kindex S n (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5292 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5293 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5296 @kindex S N (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5298 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5299 message through mail and include the original message
5300 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5301 the process/prefix convention.
5304 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5306 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5307 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5308 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5309 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5310 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5311 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5312 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5313 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5314 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5315 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5316 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5319 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5322 @cindex making digests
5323 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5324 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5325 process/prefix convention.
5328 @kindex S u (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5330 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5331 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5332 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5335 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5336 Manual}, for more information.
5339 @node Summary Message Commands
5340 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5344 @kindex S y (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5346 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5347 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5348 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5349 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5354 @node Canceling and Superseding
5355 @subsection Canceling Articles
5356 @cindex canceling articles
5357 @cindex superseding articles
5359 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5360 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5362 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5364 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5366 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5367 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5368 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5369 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5370 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5371 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5373 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5374 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5377 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5378 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5379 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5381 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5382 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5383 your original article.
5385 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5387 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5388 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5389 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5392 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5393 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5394 have posted almost the same article twice.
5396 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5397 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5398 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5399 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5400 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5401 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5402 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5403 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5404 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5405 canceled/superseded.
5407 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5409 @node Delayed Articles
5410 @section Delayed Articles
5411 @cindex delayed sending
5412 @cindex send delayed
5414 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5415 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5416 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5417 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5420 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5423 @findex gnus-delay-article
5424 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5425 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5426 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5427 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5431 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5432 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5433 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5434 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5437 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5438 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5439 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5442 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5443 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5444 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5445 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5446 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5447 that means a time tomorrow.
5450 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5451 couple of variables:
5454 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5455 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5456 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5457 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5459 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5460 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5461 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5462 formats described above.
5464 @item gnus-delay-group
5465 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5466 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5467 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5468 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5470 @item gnus-delay-header
5471 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5472 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5473 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5474 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5477 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5478 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5479 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5480 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5481 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5483 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5484 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5485 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5486 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5487 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5488 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5491 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5492 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5493 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5494 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5495 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-nil,
5496 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5497 argument is ignored.
5499 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5500 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5501 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5505 @node Marking Articles
5506 @section Marking Articles
5507 @cindex article marking
5508 @cindex article ticking
5511 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5513 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5514 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5515 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5517 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5520 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5521 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5522 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5526 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5530 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5531 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5532 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5536 @node Unread Articles
5537 @subsection Unread Articles
5539 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5544 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5545 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5547 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5548 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5549 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5550 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5551 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5552 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5553 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5556 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5557 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5559 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5560 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5561 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5562 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5566 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5567 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5569 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5574 @subsection Read Articles
5575 @cindex expirable mark
5577 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5582 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5583 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5584 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5587 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5588 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5591 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5592 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5593 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5596 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5597 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5600 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5601 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5604 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5605 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5608 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5609 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5612 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5613 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5616 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5617 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5620 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5621 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5625 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5626 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5627 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5631 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5632 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5634 One more special mark, though:
5638 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5639 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5641 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5642 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5643 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5644 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5650 @subsection Other Marks
5651 @cindex process mark
5654 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5660 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5661 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5662 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5663 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5664 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5667 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5668 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5669 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5670 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5673 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5674 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5675 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5678 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5679 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5680 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5683 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5684 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5685 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5686 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5689 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5690 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5691 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5692 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5693 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5694 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5697 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5698 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5699 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5700 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5703 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5704 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
5705 have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
5706 offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
5707 first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
5708 which character to use.)
5711 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5712 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5713 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5714 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5715 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5716 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5720 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5721 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5722 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5723 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5724 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5727 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5728 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5729 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5730 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5731 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5732 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5736 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5737 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5738 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5740 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5741 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5742 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5746 @subsection Setting Marks
5747 @cindex setting marks
5749 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5754 @kindex M c (Summary)
5755 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5757 @cindex mark as unread
5758 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5759 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5765 @kindex M t (Summary)
5766 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5767 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5768 @xref{Article Caching}.
5773 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5774 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5775 Mark the current article as dormant
5776 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5780 @kindex M d (Summary)
5782 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5783 Mark the current article as read
5784 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5788 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5789 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5790 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5795 @kindex M k (Summary)
5796 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5797 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5798 and then select the next unread article
5799 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5803 @kindex M K (Summary)
5804 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5805 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5806 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5807 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5810 @kindex M C (Summary)
5811 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5812 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5813 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5816 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5817 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5818 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5819 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5822 @kindex M H (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5824 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5825 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5828 @kindex M h (Summary)
5829 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5830 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5831 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5834 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5836 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5837 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5840 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5842 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5843 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5847 @kindex M e (Summary)
5849 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5850 Mark the current article as expirable
5851 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5854 @kindex M b (Summary)
5855 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5856 Set a bookmark in the current article
5857 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5860 @kindex M B (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5862 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5863 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5866 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5867 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5868 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5869 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5872 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5874 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5875 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5878 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5880 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5881 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5882 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5885 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5886 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5887 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5888 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5889 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5890 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5891 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5892 The default is @code{t}.
5895 @node Generic Marking Commands
5896 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5898 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5899 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5900 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5901 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5902 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5905 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5906 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5909 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5910 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5911 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5912 to list in this manual.
5914 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5915 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5916 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5917 article, you could say something like:
5920 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5921 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5922 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5928 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5929 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5933 @node Setting Process Marks
5934 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5935 @cindex setting process marks
5942 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5944 Mark the current article with the process mark
5945 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5946 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5950 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5951 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5952 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5953 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5956 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5958 Remove the process mark from all articles
5959 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5962 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5964 Invert the list of process marked articles
5965 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5968 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5969 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5970 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5971 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5974 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5976 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5977 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5980 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5982 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5986 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5987 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5990 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5992 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5993 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5996 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5997 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5998 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5999 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6002 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6003 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6004 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6005 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6008 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6010 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6013 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6015 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6016 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6019 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6021 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6024 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6025 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6026 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6027 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6030 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6031 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6032 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6033 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6036 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6037 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6038 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6039 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6042 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6043 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6044 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6049 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6050 set process marks based on article body contents.
6057 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6058 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6059 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6062 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6063 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6064 additional articles.
6070 @kindex / / (Summary)
6071 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6072 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6073 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6077 @kindex / a (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6079 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6080 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6084 @kindex / x (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6086 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6087 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6088 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6093 @kindex / u (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6096 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6097 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6098 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6099 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6102 @kindex / m (Summary)
6103 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6104 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6105 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6108 @kindex / t (Summary)
6109 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6110 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6111 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6112 articles younger than that number of days.
6115 @kindex / n (Summary)
6116 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6117 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6118 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6119 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6122 @kindex / w (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6124 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6129 @kindex / . (Summary)
6130 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6131 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6132 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6135 @kindex / v (Summary)
6136 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6137 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6138 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6141 @kindex / p (Summary)
6142 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6143 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6144 group parameter predicate
6145 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6146 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6150 @kindex M S (Summary)
6151 @kindex / E (Summary)
6152 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6153 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6154 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6157 @kindex / D (Summary)
6158 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6159 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6160 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6163 @kindex / * (Summary)
6164 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6165 Include all cached articles in the limit
6166 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6169 @kindex / d (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6171 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6172 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6175 @kindex / M (Summary)
6176 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6177 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6180 @kindex / T (Summary)
6181 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6182 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6185 @kindex / c (Summary)
6186 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6187 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6188 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6191 @kindex / C (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6193 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6194 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6195 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6198 @kindex / N (Summary)
6199 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6200 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6201 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6204 @kindex / o (Summary)
6205 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6206 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6207 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6215 @cindex article threading
6217 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6218 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6219 hierarchical fashion.
6221 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6222 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6223 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6224 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6225 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6226 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6227 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6229 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6233 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6236 A tree-like article structure.
6239 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6242 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6243 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6244 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6245 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6246 called loose threads.
6248 @item thread gathering
6249 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6251 @item sparse threads
6252 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6253 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6259 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6260 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6264 @node Customizing Threading
6265 @subsection Customizing Threading
6266 @cindex customizing threading
6269 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6270 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6271 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6272 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6277 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6280 @cindex loose threads
6283 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6284 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6285 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6286 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6287 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6288 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6290 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6291 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6292 There are four possible values:
6296 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6297 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6298 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6299 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6300 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6305 @cindex adopting articles
6310 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6311 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6312 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6313 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6316 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6317 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6318 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6319 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6320 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6321 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6322 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6323 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6324 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6325 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to t.
6328 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6329 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6330 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6334 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6335 display them after one another.
6338 Don't gather loose threads.
6341 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6342 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6343 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6344 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6345 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6346 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6347 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6348 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6349 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6350 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6351 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6353 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6354 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6355 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6358 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6359 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6360 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6361 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6362 simplification is used.
6364 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6365 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6366 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6367 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6369 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6371 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6377 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6378 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6379 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6380 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6385 (mapconcat 'identity
6386 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6388 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6391 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6394 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6395 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6396 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6397 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6398 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6399 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6401 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6404 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6405 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6406 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6408 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6409 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6412 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6413 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6414 Remove excessive whitespace.
6416 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6417 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6418 Remove all whitespace.
6421 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6424 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6425 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6426 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6427 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6428 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6429 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6430 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6431 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6433 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6434 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6435 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6436 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6437 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6438 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6439 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6440 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6441 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6445 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6446 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6447 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6448 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6450 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6451 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6452 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6455 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6459 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6460 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6466 @node Filling In Threads
6467 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6470 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6471 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6472 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6473 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6474 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6475 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6476 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6477 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6478 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6479 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6480 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6481 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6484 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6485 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6486 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6488 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6489 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6490 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6491 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6492 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6493 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6494 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6495 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6496 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6497 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6498 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6499 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6500 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6501 @code{nil} by default.
6503 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6504 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6505 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6506 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6507 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6508 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6509 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6511 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6512 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6513 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6518 @node More Threading
6519 @subsubsection More Threading
6522 @item gnus-show-threads
6523 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6524 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6525 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6526 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6527 slower and more awkward.
6529 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6530 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6531 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6534 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6535 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6536 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6541 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6542 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6543 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6546 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6547 unread, but you get my drift.)
6550 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6551 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6552 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6553 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6554 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6555 threads are expunged.
6557 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6558 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6559 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6562 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6563 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6564 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6565 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6566 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6567 result in a new thread.
6569 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6570 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6571 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6574 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6575 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6576 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6577 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6578 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6579 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6580 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6581 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6582 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6583 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6584 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6589 @node Low-Level Threading
6590 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6594 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6595 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6596 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6598 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6599 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6600 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6601 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6602 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6603 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6604 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6605 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6606 meaningful. Here's one example:
6609 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6611 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6612 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6614 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6616 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6623 @node Thread Commands
6624 @subsection Thread Commands
6625 @cindex thread commands
6631 @kindex T k (Summary)
6632 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6633 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6634 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6635 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6636 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6641 @kindex T l (Summary)
6642 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6643 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6644 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6645 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6648 @kindex T i (Summary)
6649 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6650 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6651 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6654 @kindex T # (Summary)
6655 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6656 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6657 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6660 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6662 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6663 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6666 @kindex T T (Summary)
6667 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6668 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6671 @kindex T s (Summary)
6672 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6673 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6674 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6677 @kindex T h (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6679 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6682 @kindex T S (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6684 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6687 @kindex T H (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6689 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6692 @kindex T t (Summary)
6693 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6694 Re-thread the current article's thread
6695 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6696 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6699 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6700 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6701 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6702 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6706 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6707 understand the numeric prefix.
6712 @kindex T n (Summary)
6714 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6716 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6717 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6718 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6721 @kindex T p (Summary)
6723 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6725 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6726 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6727 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6730 @kindex T d (Summary)
6731 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6732 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6735 @kindex T u (Summary)
6736 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6737 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6740 @kindex T o (Summary)
6741 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6742 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6745 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6746 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6747 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6748 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6749 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6750 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6751 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6752 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6753 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6754 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6755 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6756 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6760 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6761 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6763 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6764 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6765 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6766 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6767 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6768 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6769 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6770 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6771 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6772 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6773 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6774 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6775 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6777 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6778 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6779 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6780 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6781 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6782 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6783 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6784 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6786 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6787 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6788 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6790 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6791 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6792 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6793 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6794 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6795 ascending article order.
6797 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6798 by number, you could do something like:
6801 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6802 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6803 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6804 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6807 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6808 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6809 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6810 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6811 which the articles arrived.
6813 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6817 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6819 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6820 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6823 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6824 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6825 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6826 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6829 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6830 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6831 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6832 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6833 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6834 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6835 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6836 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6837 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6838 variable. It is very similar to the
6839 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6840 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6841 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6842 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6843 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6844 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6845 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6847 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6851 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6852 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6853 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6858 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6859 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6860 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6861 @cindex article pre-fetch
6864 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6865 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6866 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6867 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6868 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6870 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6871 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6873 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6874 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6875 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6876 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6877 connection is blocked.
6879 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6880 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6881 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6882 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6884 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6885 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6886 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6887 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6890 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6893 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6894 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6895 happen automatically.
6897 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6898 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6899 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6900 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6901 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6902 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6903 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6905 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6906 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6907 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6908 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6909 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6910 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6911 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6912 data structure as the only parameter.
6914 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6917 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6918 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6919 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6920 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6923 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6926 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6927 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6928 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6930 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6931 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6932 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6933 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6937 Remove articles when they are read.
6940 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6943 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6945 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6946 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6947 @c from the next group.
6950 @node Article Caching
6951 @section Article Caching
6952 @cindex article caching
6955 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6956 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6957 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6958 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6959 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6961 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6963 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6964 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6965 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6966 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6967 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6968 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6969 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6970 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6972 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6973 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6974 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6975 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6976 as dormant, and don't worry.
6978 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6980 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6981 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6982 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6983 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6984 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6985 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6986 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6987 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6988 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6989 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6991 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6992 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6993 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6994 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6995 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6996 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6997 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6998 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6999 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7000 not then be downloaded by this command.
7002 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7003 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7004 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7005 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7006 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7007 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7009 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7010 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7011 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7012 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7013 variables, the group is not cached.
7015 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7016 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7017 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7018 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7019 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7020 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7021 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7022 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7023 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7026 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7027 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7028 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7029 where, isn't that cool?
7031 @node Persistent Articles
7032 @section Persistent Articles
7033 @cindex persistent articles
7035 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7036 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7037 useful in my opinion.
7039 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7040 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7041 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7042 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7043 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7044 the expiry going on at the news server.
7046 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7047 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7048 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7054 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7055 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7058 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7059 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7060 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7061 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7065 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7067 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7068 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7069 interested in persistent articles:
7072 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7076 @node Article Backlog
7077 @section Article Backlog
7079 @cindex article backlog
7081 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7082 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7083 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7084 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7085 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7086 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7087 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7088 increase memory usage some.
7090 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7091 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7092 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7093 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7094 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7095 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7096 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7098 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7101 @node Saving Articles
7102 @section Saving Articles
7103 @cindex saving articles
7105 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7106 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7107 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7108 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7109 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7111 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7112 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7113 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7115 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7116 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7117 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7119 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7120 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7121 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7122 deleted before saving.
7128 @kindex O o (Summary)
7130 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7131 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7132 Save the current article using the default article saver
7133 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7136 @kindex O m (Summary)
7137 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7138 Save the current article in mail format
7139 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7142 @kindex O r (Summary)
7143 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7144 Save the current article in rmail format
7145 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7148 @kindex O f (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7150 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7151 Save the current article in plain file format
7152 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7155 @kindex O F (Summary)
7156 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7157 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7158 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7161 @kindex O b (Summary)
7162 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7163 Save the current article body in plain file format
7164 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7167 @kindex O h (Summary)
7168 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7169 Save the current article in mh folder format
7170 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7173 @kindex O v (Summary)
7174 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7175 Save the current article in a VM folder
7176 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7180 @kindex O p (Summary)
7182 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7183 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7184 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7185 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7186 complete headers in the piped output.
7189 @kindex O P (Summary)
7190 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7191 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7192 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7193 external program Muttprint (see
7194 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7195 options to use is controlled by the variable
7196 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7200 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7201 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7202 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7203 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7204 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7205 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7206 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7207 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7208 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7209 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7210 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7211 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7215 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7216 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7217 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7218 functions below, or you can create your own.
7222 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7223 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7224 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7225 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7226 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7227 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7228 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7230 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7231 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7232 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7233 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7234 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7235 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7237 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7238 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7239 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7240 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7241 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7242 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7243 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7245 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7246 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7247 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7248 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7249 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7250 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7252 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7253 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7254 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7255 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7256 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7258 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7259 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7260 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7261 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7262 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7265 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7266 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7267 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7268 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7269 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7271 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7272 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7273 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7274 reader to use this setting.
7277 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7278 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7279 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7280 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7283 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7284 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7285 available functions that generate names:
7289 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7290 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7291 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7293 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7294 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7295 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7297 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7298 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7299 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7301 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7302 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7303 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7305 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7306 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7307 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7310 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7311 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7312 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7313 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7314 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7318 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7319 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7320 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7321 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7324 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7325 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7326 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7327 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7328 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7329 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7330 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7331 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7332 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7334 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7335 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7336 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7337 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7339 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7340 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7341 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7344 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7345 lots of mail groups called things like
7346 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7347 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7348 following will do just that:
7351 (defun my-save-name (group)
7352 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7353 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7355 (setq gnus-split-methods
7356 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7361 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7362 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7363 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7364 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7365 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7366 all the files in the top level directory
7367 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7368 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7369 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7370 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7372 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7373 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7374 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7375 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7376 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7379 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7383 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7384 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7385 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7388 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7389 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7390 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7391 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7394 @node Decoding Articles
7395 @section Decoding Articles
7396 @cindex decoding articles
7398 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7399 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7402 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7403 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7404 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7405 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7406 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7407 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7411 @cindex article series
7412 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7413 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7414 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7415 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7416 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7418 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7419 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7420 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7422 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7423 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7424 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7426 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7427 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7428 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7431 @node Uuencoded Articles
7432 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7434 @cindex uuencoded articles
7439 @kindex X u (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7441 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7442 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7445 @kindex X U (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7447 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7448 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7451 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7453 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7456 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7458 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7459 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7463 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7464 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7465 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7466 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7467 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7469 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7470 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7471 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7472 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7475 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7476 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7477 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7478 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7479 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7480 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7484 @node Shell Archives
7485 @subsection Shell Archives
7487 @cindex shell archives
7488 @cindex shared articles
7490 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7491 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7492 some commands to deal with these:
7497 @kindex X s (Summary)
7498 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7499 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7502 @kindex X S (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7504 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7507 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7508 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7509 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7512 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7513 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7514 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7515 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7519 @node PostScript Files
7520 @subsection PostScript Files
7526 @kindex X p (Summary)
7527 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7528 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7531 @kindex X P (Summary)
7532 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7533 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7534 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7537 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7539 View the current PostScript series
7540 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7543 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7545 View and save the current PostScript series
7546 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7551 @subsection Other Files
7555 @kindex X o (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7557 Save the current series
7558 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7561 @kindex X b (Summary)
7562 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7563 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7564 doesn't really work yet.
7568 @node Decoding Variables
7569 @subsection Decoding Variables
7571 Adjective, not verb.
7574 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7575 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7576 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7580 @node Rule Variables
7581 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7582 @cindex rule variables
7584 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7585 variables are of the form
7588 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7595 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7596 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7598 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7599 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7602 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7603 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7606 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7607 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7608 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7609 user and default view rules.
7611 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7612 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7613 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7618 @node Other Decode Variables
7619 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7622 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7624 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7625 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7626 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7627 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7628 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7632 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7633 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7636 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7637 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7638 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7641 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7642 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7643 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7644 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7645 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7648 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7649 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7650 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7652 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7653 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7654 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7655 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7656 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7659 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7660 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7661 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7663 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7664 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7665 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7666 looking for files to display.
7668 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7669 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7670 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7673 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7674 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7675 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7678 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7679 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7680 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7683 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7684 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7685 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7688 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7689 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7690 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7691 decoded articles as unread.
7693 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7694 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7695 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7696 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7698 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7699 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7700 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7702 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7703 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7705 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7706 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7707 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7708 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7710 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7711 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7712 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7713 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7714 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7715 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7716 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7717 simply dropped them.
7722 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7723 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7727 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7728 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7729 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7730 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7731 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7732 for you when you post the article.
7734 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7735 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7736 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7737 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7739 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7740 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7741 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7742 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7743 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7744 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7745 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7747 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7748 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7749 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7750 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7751 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7752 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7753 Default is @code{t}.
7759 @subsection Viewing Files
7760 @cindex viewing files
7761 @cindex pseudo-articles
7763 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7764 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7765 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7766 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7767 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7768 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7769 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7771 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7772 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7773 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7774 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7776 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7777 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7778 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7780 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7781 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7782 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7783 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7784 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7786 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7787 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7788 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7789 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7790 a list of parameters to that command.
7792 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7793 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7794 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7796 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7797 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7798 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7801 @node Article Treatment
7802 @section Article Treatment
7804 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7805 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7806 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7807 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7808 these articles easier.
7811 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7812 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7813 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7814 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7815 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7816 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7817 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7818 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7819 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7820 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7824 @node Article Highlighting
7825 @subsection Article Highlighting
7826 @cindex highlighting
7828 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7829 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7834 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7835 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7836 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7837 Do much highlighting of the current article
7838 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7839 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7842 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7843 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7844 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7845 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7846 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7847 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7848 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7849 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7850 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7851 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7852 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7853 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7856 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7857 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7858 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7860 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7863 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7865 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7866 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7867 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7869 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7870 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7871 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7873 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7874 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7875 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7876 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7877 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7878 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7880 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7881 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7882 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7884 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7885 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7886 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7888 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7889 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7890 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7891 that it's a citation.
7893 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7894 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7895 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7897 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7898 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7899 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7901 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7902 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7903 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7904 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7910 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7911 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7912 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7913 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7914 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7915 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7916 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7917 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7922 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7925 @node Article Fontisizing
7926 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7928 @cindex article emphasis
7930 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7931 @kindex W e (Summary)
7932 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7933 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7934 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7935 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7937 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7938 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7939 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7940 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7941 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7942 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7943 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7944 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7948 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7949 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7950 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7959 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7960 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7961 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7962 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7963 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7964 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7965 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7966 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7967 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7968 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7969 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7970 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7971 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7973 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7974 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7975 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7979 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7982 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7984 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7985 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7986 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7987 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7989 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7992 @node Article Hiding
7993 @subsection Article Hiding
7994 @cindex article hiding
7996 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7997 too much cruft in most articles.
8002 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8003 @findex gnus-article-hide
8004 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8005 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8006 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8009 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8011 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8015 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8017 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8018 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8021 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8022 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8023 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8027 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8029 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8030 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8031 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8032 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8033 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8034 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8038 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8039 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8040 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8041 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8046 @kindex W W p (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
8048 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8049 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
8050 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
8051 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
8052 articles that have signatures in them do:
8054 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
8056 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
8058 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
8059 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
8061 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8064 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8069 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8070 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8071 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8072 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8075 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8076 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8077 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8078 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8081 @cindex stripping advertisements
8082 @cindex advertisements
8083 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8084 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8085 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8086 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8087 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8088 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8089 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8090 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8091 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8092 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8095 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8096 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8097 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8101 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8102 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8103 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8104 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8105 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8106 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8107 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8108 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8109 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8110 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8111 following element to remove them:
8114 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8120 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8121 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8122 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8123 customizing the hiding:
8127 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8128 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8129 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8130 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8131 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8132 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8133 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8138 Starting point of the hidden text.
8140 Ending point of the hidden text.
8142 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8144 Number of lines of hidden text.
8147 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8148 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8149 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8150 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8151 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8156 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8157 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8159 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8160 following two variables:
8163 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8164 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8165 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8166 50), hide the cited text.
8168 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8169 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8170 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8175 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8176 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8177 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8178 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8179 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8180 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8184 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8185 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8186 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8188 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8189 citation customization.
8191 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8195 @node Article Washing
8196 @subsection Article Washing
8198 @cindex article washing
8200 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8201 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8203 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8204 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8207 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8208 articles by default.
8213 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8214 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8218 @kindex W l (Summary)
8219 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8220 Remove page breaks from the current article
8221 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8225 @kindex W r (Summary)
8226 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8227 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8228 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8229 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8230 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8231 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8233 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8234 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8235 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8236 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8239 @kindex W m (Summary)
8240 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8241 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8242 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8246 @kindex W t (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8249 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8250 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8253 @kindex W v (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8255 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8256 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8259 @kindex W o (Summary)
8260 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8261 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8264 @kindex W d (Summary)
8265 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8266 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8268 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8270 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8271 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8272 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8273 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8276 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8277 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8278 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8279 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8282 @kindex W k (Summary)
8283 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8284 @cindex Outlook Express
8285 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8286 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8289 @kindex W w (Summary)
8290 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8291 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8293 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8297 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8298 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8299 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8302 @kindex W C (Summary)
8303 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8304 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8305 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8308 @kindex W c (Summary)
8309 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8310 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8311 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8312 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8313 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8316 @kindex W q (Summary)
8317 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8318 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8319 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8320 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8321 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8322 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8323 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8324 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8325 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8328 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8329 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8330 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8331 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8332 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8333 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8334 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8336 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8339 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8340 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8341 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8342 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8343 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8346 @kindex W u (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8348 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8349 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8350 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8351 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8354 @kindex W h (Summary)
8355 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8356 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8357 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8358 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8360 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8362 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8363 The default is to use the function specified by
8364 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8365 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8366 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8374 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8378 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8381 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8384 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8389 @kindex W b (Summary)
8390 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8391 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8392 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8395 @kindex W B (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8397 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8398 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8401 @kindex W p (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8403 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8404 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8405 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8406 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8407 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8408 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8411 @kindex W s (Summary)
8412 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8413 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8414 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8417 @kindex W a (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8419 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8420 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8423 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8424 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8425 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8426 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8429 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8431 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8432 lines with a single empty line.
8433 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8436 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8438 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8439 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8442 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8444 Do all the three commands above
8445 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8448 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8450 Remove all blank lines
8451 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8454 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8456 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8457 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8460 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8461 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8462 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8463 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8467 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8470 @node Article Header
8471 @subsection Article Header
8473 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8478 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8479 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8480 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8483 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8484 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8485 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8486 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8489 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8491 Fold all the message headers
8492 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8496 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8497 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8498 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8503 @node Article Buttons
8504 @subsection Article Buttons
8507 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8508 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8509 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8510 button on these references.
8512 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8513 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8514 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8515 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8516 one that handles article heads:
8520 @item gnus-button-alist
8521 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8522 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8525 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8531 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8532 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8533 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8534 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8535 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8538 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8539 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8540 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8543 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8544 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8545 avoid false matches.
8548 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8551 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8552 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8556 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8559 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8562 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8563 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8564 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8565 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8566 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8569 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8572 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8574 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8575 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8576 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8577 default values of the variables above.
8579 @item gnus-article-button-face
8580 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8581 Face used on buttons.
8583 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8584 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8585 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8589 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8593 @subsection Article Date
8595 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8596 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8597 when the article was sent.
8602 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8603 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8604 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8605 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8608 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8611 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8612 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8615 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8616 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8617 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8620 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8621 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8622 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8623 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8626 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8627 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8628 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8629 @findex format-time-string
8630 Display the date using a user-defined format
8631 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8632 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8633 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8634 for a list of possible format specs.
8637 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8638 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8639 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8640 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8641 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8642 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8645 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8648 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8649 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8652 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8653 into wonderful absurdities.
8655 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8658 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8661 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8662 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8666 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8667 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8668 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8669 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8670 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8671 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8672 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8676 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8677 preferred format automatically.
8680 @node Article Display
8681 @subsection Article Display
8686 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8687 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8689 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8690 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8692 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8693 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8695 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8696 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8698 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8703 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8704 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8705 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8706 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8709 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8710 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8711 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8714 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8715 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8716 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8719 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8720 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8721 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8722 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8725 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8726 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8727 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8728 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8731 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8732 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8733 Remove all images from the article buffer
8734 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8740 @node Article Signature
8741 @subsection Article Signature
8743 @cindex article signature
8745 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8746 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8747 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8748 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8749 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8750 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8751 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8752 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8753 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8756 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8757 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8758 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8759 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8760 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8761 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8762 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8763 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8766 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8769 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8770 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8771 signature when displaying articles.
8775 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8778 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8781 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8782 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8784 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8785 in question is not a signature.
8788 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8789 listed above. Here's an example:
8792 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8793 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8796 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8797 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8798 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8799 signature after all.
8802 @node Article Miscellania
8803 @subsection Article Miscellania
8807 @kindex A t (Summary)
8808 @findex gnus-article-babel
8809 Translate the article from one language to another
8810 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8816 @section MIME Commands
8817 @cindex MIME decoding
8819 @cindex viewing attachments
8821 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8822 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8828 @kindex K v (Summary)
8829 View the @sc{mime} part.
8832 @kindex K o (Summary)
8833 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8836 @kindex K c (Summary)
8837 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8840 @kindex K e (Summary)
8841 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8844 @kindex K i (Summary)
8845 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8848 @kindex K | (Summary)
8849 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8852 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8857 @kindex K b (Summary)
8858 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8859 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8863 @kindex K m (Summary)
8864 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8865 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8866 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8867 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8868 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8871 @kindex X m (Summary)
8872 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8873 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8874 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8875 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8878 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8879 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8880 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8881 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8884 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8885 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8886 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8887 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8890 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8891 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8892 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8893 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8895 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8896 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8897 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8898 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8899 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8900 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8903 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8904 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8905 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8906 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8913 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8914 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8915 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8916 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8919 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8922 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8926 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8927 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8928 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8929 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8930 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8931 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8934 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8935 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8936 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8937 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8938 displayed. This variable overrides
8939 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8941 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8942 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8943 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
8945 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8946 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8947 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
8948 value is @code{nil}.
8950 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8951 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8952 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8953 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8954 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8955 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8956 save all jpegs into some directory).
8958 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8961 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8962 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8964 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8965 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8966 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8967 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8968 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8971 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8972 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8973 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8975 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8976 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8977 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8978 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8980 Ready-made functions include@*
8981 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8982 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8983 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8984 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8985 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8986 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8987 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8988 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8989 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8990 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8991 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8992 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8994 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8995 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8997 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8998 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8999 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9002 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9003 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9004 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9005 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9009 to your @file{.gnus} file.
9018 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9019 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9020 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9021 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9022 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9023 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9024 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9026 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9027 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9028 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9029 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9031 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9032 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9033 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9034 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9035 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9036 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9037 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9038 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9040 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9041 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9042 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9043 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9044 quoted-printable header encoding.
9046 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9047 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9048 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9052 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9055 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9056 means encode all charsets),
9058 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9059 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9060 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9067 @cindex coding system aliases
9068 @cindex preferred charset
9070 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9072 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9073 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9076 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9077 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9080 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9081 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9083 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9086 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9089 This will almost do the right thing.
9091 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9095 (codepage-setup 1251)
9096 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9100 @node Article Commands
9101 @section Article Commands
9108 @kindex A P (Summary)
9109 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9110 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9111 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9112 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9113 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9114 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9119 @node Summary Sorting
9120 @section Summary Sorting
9121 @cindex summary sorting
9123 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9124 can't really see why you'd want that.
9129 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9130 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9131 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9134 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9135 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9136 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9139 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9140 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9141 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9144 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9145 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9146 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9149 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9150 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9151 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9154 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9155 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9156 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9159 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9160 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9161 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9164 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9165 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9166 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9169 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9170 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9171 Sort using the default sorting method
9172 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9175 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9176 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9177 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9178 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9179 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9183 @node Finding the Parent
9184 @section Finding the Parent
9185 @cindex parent articles
9186 @cindex referring articles
9191 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9192 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9193 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9194 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9195 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9196 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9197 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9198 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9199 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9201 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9202 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9203 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9204 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9205 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9209 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9210 @kindex A R (Summary)
9211 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9212 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9215 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9216 @kindex A T (Summary)
9217 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9218 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9219 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9220 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9221 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9222 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9223 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9225 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9226 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9227 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9228 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9229 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9230 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9233 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9234 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9236 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9237 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9238 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9239 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9240 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9241 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9242 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9245 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9246 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9247 by giving this command a prefix.
9249 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9250 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9251 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9252 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9253 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9254 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9257 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9258 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9259 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9262 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9263 then ask Google if that fails:
9266 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9268 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9271 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9272 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9273 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9274 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9275 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9276 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9277 support this at all.
9280 @node Alternative Approaches
9281 @section Alternative Approaches
9283 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9284 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9287 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9288 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9293 @subsection Pick and Read
9294 @cindex pick and read
9296 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9297 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9298 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9299 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9301 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9302 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9303 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9304 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9305 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9306 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9308 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9313 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9314 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9315 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9316 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9317 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9318 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9319 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9320 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9323 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9324 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9325 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9326 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9330 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9331 Unpick the thread or article
9332 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9333 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9334 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9335 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9336 the thread or article at that line.
9340 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9341 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9342 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9343 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9344 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9345 will still be visible when you are reading.
9349 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9350 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9351 which is mapped to the same function
9352 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9354 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9357 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9360 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9361 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9363 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9364 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9365 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9367 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9368 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9369 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9370 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9371 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9372 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9373 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9377 @subsection Binary Groups
9378 @cindex binary groups
9380 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9381 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9382 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9383 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9384 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9385 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9386 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9389 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9390 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9391 command, when you have turned on this mode
9392 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9394 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9395 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9399 @section Tree Display
9402 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9403 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9404 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9405 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9408 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9411 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9412 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9413 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9415 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9416 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9417 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9418 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9419 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9421 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9422 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9423 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9424 default is @code{modeline}.
9426 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9427 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9428 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9429 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9430 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9431 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9432 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9438 The name of the poster.
9440 The @code{From} header.
9442 The number of the article.
9444 The opening bracket.
9446 The closing bracket.
9451 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9453 Variables related to the display are:
9456 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9457 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9458 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9459 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9460 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9461 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9463 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9464 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9465 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9466 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9470 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9471 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9472 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9473 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9474 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9475 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9476 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9477 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9478 other windows displayed next to it.
9480 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9484 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9485 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9488 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9489 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9490 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9491 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9492 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9493 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9494 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9498 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9501 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9511 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9515 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9516 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9518 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9520 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9525 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9526 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9527 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9530 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9531 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9532 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9533 (gnus-add-configuration
9537 (summary 0.75 point)
9542 @xref{Window Layout}.
9545 @node Mail Group Commands
9546 @section Mail Group Commands
9547 @cindex mail group commands
9549 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9550 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9552 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9553 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9558 @kindex B e (Summary)
9559 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9560 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9561 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9562 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9563 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9566 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9567 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9568 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9569 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9570 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9571 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9574 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9575 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9576 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9577 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9578 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9579 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9582 @kindex B m (Summary)
9584 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9585 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9586 Move the article from one mail group to another
9587 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9588 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9591 @kindex B c (Summary)
9593 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9594 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9595 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9596 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9597 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9600 @kindex B B (Summary)
9601 @cindex crosspost mail
9602 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9603 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9604 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9605 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9606 be properly updated.
9609 @kindex B i (Summary)
9610 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9611 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9612 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9613 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9616 @kindex B I (Summary)
9617 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9618 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9619 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9620 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9623 @kindex B r (Summary)
9624 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9625 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9626 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9627 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9628 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9629 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9630 (which is the default).
9634 @kindex B w (Summary)
9636 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9637 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9638 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9639 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9640 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9641 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9642 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9645 @kindex B q (Summary)
9646 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9647 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9648 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9649 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9652 @kindex B t (Summary)
9653 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9654 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9655 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9658 @kindex B p (Summary)
9659 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9660 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9661 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9662 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9663 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9664 article from your news server (or rather, from
9665 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9666 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9667 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9668 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9669 just not have arrived yet.
9672 @kindex K E (Summary)
9673 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9674 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9675 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9676 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9677 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9681 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9682 @cindex moving articles
9683 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9684 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9685 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9686 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9687 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9688 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9689 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9692 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9693 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9694 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9695 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9699 @node Various Summary Stuff
9700 @section Various Summary Stuff
9703 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9704 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9705 * Summary Generation Commands::
9706 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9710 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9711 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9712 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9714 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9715 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9716 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9717 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9718 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9719 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9722 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9723 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9724 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9725 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9726 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9728 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9729 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9730 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9733 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9734 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9735 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9736 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9737 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9738 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9739 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9740 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9741 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9742 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9744 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9745 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9746 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9747 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9748 list of articles to be selected.
9750 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9751 the list in one particular group:
9754 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9755 (if (string= group "some.group")
9756 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9760 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9761 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9762 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9763 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9764 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9765 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9766 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9767 buffers. For example:
9770 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9771 '(message-use-followup-to
9772 (gnus-visible-headers .
9773 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9779 @node Summary Group Information
9780 @subsection Summary Group Information
9785 @kindex H f (Summary)
9786 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9787 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9788 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9789 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9790 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9791 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9792 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9793 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9794 be used for fetching the file.
9797 @kindex H d (Summary)
9798 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9799 Give a brief description of the current group
9800 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9801 rereading the description from the server.
9804 @kindex H h (Summary)
9805 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9806 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9807 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9810 @kindex H i (Summary)
9811 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9812 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9816 @node Searching for Articles
9817 @subsection Searching for Articles
9822 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9823 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9824 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9825 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9828 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9829 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9830 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9831 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9835 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9836 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9837 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9838 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9839 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9840 search backward instead.
9842 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9843 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9846 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9847 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9848 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9849 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9852 @node Summary Generation Commands
9853 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9858 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9859 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9860 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9863 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9864 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9865 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9866 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9869 @kindex Y d (Summary)
9870 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
9871 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9872 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
9877 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9878 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9884 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9885 @kindex A D (Summary)
9886 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9887 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9888 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9889 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9890 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9891 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9892 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9893 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9897 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9898 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9899 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9900 several documents into one biiig group
9901 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9902 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9903 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9904 command understands the process/prefix convention
9905 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9908 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9909 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9910 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9911 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9912 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9913 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9917 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9918 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9919 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9922 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9923 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9924 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9925 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9928 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9929 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9930 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9931 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9936 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9937 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9938 @cindex summary exit
9939 @cindex exiting groups
9941 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9942 group and return you to the group buffer.
9948 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9950 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9951 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9952 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9953 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9954 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9955 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9956 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9957 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9958 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9959 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9960 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9964 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9966 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9967 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9968 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9972 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9974 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9975 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9976 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9977 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9980 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9981 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9982 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9983 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9986 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9987 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9988 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9989 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9992 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9993 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9994 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9995 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9996 all articles, both read and unread.
10000 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10001 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10002 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10003 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10004 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10005 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10006 articles, both read and unread.
10009 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10010 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10011 Exit the group and go to the next group
10012 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10015 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10016 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10017 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10018 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10021 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10022 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10023 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10024 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10025 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10026 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10029 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10030 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10031 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10032 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10034 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10035 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10036 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10037 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10038 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10039 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10040 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10041 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10042 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10043 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10044 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10045 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10047 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10049 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10050 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10051 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10052 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10053 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10054 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10055 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10056 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10057 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10060 @node Crosspost Handling
10061 @section Crosspost Handling
10065 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10066 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10067 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10068 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10069 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10070 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10073 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10074 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10075 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10076 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10077 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10079 @cindex cross-posting
10082 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10083 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10084 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10085 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10086 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10087 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10088 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10089 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10090 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10091 the cross reference mechanism.
10093 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10094 @cindex overview.fmt
10095 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10096 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10097 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10098 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10099 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10100 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10103 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10104 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10105 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10110 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10113 @node Duplicate Suppression
10114 @section Duplicate Suppression
10116 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10117 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10118 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10119 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10124 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10125 is evil and not very common.
10128 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10129 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10132 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10133 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10136 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10139 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10140 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10142 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10143 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10144 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10145 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10146 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10147 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10148 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10151 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10152 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10153 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10154 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10155 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10156 saw the article in.
10159 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10160 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10161 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10163 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10164 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10165 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10166 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10167 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10168 session are suppressed.
10170 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10171 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10172 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10173 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10175 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10176 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10177 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10178 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10181 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10182 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10183 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10184 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10185 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10186 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10187 to you to figure out, I think.
10192 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10193 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10194 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10198 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
10199 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10202 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10203 or newer is recommended.
10207 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10208 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10211 @item mm-verify-option
10212 @vindex mm-verify-option
10213 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10214 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10215 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10217 @item mm-decrypt-option
10218 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10219 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10220 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10221 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10226 @section Mailing List
10228 @kindex A M (summary)
10229 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10230 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10231 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10232 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10233 summary buffer, or say:
10236 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10239 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10244 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10245 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10246 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10249 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10250 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10251 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10254 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10255 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10256 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10260 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10261 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10262 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10265 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10266 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10267 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10270 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10272 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10276 @node Article Buffer
10277 @chapter Article Buffer
10278 @cindex article buffer
10280 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10281 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10282 tell Gnus otherwise.
10285 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10286 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10287 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10288 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10289 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10293 @node Hiding Headers
10294 @section Hiding Headers
10295 @cindex hiding headers
10296 @cindex deleting headers
10298 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10299 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10301 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10302 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10303 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10304 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10305 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10306 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10307 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10308 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10309 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10311 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10315 @item gnus-visible-headers
10316 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10317 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10318 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10319 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10321 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10322 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10325 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10328 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10331 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10332 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10333 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10334 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10335 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10336 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10338 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10339 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10342 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10345 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10348 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10349 variable will have no effect.
10353 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10354 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10355 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10356 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10357 the headers are to be displayed.
10359 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10360 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10363 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10366 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10367 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10369 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10370 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10371 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10372 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10373 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10374 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10375 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10378 These conditions are:
10381 Remove all empty headers.
10383 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10384 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10386 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10387 @code{From} header.
10389 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10392 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10393 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10395 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10398 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10400 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10403 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10406 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10407 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10410 This is also the default value for this variable.
10414 @section Using MIME
10417 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10418 while people stand around yawning.
10420 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10421 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10423 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10424 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10425 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10427 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10428 @findex gnus-display-mime
10429 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10430 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10431 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10432 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10434 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10438 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10439 @item RET (Article)
10440 @kindex RET (Article)
10441 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10442 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10443 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10444 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10445 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10446 object is displayed inline.
10448 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10449 @item M-RET (Article)
10450 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10452 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10453 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10455 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10457 @kindex t (Article)
10458 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10459 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10461 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10463 @kindex C (Article)
10464 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10465 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10467 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10469 @kindex o (Article)
10470 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10471 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10473 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10474 @item C-o (Article)
10475 @kindex C-o (Article)
10476 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10477 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10478 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10479 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10480 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10481 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10483 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10485 @kindex c (Article)
10486 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10487 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10489 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10491 @kindex p (Article)
10492 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10493 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10494 @file{.mailcap} file.
10496 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10498 @kindex i (Article)
10499 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10500 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10501 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10502 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10503 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10506 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10508 @kindex E (Article)
10509 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10510 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10511 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10513 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10515 @kindex e (Article)
10516 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10517 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10519 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10521 @kindex | (Article)
10522 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10524 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10526 @kindex . (Article)
10527 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10528 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10532 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10533 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10536 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10537 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10538 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10539 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10540 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10541 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10542 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10543 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10544 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10546 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10548 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10551 @node Customizing Articles
10552 @section Customizing Articles
10553 @cindex article customization
10555 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10556 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10557 called automatically when you select the articles.
10559 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10560 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10561 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10562 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10564 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10565 for sensible values.
10569 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10572 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10575 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10578 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10581 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10585 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10586 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10587 regexps in the list.
10590 A list where the first element is not a string:
10592 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10593 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10594 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10598 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10603 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10604 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10605 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10606 considered to contain just a single part.
10608 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10609 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10610 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10611 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10612 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10613 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10614 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10616 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10617 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10618 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10619 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10622 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10623 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10625 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10627 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10628 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10629 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10630 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10631 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10632 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10633 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10634 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10635 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10636 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10638 @xref{Article Washing}.
10640 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10641 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10642 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10643 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10644 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10645 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10646 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10648 @xref{Article Date}.
10650 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10651 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10652 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10656 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10658 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10660 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10661 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10662 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10666 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10670 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10671 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10672 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10673 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10674 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10675 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10676 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10677 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10679 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10681 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10682 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10683 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10685 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10687 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10688 @item gnus-treat-translate
10689 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10691 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10692 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10693 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10694 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10696 @xref{Article Header}.
10701 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10702 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10703 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10704 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10705 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10709 @node Article Keymap
10710 @section Article Keymap
10712 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10713 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10714 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10715 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10718 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10723 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10724 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10725 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10728 @kindex DEL (Article)
10729 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10730 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10733 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10734 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10735 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10736 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10737 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10740 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10741 @findex gnus-article-mail
10742 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10743 given a prefix, include the mail.
10746 @kindex s (Article)
10747 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10748 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10749 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10752 @kindex ? (Article)
10753 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10754 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10755 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10758 @kindex TAB (Article)
10759 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10760 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10761 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10764 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10765 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10766 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10769 @kindex R (Article)
10770 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10771 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10772 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10773 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10777 @kindex F (Article)
10778 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10779 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10780 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10781 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10789 @section Misc Article
10793 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10794 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10795 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10796 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10799 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10800 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10802 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10803 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10805 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10806 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10807 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10808 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10809 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10810 the contents of the article buffer.
10812 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10813 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10814 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10816 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10817 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10818 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10819 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10821 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10822 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10823 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10824 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10825 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10831 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10832 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10833 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10838 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10841 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10844 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10845 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10846 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10849 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10852 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10855 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10860 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10864 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10866 @item gnus-break-pages
10867 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10868 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10869 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10870 paging will not be done.
10872 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10873 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10874 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10879 @node Composing Messages
10880 @chapter Composing Messages
10881 @cindex composing messages
10884 @cindex sending mail
10889 @cindex using s/mime
10890 @cindex using smime
10892 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10893 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10894 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10895 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10896 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10897 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10900 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10901 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10902 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10903 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10904 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10905 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10906 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10907 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10910 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10911 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10917 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10920 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10921 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10922 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10923 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10924 @code{nil} include all headers.
10926 @item gnus-add-to-list
10927 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10928 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10929 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10931 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10932 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10933 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10934 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10935 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10940 @node Posting Server
10941 @section Posting Server
10943 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10944 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10946 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10948 It can be quite complicated.
10950 @vindex gnus-post-method
10951 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10952 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10953 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10954 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10955 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10956 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10957 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10958 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10959 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10962 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10965 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10966 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10967 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10968 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10970 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10971 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10973 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10974 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10977 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10978 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10980 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10981 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10982 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10983 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10984 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10985 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10986 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10987 package correctly. An example:
10990 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10991 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10994 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
10995 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
10996 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
10998 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10999 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11000 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11002 @node Mail and Post
11003 @section Mail and Post
11005 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11009 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11010 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11011 @cindex mailing lists
11013 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11014 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11015 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11016 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11017 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11018 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11019 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11020 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11021 still a pain, though.
11025 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11026 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11027 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11030 @findex ispell-message
11032 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11035 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11036 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11039 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11043 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11044 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11046 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11049 Modify to suit your needs.
11052 @node Archived Messages
11053 @section Archived Messages
11054 @cindex archived messages
11055 @cindex sent messages
11057 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11058 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11059 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11060 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11063 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11064 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11067 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11068 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11069 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11072 (nnfolder "archive"
11073 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11074 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11075 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11076 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11079 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11080 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11081 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11082 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11085 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11086 '(nnfolder "archive"
11087 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11088 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11089 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11092 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11094 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11095 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11096 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11098 This variable can be used to do the following:
11103 Messages will be saved in that group.
11105 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11106 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11107 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11108 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11109 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11110 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11111 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11112 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11116 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11118 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11119 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11122 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11127 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11129 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11132 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11134 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11137 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11139 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11140 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11141 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11142 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11145 More complex stuff:
11147 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11148 '((if (message-news-p)
11153 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11154 messages in one file per month:
11157 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11158 '((if (message-news-p)
11160 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11163 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11164 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11166 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11167 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11168 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11169 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11170 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11171 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11172 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11173 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11174 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11175 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11177 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11178 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11179 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11180 this will disable archiving.
11183 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11184 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11185 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11186 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11187 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11190 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11191 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11192 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11195 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11196 but the latter is the preferred method.
11198 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11199 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11200 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11202 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11203 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11204 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11205 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11206 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11207 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11208 changed in the future.
11213 @node Posting Styles
11214 @section Posting Styles
11215 @cindex posting styles
11218 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11220 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11221 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11222 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11225 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11226 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11227 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11228 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11229 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11234 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11235 (organization "What me?"))
11237 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11238 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11239 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11242 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11243 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11244 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11245 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11246 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11247 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11248 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11249 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11251 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11252 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11253 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11254 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11255 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11256 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11257 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11258 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11259 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11260 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11261 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11264 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11265 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11266 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11267 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11268 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11269 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11270 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11271 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11272 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11273 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11276 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11277 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11278 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11279 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11280 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11281 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11282 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11283 references chars lines xref extra.
11285 @vindex message-reply-headers
11287 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11288 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11289 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11291 @findex message-mail-p
11292 @findex message-news-p
11294 So here's a new example:
11297 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11299 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11301 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11302 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11304 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11305 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11306 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11307 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11308 (signature my-news-signature))
11309 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11310 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11311 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11312 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11313 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11314 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11315 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11316 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11317 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11318 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11320 (From (save-excursion
11321 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11322 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11324 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11327 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11328 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11329 if you fill many roles.
11336 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11337 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11338 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11339 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11340 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11342 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11343 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11344 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11345 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11346 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11350 @vindex nndraft-directory
11351 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11352 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11353 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11354 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11355 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11356 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11358 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11359 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11362 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11363 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11364 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11365 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11366 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11367 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11368 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11369 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11370 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11371 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11372 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11373 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11374 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11375 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11377 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11378 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11379 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11381 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11382 @kindex D e (Draft)
11383 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11384 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11385 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11387 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11390 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11391 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11392 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11393 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11394 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11395 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11396 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11399 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11400 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11401 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11404 @node Rejected Articles
11405 @section Rejected Articles
11406 @cindex rejected articles
11408 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11409 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11410 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11411 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11413 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11414 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11415 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11416 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11417 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11419 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11420 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11421 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11423 @node Signing and encrypting
11424 @section Signing and encrypting
11426 @cindex using s/mime
11427 @cindex using smime
11429 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11430 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11431 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11432 (@pxref{Security}).
11434 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11435 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11436 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11438 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11439 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11440 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11441 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11442 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11443 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11444 automatically encrypted messages.
11446 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11447 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11448 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11453 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11454 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11456 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11459 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11460 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11462 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11465 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11466 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11468 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11471 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11472 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11474 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11477 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11478 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11480 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11483 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11484 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11486 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11489 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11490 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11491 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11495 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11497 @node Select Methods
11498 @chapter Select Methods
11499 @cindex foreign groups
11500 @cindex select methods
11502 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11503 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11504 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11505 personal mail group.
11507 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11508 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11509 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11510 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11511 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11512 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11514 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11515 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11517 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11520 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11521 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11522 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11523 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11524 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11526 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11529 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11530 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11531 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11532 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11533 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11534 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11535 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11536 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11540 @node Server Buffer
11541 @section Server Buffer
11543 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11544 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11545 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11546 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11547 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11548 back end represents a virtual server.
11550 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11551 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11552 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11553 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11555 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11556 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11557 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11558 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11559 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11560 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11561 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11563 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11564 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11567 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11568 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11569 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11570 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11571 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11572 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11573 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11576 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11577 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11580 @node Server Buffer Format
11581 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11582 @cindex server buffer format
11584 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11585 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11586 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11587 variable, with some simple extensions:
11592 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11595 The name of this server.
11598 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11601 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11604 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11605 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11606 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11607 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11617 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11620 @node Server Commands
11621 @subsection Server Commands
11622 @cindex server commands
11628 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11629 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11633 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11634 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11637 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11638 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11639 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11643 @findex gnus-server-exit
11644 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11648 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11649 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11653 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11654 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11658 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11659 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11663 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11664 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11668 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11669 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11670 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11675 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11676 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11677 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11678 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11683 @node Example Methods
11684 @subsection Example Methods
11686 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11689 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11692 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11698 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11699 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11702 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11703 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11705 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11706 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11710 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11713 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11714 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11716 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11717 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11718 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11722 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11725 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11728 Here's the method for a public spool:
11732 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11733 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11739 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11740 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11741 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11742 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11743 should probably look something like this:
11747 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11748 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11749 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11750 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11753 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11754 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11755 configuration to the example above:
11758 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11761 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11763 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11764 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11765 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11769 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11770 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11771 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11772 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11775 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11776 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11777 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11778 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11781 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11782 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11784 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11785 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11787 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11788 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11789 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11791 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11793 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11794 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11795 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11796 will contain the following:
11806 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11807 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11808 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11811 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11812 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11813 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11816 @node Server Variables
11817 @subsection Server Variables
11819 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11820 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11821 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11822 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11823 won't change the "derived" variables.
11825 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11826 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11827 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11828 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11829 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11830 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11831 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11832 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11833 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11837 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11838 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11839 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11843 @node Servers and Methods
11844 @subsection Servers and Methods
11846 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11847 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11848 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11849 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11853 @node Unavailable Servers
11854 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11856 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11857 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11858 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11859 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11860 actually the case or not.
11862 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11863 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11864 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11865 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11866 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11867 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11868 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11869 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11871 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11872 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11874 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11875 with the following commands:
11881 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11882 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11883 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11887 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11888 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11889 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11893 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11894 Mark the current server as unreachable
11895 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11898 @kindex M-o (Server)
11899 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11900 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11901 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11904 @kindex M-c (Server)
11905 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11906 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11907 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11911 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11912 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11913 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11917 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11918 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11924 @section Getting News
11925 @cindex reading news
11926 @cindex news back ends
11928 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11929 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11930 or it can read from a local spool.
11933 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11934 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11942 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11943 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11944 server as the, uhm, address.
11946 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11947 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11948 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11949 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11951 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11952 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11953 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11955 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11960 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11961 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11962 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11964 @cindex authentification
11965 @cindex nntp authentification
11966 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11967 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11968 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11969 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11970 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11971 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11972 present in this hook.
11974 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11975 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11976 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11977 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11978 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11979 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11980 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11981 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11982 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11983 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11984 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11985 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11989 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11992 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11994 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11995 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11996 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11997 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11998 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11999 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12000 @samp{force} is explained below.
12004 Here's an example file:
12007 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12008 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12011 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12012 have to be first, for instance.
12014 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12015 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12016 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12017 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12018 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12019 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12020 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12022 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12023 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12029 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12030 previously mentioned.
12032 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12034 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12035 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12036 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12037 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12038 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12041 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12042 '(("innd" (ding))))
12045 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12047 The default value is
12050 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12051 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12052 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12055 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12056 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12058 @item nntp-maximum-request
12059 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12060 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12061 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12062 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12063 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12064 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12065 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12067 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12068 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12069 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12070 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12071 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12072 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12073 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12074 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12075 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12076 no timeouts are done.
12078 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12079 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12080 @c @cindex PPP connections
12081 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12082 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12083 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12084 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12085 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12086 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12087 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12088 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12089 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12090 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12092 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12093 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12094 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12095 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12096 @c described above.
12098 @item nntp-server-hook
12099 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12100 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12103 @item nntp-buggy-select
12104 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12105 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12107 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12108 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12109 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12110 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12113 @item nntp-xover-commands
12114 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12117 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12118 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12122 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12123 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12124 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12125 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12126 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12127 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12128 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12129 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12130 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12131 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12132 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12134 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12135 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12136 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12138 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12139 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12140 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12141 server closes connection.
12143 @item nntp-record-commands
12144 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12145 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12146 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12147 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12148 that doesn't seem to work.
12150 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12151 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12152 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12153 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12154 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12155 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12156 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12157 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12159 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12160 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12161 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12162 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12163 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12164 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12165 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12168 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12171 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12172 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12176 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12177 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12178 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12182 @node Direct Functions
12183 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12184 @cindex direct connection functions
12186 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12187 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12188 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12189 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12192 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12193 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12194 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12197 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12198 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12199 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12200 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12201 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12202 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12203 define a server as follows:
12206 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12208 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12209 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12211 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12212 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12213 (nntp-port-number 563)
12214 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12217 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12218 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12219 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12220 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12221 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12222 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12223 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12224 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12228 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12229 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12230 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12233 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12234 session, which is not a good idea.
12238 @node Indirect Functions
12239 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12240 @cindex indirect connection functions
12242 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12243 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12244 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12245 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12246 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12247 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12250 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12251 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12252 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12253 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12254 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12256 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12259 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12260 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12261 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12262 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12264 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12265 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12266 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12267 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12268 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12269 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12270 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12271 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12274 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12275 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12276 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12277 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12279 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12282 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12283 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12284 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12287 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12288 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12289 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12290 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12292 @item nntp-via-user-password
12293 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12294 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12296 @item nntp-via-envuser
12297 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12298 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12299 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12300 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12302 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12303 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12304 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12305 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12312 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12317 @item nntp-via-user-name
12318 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12319 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12321 @item nntp-via-address
12322 @vindex nntp-via-address
12323 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12328 @node Common Variables
12329 @subsubsection Common Variables
12331 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12332 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12337 @item nntp-pre-command
12338 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12339 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12340 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12341 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12342 wrapper for instance.
12345 @vindex nntp-address
12346 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12348 @item nntp-port-number
12349 @vindex nntp-port-number
12350 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12351 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12352 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12353 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12355 @item nntp-end-of-line
12356 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12357 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12358 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12359 using a non native connection function.
12361 @item nntp-telnet-command
12362 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12363 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12364 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12365 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12367 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12368 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12369 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12376 @subsection News Spool
12380 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12381 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12382 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12385 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12386 anything else) as the address.
12388 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12389 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12390 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12391 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12395 @item nnspool-inews-program
12396 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12397 Program used to post an article.
12399 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12400 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12401 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12403 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12404 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12405 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12406 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12408 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12409 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12410 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12411 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12413 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12414 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12415 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12417 @item nnspool-active-file
12418 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12419 The path to the active file.
12421 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12422 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12423 The path to the group descriptions file.
12425 @item nnspool-history-file
12426 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12427 The path to the news history file.
12429 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12430 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12431 The path to the active date file.
12433 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12434 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12435 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12438 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12439 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12441 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12442 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12443 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12449 @section Getting Mail
12450 @cindex reading mail
12453 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12457 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12458 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12459 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12460 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12461 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12462 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12463 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12464 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12465 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12466 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12467 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12468 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12469 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12473 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12474 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12476 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12477 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12478 of a culture shock.
12480 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12481 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12483 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12484 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12485 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12486 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12488 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12490 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12491 deleted? How awful!
12493 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12494 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12495 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12496 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12499 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12500 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12501 they want to treat a message.
12503 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12504 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12505 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12506 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12507 archived somewhere else.
12509 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12510 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12511 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12512 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12513 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12515 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12516 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12517 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12519 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12520 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12523 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12524 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12525 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12526 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12527 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12529 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12530 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12531 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12532 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12533 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12534 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12538 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12539 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12541 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12542 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12543 and things will happen automatically.
12545 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12546 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12549 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12552 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12553 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12554 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12555 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12556 like any other group.
12558 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12561 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12562 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12563 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12567 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12568 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12569 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12572 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12573 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12574 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12577 @node Splitting Mail
12578 @subsection Splitting Mail
12579 @cindex splitting mail
12580 @cindex mail splitting
12582 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12583 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12584 to be split into groups.
12587 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12588 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12589 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12590 ("mail.other" "")))
12593 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12594 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12595 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12596 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12597 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12598 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12599 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12602 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12605 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12606 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12607 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12608 mail belongs in that group.
12610 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12611 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12612 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12613 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12614 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12615 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12617 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12618 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12619 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12620 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12621 thinks should carry this mail message.
12623 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12624 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12625 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12626 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12628 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12629 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12630 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12631 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12632 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12634 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12637 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12638 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12639 links. If that's the case for you, set
12640 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12641 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12643 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12644 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12645 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12646 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12647 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12648 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12651 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12652 Header lines longer than the value of
12653 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12656 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12657 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12658 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12659 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12660 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12661 can be turned off completely by binding
12662 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12663 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12665 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12666 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12667 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12668 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12669 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12670 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12671 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12674 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12675 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12676 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12677 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12678 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12679 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12680 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12681 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12682 month's rent money.
12686 @subsection Mail Sources
12688 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12689 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12693 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12694 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12695 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12699 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12700 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12702 @cindex mail server
12705 @cindex mail source
12707 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12708 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12713 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12716 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12717 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12718 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12721 The following mail source types are available:
12725 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12731 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12732 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12733 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12736 An example file mail source:
12739 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12742 Or using the default path:
12748 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12749 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12750 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12753 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12757 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12760 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12764 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12767 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12769 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12772 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12776 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12777 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12778 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12779 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12780 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12781 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12782 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12783 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12784 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12785 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12787 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12788 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12789 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12790 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12796 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12800 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12804 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12805 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12806 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12807 predicate are considered.
12811 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12815 An example directory mail source:
12818 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12823 Get mail from a POP server.
12829 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12830 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12833 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12834 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12835 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12836 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12837 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12840 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12844 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12848 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12849 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12852 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12855 The valid format specifier characters are:
12859 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12860 included in this string.
12863 The name of the server.
12866 The port number of the server.
12869 The user name to use.
12872 The password to use.
12875 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12876 corresponding keywords.
12879 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12880 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12883 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12884 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12887 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12888 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12891 @item :authentication
12892 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12893 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12898 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12899 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12901 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12902 default user name, and default fetcher:
12908 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12911 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12912 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12915 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12918 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12922 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12923 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12924 contains exactly one mail.
12930 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12931 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12934 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12935 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12937 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12938 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12939 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12942 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12943 from locking problems).
12947 Two example maildir mail sources:
12950 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12951 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12955 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12960 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12961 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12962 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12963 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12966 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12967 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12973 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12974 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12977 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12978 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12981 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12985 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12989 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12990 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12991 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12992 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12994 @item :authentication
12995 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12996 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12997 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12998 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13001 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13002 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
13003 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13009 The valid format specifier characters are:
13013 The name of the server.
13016 User name from `imap-default-user'.
13019 The port number of the server.
13022 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13023 corresponding keywords.
13026 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13027 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13030 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13031 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13032 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13033 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13034 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13035 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13038 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13039 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13040 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13041 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13044 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13045 after finishing the fetch.
13049 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13052 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13054 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13058 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13059 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13060 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13062 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13063 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13065 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13071 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13072 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13075 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13079 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13083 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13084 folder after finishing the fetch.
13088 An example webmail source:
13091 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13093 :password "secret")
13098 @item Common Keywords
13099 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13105 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13106 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13110 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13115 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13116 useful when you use local mail and news.
13121 @subsubsection Function Interface
13123 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13124 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13125 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13126 consider the following mail-source setting:
13129 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13130 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13133 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13134 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13135 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13136 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13137 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13139 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13142 @node Mail Source Customization
13143 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13145 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13146 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13150 @item mail-source-crash-box
13151 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13152 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13153 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13155 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13156 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13157 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13159 @item mail-source-directory
13160 @vindex mail-source-directory
13161 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13162 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13163 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13166 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13167 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13168 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13169 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13170 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13171 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13173 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13174 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13175 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13177 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13178 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13179 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13180 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13185 @node Fetching Mail
13186 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13188 @vindex mail-sources
13189 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13190 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13191 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13192 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13194 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13195 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13198 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13199 mail server, you'd say something like:
13204 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13205 :password "secret")))
13208 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13212 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13213 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13216 :password "secret")))
13220 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13221 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13222 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13223 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13224 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13225 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13229 @node Mail Back End Variables
13230 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13232 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13236 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13237 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13238 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13239 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13241 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13242 @item nnmail-split-hook
13243 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13244 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13245 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13246 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13247 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13248 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13249 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13250 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13251 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13254 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13255 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13256 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13257 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13258 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13259 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13260 starting to handle the new mail) and
13261 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13262 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13263 default file modes the new mail files get:
13266 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13267 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13269 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13270 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13273 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13274 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13275 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13276 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13277 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13278 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13279 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13281 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13282 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13283 @findex delete-file
13284 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13286 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13287 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13288 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13289 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13290 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13292 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13293 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13294 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13295 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13296 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13298 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13299 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13300 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13305 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13306 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13307 @cindex mail splitting
13308 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13310 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13311 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13312 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13313 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13314 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13315 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13317 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13320 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13321 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13322 ;; from real errors.
13323 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13325 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13326 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13327 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13328 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13329 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13330 ;; Other mailing lists...
13331 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13332 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13333 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13334 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13335 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13336 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13337 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13338 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13340 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13341 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13345 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13346 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13347 the five possible split syntaxes:
13352 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13353 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13357 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13358 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13359 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13360 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13361 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13362 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13363 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13364 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13367 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13368 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13369 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13370 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13373 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13374 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13377 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13378 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13381 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13382 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13383 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13384 function should return a @var{split}.
13387 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13388 body of the messages:
13391 (defun split-on-body ()
13393 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13394 (goto-char (point-min))
13395 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13399 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13400 when the @code{:} function is run.
13403 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13404 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13405 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13409 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13413 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13414 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13415 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13416 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13417 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13419 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13420 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13421 are expanded as specified by the variable
13422 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13423 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13426 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13427 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13428 when all this splitting is performed.
13430 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13431 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13432 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13435 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13438 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13439 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13441 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13442 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13443 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13444 groupings 1 through 9.
13446 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13447 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13448 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13449 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13450 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13451 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13452 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13453 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13454 it once per thread.
13456 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13457 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13458 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13461 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13462 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13464 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13465 ;; other splits go here
13469 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13470 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13471 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13472 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13473 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13474 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13475 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13476 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13477 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13478 unless the group name matches the regexp
13479 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13480 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13481 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13482 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13483 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13484 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13485 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13486 messages goes into the new group.
13488 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13489 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13490 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13491 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13492 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13496 @node Group Mail Splitting
13497 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13498 @cindex mail splitting
13499 @cindex group mail splitting
13501 @findex gnus-group-split
13502 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13503 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13504 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13505 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13506 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13507 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13508 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13509 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13511 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13512 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13513 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13514 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13516 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13517 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13518 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13519 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13520 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13521 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13522 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13524 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13525 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13526 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13527 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13528 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13529 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13530 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13532 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13533 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13534 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13535 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13536 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13537 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13538 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13539 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13540 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13541 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13542 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13543 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13544 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13546 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13551 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13552 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13554 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13555 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13556 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13557 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13559 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13562 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13563 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13564 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13567 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13568 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13569 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13573 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13574 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13575 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13579 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13582 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13583 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13584 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13585 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13586 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13587 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13588 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13589 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13590 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13592 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13593 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13594 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13595 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13596 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13597 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13598 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13599 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13600 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13602 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13603 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13604 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13605 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13606 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13607 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13610 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13613 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13614 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13615 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13616 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13617 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13620 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13621 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13622 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13623 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13625 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13626 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13627 @cindex incorporating old mail
13628 @cindex import old mail
13630 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13631 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13632 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13635 Doing so can be quite easy.
13637 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13638 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13639 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13640 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13641 your @code{nnml} groups.
13647 Go to the group buffer.
13650 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13651 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13654 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13657 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13658 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13661 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13662 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13665 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13666 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13667 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13668 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13669 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13671 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13672 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13673 using the new mail back end.
13676 @node Expiring Mail
13677 @subsection Expiring Mail
13678 @cindex article expiry
13680 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13681 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13682 different approach to mail reading.
13684 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13685 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13686 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13687 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13688 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13689 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13692 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13693 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13694 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13695 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13696 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13697 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13698 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13699 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13700 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13702 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13703 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13704 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13705 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13706 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13707 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13708 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13711 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13712 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13713 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13714 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13715 into its own group.)
13717 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13718 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13719 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13720 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13721 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13722 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13723 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13724 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13727 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13728 Groups that match the regular expression
13729 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13730 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13731 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13733 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13734 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13735 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13736 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13739 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13741 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13742 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13743 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13746 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13747 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13748 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13749 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13750 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13752 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13753 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13756 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13757 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13760 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13761 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13763 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13764 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13765 don't really mix very well.
13767 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13768 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13769 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13770 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13773 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13774 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13775 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13776 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13779 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13781 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13783 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13785 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13787 ((string= group "important")
13793 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13794 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13796 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13797 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13798 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13801 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13802 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13804 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13805 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13806 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13807 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13808 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13809 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13810 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13811 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13812 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13813 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13814 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13815 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13816 name or @code{delete}.
13818 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13820 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13823 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13824 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13825 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13826 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13827 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13830 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13831 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13832 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13833 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13834 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13837 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13838 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13839 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13840 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13841 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13842 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13844 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13845 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13846 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13847 easier for procmail users.
13849 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13850 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13851 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13852 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13853 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13854 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13855 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13856 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13857 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13858 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13859 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13860 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13861 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13864 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13866 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13867 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13868 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13869 auto-expire turned on.
13873 @subsection Washing Mail
13874 @cindex mail washing
13875 @cindex list server brain damage
13876 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13878 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13879 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13880 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13881 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13882 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13883 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13885 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13886 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13887 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13890 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13891 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13892 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13893 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13896 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13897 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13898 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13899 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13900 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13903 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13904 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13905 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13906 Emacs running on MS machines.
13910 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13911 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13912 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13913 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13916 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13917 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13918 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13919 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13921 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
13922 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
13923 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
13924 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
13925 into a feature by documenting it.)
13927 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13928 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13929 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13930 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13931 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13932 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13933 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13936 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13937 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13940 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13941 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13944 This can also be done non-destructively with
13945 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13947 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13948 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13949 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13951 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13952 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13954 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13955 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13956 @code{References} headers.
13960 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13961 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13962 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13966 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13967 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13968 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13975 @subsection Duplicates
13977 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13978 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13979 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13980 @cindex duplicate mails
13981 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13982 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13983 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13984 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13985 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13986 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13987 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13988 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13989 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13990 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13991 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13992 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13993 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13995 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13996 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13997 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13998 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14000 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14003 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14004 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14008 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14009 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14010 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14011 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14012 (any mail "mail.misc")
14019 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14020 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14025 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14026 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14027 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14028 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14029 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14032 @node Not Reading Mail
14033 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14035 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14036 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14037 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14039 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14040 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14041 mail, which should help.
14043 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14044 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14045 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14046 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14047 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14048 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14049 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14050 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14051 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14052 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14053 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14055 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14056 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14060 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14061 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14063 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14064 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14065 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14067 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14068 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14069 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14070 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14071 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14072 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14073 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14076 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14077 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14078 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14079 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14080 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14081 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14085 @node Unix Mail Box
14086 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14088 @cindex unix mail box
14090 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14091 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14092 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14093 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14094 which group it belongs in.
14096 Virtual server settings:
14099 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14100 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14101 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14104 @item nnmbox-active-file
14105 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14106 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14107 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14109 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14110 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14111 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14112 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14117 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14121 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14122 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14123 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14124 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14125 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14127 Virtual server settings:
14130 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14131 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14132 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14134 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14135 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14136 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14137 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14139 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14140 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14141 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14147 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14149 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14151 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14152 format. It should be used with some caution.
14154 @vindex nnml-directory
14155 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14156 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14157 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14158 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14160 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14163 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14164 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14165 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14166 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14167 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14168 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14169 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14170 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14172 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14173 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14174 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14175 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14177 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14179 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14180 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14181 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14182 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14183 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14184 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14185 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14186 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14189 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14190 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14191 them next time it starts.
14193 Virtual server settings:
14196 @item nnml-directory
14197 @vindex nnml-directory
14198 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14199 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14202 @item nnml-active-file
14203 @vindex nnml-active-file
14204 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14205 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14207 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14208 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14209 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14210 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14212 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14213 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14214 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14217 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14218 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14219 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14220 default is @code{nil}.
14222 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14223 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14224 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14226 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14227 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14228 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14230 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14231 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14232 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14233 default is @code{nil}.
14235 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14236 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14237 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14239 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14240 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14241 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14246 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14247 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14248 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14249 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14250 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14251 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14252 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14257 @subsubsection MH Spool
14259 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14261 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14262 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14263 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14264 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14266 Virtual server settings:
14269 @item nnmh-directory
14270 @vindex nnmh-directory
14271 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14272 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14275 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14276 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14277 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14281 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14282 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14283 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14284 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14285 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14286 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14287 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14292 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14294 @cindex mbox folders
14295 @cindex mail folders
14297 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14298 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14299 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14302 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14304 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14305 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14306 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14307 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14308 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14309 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14310 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14311 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14312 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14313 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14315 Virtual server settings:
14318 @item nnfolder-directory
14319 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14320 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14321 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14324 @item nnfolder-active-file
14325 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14326 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14328 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14329 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14330 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14331 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14333 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14334 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14335 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14338 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14339 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14340 @cindex backup files
14341 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14342 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14343 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14344 your @file{.emacs} file:
14347 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14348 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14350 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14353 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14354 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14355 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14356 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14357 extract some information from it before removing it.
14359 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14360 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14361 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14362 default is @code{nil}.
14364 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14365 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14366 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14368 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14369 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14370 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14371 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14373 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14374 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14375 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14376 default is @code{nil}.
14378 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14379 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14380 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14382 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14383 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14384 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14385 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14390 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14391 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14392 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14393 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14394 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14395 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14398 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14399 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14401 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14402 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14403 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14404 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14405 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14407 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14408 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14409 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14410 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14411 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14412 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14413 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14414 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14417 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14418 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14419 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14420 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14425 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14426 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14427 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14428 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14429 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14430 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14431 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14432 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14433 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14434 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14435 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14436 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14437 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14442 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14443 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14444 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14445 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14446 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14447 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14448 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14449 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14450 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14451 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14452 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14453 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14454 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14455 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14457 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14458 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14463 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14464 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14465 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14466 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14467 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14468 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14469 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14470 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14471 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14472 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14473 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14474 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14475 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14476 provided by the active file and overviews.
14478 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14479 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14480 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14481 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14482 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14485 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14486 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14491 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14492 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14493 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14494 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14495 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14496 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14497 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14501 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14502 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14503 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14504 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14505 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14506 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14507 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14508 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14509 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14511 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14512 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14513 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14514 friendly mail back end all over.
14518 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14519 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14520 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14521 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14522 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14523 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14524 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14525 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14528 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14529 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14530 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14531 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14532 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14533 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14534 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14535 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14536 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14537 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14538 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14540 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14541 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14542 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14543 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14544 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14545 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14546 This will probably be changed in the future.
14548 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14549 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14550 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14551 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14552 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14555 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14556 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14558 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14559 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14560 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14561 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14562 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14563 would) to make it use less memory.
14565 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14566 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14567 depending in part on your filesystem.
14569 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14570 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14575 @node Browsing the Web
14576 @section Browsing the Web
14578 @cindex browsing the web
14582 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14583 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14584 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14585 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14586 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14587 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14588 even know what a news group is.
14590 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14591 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14592 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14593 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14594 you mad in the end.
14596 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14599 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14600 interfaces to these sources.
14604 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14605 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14606 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14607 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14608 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14609 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14612 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14614 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14615 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14616 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14617 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14618 though, you should be ok.
14620 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14621 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14622 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14623 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14624 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14626 @node Archiving Mail
14627 @subsection Archiving Mail
14628 @cindex archiving mail
14629 @cindex backup of mail
14631 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14632 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14633 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14634 marks is fairly simple.
14636 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14637 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14640 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14641 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14642 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14643 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14644 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14645 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14646 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14647 before you restore the data.
14649 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14650 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14651 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14652 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14653 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14654 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14655 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14656 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14657 is unnecessary in that case.
14660 @subsection Web Searches
14665 @cindex Usenet searches
14666 @cindex searching the Usenet
14668 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14669 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14670 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14671 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14672 searches without having to use a browser.
14674 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14675 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14676 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14677 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14678 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14680 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14681 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14682 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14683 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14684 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14685 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14686 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14687 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14688 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14689 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14692 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14693 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14694 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14695 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14696 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14697 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14699 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14700 to use @code{nnweb}.
14702 Virtual server variables:
14707 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14708 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14709 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14712 @vindex nnweb-search
14713 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14715 @item nnweb-max-hits
14716 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14717 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14720 @item nnweb-type-definition
14721 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14722 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14723 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14728 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14732 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14735 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14738 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14742 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14749 @subsection Slashdot
14753 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14754 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14755 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14757 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14758 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14761 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14762 '((nnslashdot "")))
14765 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14766 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14767 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14768 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14769 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14772 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14773 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14775 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14776 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14777 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14778 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14779 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14780 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14783 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14786 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14787 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14788 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14789 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14790 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14791 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14792 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14794 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14795 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14796 The login name to use when posting.
14798 @item nnslashdot-password
14799 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14800 The password to use when posting.
14802 @item nnslashdot-directory
14803 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14804 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14805 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14807 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14808 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14809 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14810 news articles and comments. The default is
14811 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14813 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14814 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14815 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14817 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14819 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14820 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14821 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14823 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14825 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14826 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14827 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14829 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14830 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14831 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14832 updated. The default is 0.
14839 @subsection Ultimate
14841 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14843 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14844 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14845 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14846 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14848 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14849 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14850 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14851 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14852 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14853 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14854 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14856 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14859 @item nnultimate-directory
14860 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14861 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14862 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14867 @subsection Web Archive
14869 @cindex Web Archive
14871 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14872 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14873 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14874 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14877 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14878 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14879 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14880 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14881 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14882 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14883 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14885 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14888 @item nnwarchive-directory
14889 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14890 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14891 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14893 @item nnwarchive-login
14894 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14895 The account name on the web server.
14897 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14898 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14899 The password for your account on the web server.
14907 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14908 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14909 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14912 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14913 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14916 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14919 @item nnrss-directory
14920 @vindex nnrss-directory
14921 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14922 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14926 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14927 the summary buffer.
14930 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14931 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14933 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14935 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14936 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14939 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14942 (require 'browse-url)
14944 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14946 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14949 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14950 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14953 (browse-url (cdr url))
14954 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
14955 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14957 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14958 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14959 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14960 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14963 @node Customizing w3
14964 @subsection Customizing w3
14970 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14971 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14972 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14974 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14975 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14976 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14979 (eval-after-load "w3"
14981 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14982 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14983 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14984 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14986 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14989 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14990 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14999 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
15000 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15001 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15002 specify the network address of the server.
15004 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15005 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15006 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15007 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15008 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15010 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15011 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15012 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15013 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15015 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15016 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15017 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15018 usage explained in this section.
15020 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15021 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15022 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15025 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15026 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15027 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15029 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15030 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15031 ; a UW server running on localhost
15033 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15034 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15035 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15036 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15037 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15038 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15039 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15040 (nnimap-stream network))
15041 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15043 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15044 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15045 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15048 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15053 @item nnimap-address
15054 @vindex nnimap-address
15056 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15057 server name if not specified.
15059 @item nnimap-server-port
15060 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15061 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15063 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15066 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15067 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15070 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15071 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15072 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15073 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15074 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15075 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15076 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15078 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15079 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15080 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15083 Example server specification:
15086 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15087 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15088 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15091 @item nnimap-stream
15092 @vindex nnimap-stream
15093 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15094 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15095 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15096 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15098 Example server specification:
15101 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15102 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15105 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15109 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15110 @samp{imtest} program.
15112 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15114 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15115 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15118 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15119 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15120 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15122 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15124 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15127 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15128 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15129 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15130 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15131 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15132 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15133 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15134 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15135 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15138 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15139 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15140 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15141 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
15142 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15143 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15144 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15145 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15146 distribution, for instance).
15148 @vindex imap-shell-program
15149 @vindex imap-shell-host
15150 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15151 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15153 @item nnimap-authenticator
15154 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15156 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15157 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15159 Example server specification:
15162 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15163 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15166 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15170 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15171 external program @code{imtest}.
15173 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15176 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15177 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15179 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15181 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15183 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
15186 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15188 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15189 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15190 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15191 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15192 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15193 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15196 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15197 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15198 running in circles yet?
15200 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15201 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15204 The possible options are:
15209 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15212 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15213 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15214 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15215 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15217 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15222 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15223 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15225 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15226 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15227 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15228 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15229 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15232 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15233 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15236 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15237 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15238 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15239 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15242 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15243 as ticked for other users.
15245 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15247 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15249 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15250 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15251 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15252 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15254 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15255 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15256 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15257 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15259 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15260 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15262 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15263 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15264 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15270 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15271 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15272 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15273 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15274 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15279 @node Splitting in IMAP
15280 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15281 @cindex splitting imap mail
15283 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15284 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15285 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15286 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15287 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15291 Here are the variables of interest:
15295 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15296 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15298 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15300 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15301 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15303 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15305 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15306 @cindex splitting, inbox
15308 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15310 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15311 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15315 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15316 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15319 No nnmail equivalent.
15321 @item nnimap-split-rule
15322 @cindex Splitting, rules
15323 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15325 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15328 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15329 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15330 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15331 Neither did I, we need examples.
15334 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15336 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15337 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15338 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15341 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15342 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15343 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15345 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15346 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15350 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15353 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15354 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15356 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15357 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15358 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15359 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15361 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15362 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15363 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15364 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15365 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15366 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15368 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15369 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15370 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15372 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15373 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15374 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15376 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15378 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15379 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15380 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15383 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15384 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15385 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15386 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15387 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15388 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15391 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15392 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15393 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15394 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15395 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15396 group/function elements.
15398 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15400 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15402 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15404 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15405 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15407 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15408 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15409 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15412 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15413 @cindex splitting, fancy
15414 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15415 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15417 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15418 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15419 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15421 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15422 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15423 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15424 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15429 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15430 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15433 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15437 @node Expiring in IMAP
15438 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15439 @cindex expiring imap mail
15441 Even though @sc{nnimap} is not a proper @sc{nnmail} derived back end,
15442 it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15443 Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do not clone
15444 the @sc{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating @var{nnimap-expiry-wait})
15445 but reuse the @sc{nnmail} variables. What follows below are the
15446 variables used by the @sc{nnimap} expiry process.
15448 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15449 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15450 @sc{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15451 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15452 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15453 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15454 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15455 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15459 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15460 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15462 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15463 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15465 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15467 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15468 @sc{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15469 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15470 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15474 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15475 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15476 @cindex editing imap acls
15477 @cindex Access Control Lists
15478 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15480 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15482 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15483 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15484 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15487 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15488 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15489 editing window with detailed instructions.
15491 Some possible uses:
15495 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15496 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15497 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15499 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15500 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15501 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15505 @node Expunging mailboxes
15506 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15510 @cindex Manual expunging
15512 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15514 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15515 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15516 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15518 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15521 @node A note on namespaces
15522 @subsection A note on namespaces
15523 @cindex IMAP namespace
15526 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15527 following text in the RFC:
15530 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15532 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15533 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15534 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15535 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15537 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15538 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15539 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15540 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15541 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15542 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15545 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15546 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15547 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15549 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15550 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15551 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15552 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15553 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15554 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15555 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15556 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15558 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15559 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15560 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15562 @node Other Sources
15563 @section Other Sources
15565 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15566 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15570 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15571 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15572 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15573 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15574 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15578 @node Directory Groups
15579 @subsection Directory Groups
15581 @cindex directory groups
15583 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15584 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15587 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15588 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15589 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15590 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15592 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15593 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15594 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15595 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15596 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15598 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15600 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15601 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15602 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15603 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15606 @node Anything Groups
15607 @subsection Anything Groups
15610 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15611 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15612 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15615 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15616 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15617 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15618 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15619 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15620 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15621 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15622 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15623 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15624 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15627 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15628 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15629 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15630 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15632 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15633 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15634 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15635 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15637 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15638 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15639 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15640 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15641 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15642 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15643 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15644 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15649 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15650 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15651 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15652 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15654 @item nneething-exclude-files
15655 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15656 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15657 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15659 @item nneething-include-files
15660 @vindex nneething-include-files
15661 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15662 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15664 @item nneething-map-file
15665 @vindex nneething-map-file
15666 Name of the map files.
15670 @node Document Groups
15671 @subsection Document Groups
15673 @cindex documentation group
15676 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15677 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15684 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15689 The standard Unix mbox file.
15691 @cindex MMDF mail box
15693 The MMDF mail box format.
15696 Several news articles appended into a file.
15699 @cindex rnews batch files
15700 The rnews batch transport format.
15701 @cindex forwarded messages
15704 Forwarded articles.
15707 Netscape mail boxes.
15710 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15712 @item standard-digest
15713 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15716 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15718 @item lanl-gov-announce
15719 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15721 @item rfc822-forward
15722 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15725 The Outlook mail box.
15728 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15731 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15734 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15737 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15743 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15746 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15752 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15753 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15754 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15757 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15758 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15759 group. And that's it.
15761 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15762 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15763 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15764 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15765 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15766 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15767 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15768 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15769 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15770 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15772 Virtual server variables:
15775 @item nndoc-article-type
15776 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15777 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15778 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15779 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15780 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15781 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15783 @item nndoc-post-type
15784 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15785 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15786 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15791 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15795 @node Document Server Internals
15796 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15798 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15799 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15800 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15801 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15803 First, here's an example document type definition:
15807 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15808 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15811 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15812 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15813 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15814 types can be defined with very few settings:
15817 @item first-article
15818 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15819 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15822 @item article-begin
15823 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15824 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15826 @item head-begin-function
15827 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15830 @item nndoc-head-begin
15831 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15834 @item nndoc-head-end
15835 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15836 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15838 @item body-begin-function
15839 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15843 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15846 @item body-end-function
15847 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15851 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15854 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15855 regexp will be totally ignored.
15859 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15860 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15861 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15862 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15863 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15866 @item prepare-body-function
15867 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15868 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15869 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15871 @item article-transform-function
15872 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15873 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15874 body of the article.
15876 @item generate-head-function
15877 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15878 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15879 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15880 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15884 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15889 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15890 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15891 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15892 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15893 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15894 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15895 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15896 (subtype digest guess))
15899 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15900 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15901 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15902 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15903 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15905 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15906 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15907 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15908 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15909 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
15910 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15911 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15912 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15913 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15914 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15922 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15923 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15924 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15926 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15927 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15928 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15931 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15932 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15933 that interested in doing things properly.
15935 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15936 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15939 First some terminology:
15944 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15945 get news and/or mail from.
15948 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15949 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15952 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15956 @item message packets
15957 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15958 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15959 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15961 @item response packets
15962 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15963 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15964 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15974 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15975 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15976 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15977 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15980 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15983 You put the packet in your home directory.
15986 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15987 the native or secondary server.
15990 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15991 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15994 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15998 You transfer this packet to the server.
16001 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16004 You then repeat until you die.
16008 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16009 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16012 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16013 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16014 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16018 @node SOUP Commands
16019 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16021 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16025 @kindex G s b (Group)
16026 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16027 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16028 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16029 process/prefix convention.
16032 @kindex G s w (Group)
16033 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16034 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16037 @kindex G s s (Group)
16038 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16039 Send all replies from the replies packet
16040 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16043 @kindex G s p (Group)
16044 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16045 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16048 @kindex G s r (Group)
16049 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16050 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16053 @kindex O s (Summary)
16054 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16055 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16056 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16057 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16062 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16067 @item gnus-soup-directory
16068 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16069 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16070 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16072 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16073 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16074 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16075 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16077 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16078 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16079 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16080 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16082 @item gnus-soup-packer
16083 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16084 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16085 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16087 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16088 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16089 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16090 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16092 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16093 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16094 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16096 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16097 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16098 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16099 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16105 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16108 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16109 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16110 you can read them at leisure.
16112 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16116 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16117 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16118 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16119 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16121 @item nnsoup-directory
16122 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16123 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16124 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16126 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16127 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16128 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16129 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16131 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16132 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16133 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16134 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16135 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16137 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16138 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16139 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16140 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16142 @item nnsoup-active-file
16143 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16144 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16145 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16146 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16147 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16149 @item nnsoup-packer
16150 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16151 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16152 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16154 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16155 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16156 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16157 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16159 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16160 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16161 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16164 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16165 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16166 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16169 @item nnsoup-always-save
16170 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16171 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16177 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16179 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16180 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16181 more for that to happen.
16183 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16184 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16185 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16188 In specific, this is what it does:
16191 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16192 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16195 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16196 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16197 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16200 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16201 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16202 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16205 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16206 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16207 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16209 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16215 @item nngateway-address
16216 @vindex nngateway-address
16217 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16219 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16220 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16221 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16222 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16223 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16224 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16225 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16228 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16229 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16230 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16233 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16236 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16239 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16242 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16244 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16247 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16248 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16249 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16251 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16253 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16254 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16255 @code{nngateway-address}.
16260 (setq gnus-post-method
16262 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16263 (nngateway-header-transformation
16264 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16272 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16275 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16280 @node Combined Groups
16281 @section Combined Groups
16283 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16287 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16288 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16292 @node Virtual Groups
16293 @subsection Virtual Groups
16295 @cindex virtual groups
16296 @cindex merging groups
16298 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16301 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16302 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16303 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16305 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16306 regexp to match component groups.
16308 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16309 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16310 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16311 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16312 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16313 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16314 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16315 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16317 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16318 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16321 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16324 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16325 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16327 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16328 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16329 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16330 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16333 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16336 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16337 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16338 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16340 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16341 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16342 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16343 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16344 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16346 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16347 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16348 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16350 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16351 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16352 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16353 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16354 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16355 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16356 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16357 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16358 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16359 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16360 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16362 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16363 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16364 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16365 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16366 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16367 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16368 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16370 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16371 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16373 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16374 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16378 @node Kibozed Groups
16379 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16383 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16384 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16385 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16386 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16388 @kindex G k (Group)
16389 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16392 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16393 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16394 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16395 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16397 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16398 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16399 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16401 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16402 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16403 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16404 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16405 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16406 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16407 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16408 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16410 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16411 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16412 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16413 Stranger things have happened.
16415 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16416 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16418 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16419 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16420 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16421 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16422 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16423 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16425 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16426 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16429 @node Gnus Unplugged
16430 @section Gnus Unplugged
16435 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16437 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16438 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16439 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16440 read news. Believe it or not.
16442 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16443 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16444 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16445 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16446 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16448 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16449 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16450 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16451 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16452 reading news on a machine.
16454 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16455 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16457 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16460 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16461 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16462 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16463 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16464 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16465 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16466 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16467 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16468 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16469 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16470 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16475 @subsection Agent Basics
16477 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16479 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16480 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16481 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16482 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16484 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16485 connected to the net continuously.
16487 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16488 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16490 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16495 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16496 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16497 already fetched while in this mode.
16500 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16501 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16502 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16503 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16504 Source Specifiers}).
16507 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16508 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16509 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16510 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16511 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16514 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16515 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16516 then you read the news offline.
16519 And then you go to step 2.
16522 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16528 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16529 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16530 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16531 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16532 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16533 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16534 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16535 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16538 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16545 @node Agent Categories
16546 @subsection Agent Categories
16548 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16549 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16550 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16551 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16552 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16553 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16554 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16556 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16557 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16558 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16559 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16560 managing categories.
16563 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16564 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16565 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16569 @node Category Syntax
16570 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16572 A category consists of two things.
16576 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16577 are eligible for downloading; and
16580 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16581 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16582 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16585 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16586 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16587 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16588 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16590 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16591 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16592 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16594 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16595 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16596 operators sprinkled in between.
16598 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16600 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16601 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16607 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16608 short (for some value of ``short'').
16610 Here's a more complex predicate:
16619 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16620 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16623 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16624 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16625 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16627 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16628 you want to do, you can write your own.
16632 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16633 lines; default 100.
16636 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16637 lines; default 200.
16640 True iff the article has a download score less than
16641 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16644 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16645 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16648 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16649 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16650 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16659 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16660 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16661 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16664 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16665 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16666 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16667 something along the lines of the following:
16670 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16671 "Say whether an article is old."
16672 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16673 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16676 with the predicate then defined as:
16679 (not my-article-old-p)
16682 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16683 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16687 (require 'gnus-agent)
16688 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16689 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16690 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16693 and simply specify your predicate as:
16699 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16700 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16701 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16702 just don't give a damn.
16704 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16705 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16706 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16707 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16708 parameters like so:
16711 (agent-predicate . short)
16714 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16715 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16716 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16718 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16721 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16724 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16725 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16726 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16729 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16730 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16731 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16732 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16733 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16734 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16736 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16737 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16738 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16739 if it's to be specific to that group.
16741 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16748 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16749 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16755 Category specification
16759 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16765 Group Parameter specification
16768 (agent-score ("from"
16769 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16774 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16780 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16787 Category specification
16790 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16796 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16800 Group Parameter specification
16803 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16806 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16811 Use @code{normal} score files
16813 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16814 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16815 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16816 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16818 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16819 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16820 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16821 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16825 Category Specification
16832 Group Parameter specification
16835 (agent-score . file)
16840 @node Category Buffer
16841 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16843 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16844 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16845 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16847 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16851 @kindex q (Category)
16852 @findex gnus-category-exit
16853 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16856 @kindex k (Category)
16857 @findex gnus-category-kill
16858 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16861 @kindex c (Category)
16862 @findex gnus-category-copy
16863 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16866 @kindex a (Category)
16867 @findex gnus-category-add
16868 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16871 @kindex p (Category)
16872 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16873 Edit the predicate of the current category
16874 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16877 @kindex g (Category)
16878 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16879 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16880 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16883 @kindex s (Category)
16884 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16885 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16886 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16889 @kindex l (Category)
16890 @findex gnus-category-list
16891 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16895 @node Category Variables
16896 @subsubsection Category Variables
16899 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16900 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16901 Hook run in category buffers.
16903 @item gnus-category-line-format
16904 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16905 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16906 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16910 The name of the category.
16913 The number of groups in the category.
16916 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16917 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16918 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16920 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16921 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16922 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16924 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16925 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16926 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16928 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16929 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16930 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16933 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16934 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16935 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16941 @node Agent Commands
16942 @subsection Agent Commands
16944 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16945 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16946 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16950 * Group Agent Commands::
16951 * Summary Agent Commands::
16952 * Server Agent Commands::
16955 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16956 following incantation:
16958 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16960 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16965 @node Group Agent Commands
16966 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16970 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16971 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16972 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16973 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16976 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16977 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16978 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16981 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16982 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16983 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16984 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16987 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16988 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16989 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16990 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16993 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16994 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16995 Add the current group to an Agent category
16996 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16997 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17000 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17001 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17002 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17003 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17004 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17007 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17008 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17009 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17015 @node Summary Agent Commands
17016 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17020 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17021 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17022 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17025 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17026 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17027 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17028 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17031 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17032 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17033 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
17036 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17037 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17038 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
17041 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17042 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17043 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17044 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17049 @node Server Agent Commands
17050 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17054 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17055 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17056 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17057 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17060 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17061 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17062 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17063 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17068 @node Agent as Cache
17069 @subsection Agent as Cache
17071 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17072 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17073 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17074 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17075 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17076 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17077 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17078 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17079 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17081 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17082 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17085 @subsection Agent Expiry
17087 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17088 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17089 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17090 @cindex Agent expiry
17091 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17094 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17095 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17096 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17097 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17098 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17099 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17101 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17102 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17103 expiry in different groups.
17106 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17112 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17113 method---it must always match all groups.
17115 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17116 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17117 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17118 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17119 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17121 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17122 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17123 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17124 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17126 @node Agent and IMAP
17127 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17129 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17130 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17131 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17132 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17134 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17135 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
17136 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17137 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17139 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17140 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17141 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17142 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17144 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17145 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17146 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17147 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17148 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17149 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17151 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17152 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17153 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17154 in the group buffer.
17156 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17157 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17162 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17165 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17169 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17170 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17171 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17172 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17173 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17174 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17175 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17176 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17179 @node Outgoing Messages
17180 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17182 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17183 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17184 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17186 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17187 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17188 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17189 messages in the draft group.
17193 @node Agent Variables
17194 @subsection Agent Variables
17197 @item gnus-agent-directory
17198 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17199 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17200 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17202 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17203 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17204 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17205 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17206 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17209 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17210 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17211 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17213 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17214 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17215 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17217 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17218 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17219 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17221 @item gnus-agent-cache
17222 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17223 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17224 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17225 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17227 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17228 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17229 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17230 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17231 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17232 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17233 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17236 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17237 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17238 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17239 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17240 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17241 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17242 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17243 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17244 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17249 @node Example Setup
17250 @subsection Example Setup
17252 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17253 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17254 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17257 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17258 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17259 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17261 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17262 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17263 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17265 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17266 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17268 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17269 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17270 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17273 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17274 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17277 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17278 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17279 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17280 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17281 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17284 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17285 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17286 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17287 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17288 back all the killed groups.)
17290 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17291 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17292 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17295 @node Batching Agents
17296 @subsection Batching Agents
17298 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17299 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17300 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17304 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
17308 @node Agent Caveats
17309 @subsection Agent Caveats
17311 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17312 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17316 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17320 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17322 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17326 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17327 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17328 locally stored articles.
17335 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17336 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17337 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17340 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17341 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17342 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17343 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17344 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17346 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17347 before generating the summary buffer.
17349 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17350 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17351 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17353 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17354 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17355 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17356 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17359 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17360 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17361 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17362 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17363 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17364 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17365 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17366 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17367 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17368 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17369 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17370 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17371 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17372 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17373 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17374 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17375 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17379 @node Summary Score Commands
17380 @section Summary Score Commands
17381 @cindex score commands
17383 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17384 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17385 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17386 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17387 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17389 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17390 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17391 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17392 score file the current one.
17394 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17399 @kindex V s (Summary)
17400 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17401 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17404 @kindex V S (Summary)
17405 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17406 Display the score of the current article
17407 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17410 @kindex V t (Summary)
17411 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17412 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17413 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17416 @kindex V w (Summary)
17417 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17418 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17421 @kindex V R (Summary)
17422 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17423 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17424 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17425 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17426 effect you're having.
17429 @kindex V c (Summary)
17430 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17431 Make a different score file the current
17432 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17435 @kindex V e (Summary)
17436 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17437 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17438 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17442 @kindex V f (Summary)
17443 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17444 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17445 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17448 @kindex V F (Summary)
17449 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17450 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17451 after editing score files.
17454 @kindex V C (Summary)
17455 @findex gnus-score-customize
17456 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17457 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17461 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17466 @kindex V m (Summary)
17467 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17468 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17469 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17472 @kindex V x (Summary)
17473 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17474 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17475 expunge all articles below this score
17476 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17479 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17480 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17483 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17484 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17488 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17489 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17491 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17492 keys are available:
17496 Score on the author name.
17499 Score on the subject line.
17502 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17505 Score on the @code{References} line.
17511 Score on the number of lines.
17514 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17517 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17518 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17521 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17522 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17523 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17532 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17538 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17539 what headers you are scoring on.
17551 Substring matching.
17554 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17583 Greater than number.
17588 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17589 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17590 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17595 Temporary score entry.
17598 Permanent score entry.
17601 Immediately scoring.
17605 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17606 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17607 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17611 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17612 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17613 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17614 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17616 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17617 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17618 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17619 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17620 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17622 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17623 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17624 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17625 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17626 current score file.
17628 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17629 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17630 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17633 @node Group Score Commands
17634 @section Group Score Commands
17635 @cindex group score commands
17637 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17642 @kindex W f (Group)
17643 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17644 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17645 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17646 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17650 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17652 @findex gnus-batch-score
17653 @cindex batch scoring
17655 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17659 @node Score Variables
17660 @section Score Variables
17661 @cindex score variables
17665 @item gnus-use-scoring
17666 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17667 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17668 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17670 @item gnus-kill-killed
17671 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17672 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17673 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17674 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17675 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17676 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17677 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17679 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17680 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17681 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17682 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17683 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17685 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17686 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17687 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17688 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17690 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17691 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17692 @cindex score cache
17693 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17694 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17695 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
17696 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17697 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17698 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17701 @item gnus-save-score
17702 @vindex gnus-save-score
17703 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17704 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17705 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17707 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17708 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17709 across group visits.
17711 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17712 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17713 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17714 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17715 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17716 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17717 manually entered data.
17719 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17720 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17721 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17723 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17724 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17725 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17726 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17727 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17728 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17730 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17731 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17732 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17733 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17735 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17736 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17737 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17738 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17740 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17741 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17742 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17743 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17745 Predefined functions available are:
17748 @item gnus-score-find-single
17749 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17750 Only apply the group's own score file.
17752 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17753 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17754 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17755 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17756 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17757 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17758 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17759 then a regexp match is done.
17761 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17762 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17764 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17765 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17766 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17767 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17769 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17770 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17771 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17772 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17773 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17777 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17778 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17779 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17780 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17781 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17782 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17783 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17786 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17787 overall score file, you could use the value
17789 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17790 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17793 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17794 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17795 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17796 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17797 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17799 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17800 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17801 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17802 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17803 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17804 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17805 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17806 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17808 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17809 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17810 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17812 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17813 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17814 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17815 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17816 threading---according to the current value of
17817 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17818 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17819 simplified in this manner.
17824 @node Score File Format
17825 @section Score File Format
17826 @cindex score file format
17828 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17829 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17830 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17832 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17836 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17838 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17840 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17842 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17847 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17851 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17852 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17853 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17854 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17858 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17859 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17861 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17862 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17863 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17865 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17870 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17871 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17872 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17873 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17874 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17875 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17876 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17877 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17878 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17879 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17880 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17881 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17882 to articles that matches these score entries.
17884 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17885 score entry has one to four elements.
17889 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17890 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17894 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17895 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17896 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17897 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17898 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17899 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17902 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17903 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17904 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17905 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17906 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17909 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17910 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17911 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17912 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17915 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17916 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17917 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17918 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17919 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17920 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17921 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17922 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17923 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17924 instead, if you feel like.
17927 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17928 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17929 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17930 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17931 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17932 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17935 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17939 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17940 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17942 These predicates are true if
17945 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17948 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17949 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17956 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17957 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17958 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17959 it's not. I think.)
17961 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17962 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17963 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17964 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17967 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17968 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17969 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17970 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17971 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17972 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17973 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17977 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17978 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17979 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17980 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17981 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17982 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17983 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17984 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17987 @item Head, Body, All
17988 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17992 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17993 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17994 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17995 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17996 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17997 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17998 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18002 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18003 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18004 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18005 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18006 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18007 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18008 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18009 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18010 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18011 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18012 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18016 @cindex Score File Atoms
18018 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18019 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18022 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18023 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18025 @item mark-and-expunge
18026 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18027 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18030 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18031 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18032 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18033 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18034 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18037 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18038 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18041 @item exclude-files
18042 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18043 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18047 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18048 ignored when handling global score files.
18051 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18052 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18053 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18054 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18057 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18058 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18059 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18060 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18062 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18066 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18069 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18070 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18071 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18072 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18073 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18075 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18076 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18077 scoring rules exist.
18080 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18081 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18082 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18083 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18084 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18085 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18086 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18087 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18088 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18089 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18090 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18094 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18095 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18096 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18097 file for a number of groups.
18100 @cindex local variables
18101 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18102 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18103 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18104 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18105 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18109 @node Score File Editing
18110 @section Score File Editing
18112 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18113 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18114 with a mode for that.
18116 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18117 additional commands:
18122 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18123 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18124 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18125 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18128 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18129 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18130 Insert the current date in numerical format
18131 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18132 you were wondering.
18135 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18136 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18137 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18138 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18139 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18144 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18146 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18147 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18149 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18150 e} to begin editing score files.
18153 @node Adaptive Scoring
18154 @section Adaptive Scoring
18155 @cindex adaptive scoring
18157 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18158 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18159 stupidity, to be precise.
18161 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18162 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18163 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18164 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18165 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18166 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18167 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18168 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18169 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18171 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18172 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18173 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18174 might look something like this:
18177 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18178 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18179 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18180 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18181 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18182 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18183 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18184 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18185 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18186 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18187 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18188 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18191 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18192 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18193 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18194 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18195 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18196 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18199 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18200 will be applied to each article.
18202 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18203 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18204 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18205 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18207 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18208 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18209 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18210 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18212 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18213 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18214 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18215 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18217 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18218 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18219 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18220 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18221 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18222 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18224 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
18225 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
18226 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
18227 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
18228 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
18229 aspirins afterwards.)
18231 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18232 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18233 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18235 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18236 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18237 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18239 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18240 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18241 let you use different rules in different groups.
18243 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18244 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18245 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18248 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18249 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18250 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18251 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18252 the length of the match is less than
18253 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18254 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18257 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18258 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18259 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18260 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18261 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18264 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18265 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18266 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18267 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18268 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18271 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18272 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18273 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18274 score with 30 points.
18276 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18277 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18278 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18279 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18280 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18282 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18283 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18284 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18285 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18286 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
18288 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18289 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18290 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18291 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18293 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18294 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18295 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18296 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18298 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18299 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18300 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18301 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18302 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18304 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18305 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18306 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18308 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18309 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18310 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18311 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18314 @node Home Score File
18315 @section Home Score File
18317 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18318 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18319 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18320 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18322 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18323 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18324 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18326 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18327 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18332 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18336 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18337 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18341 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18345 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18346 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18349 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18350 the home score file.
18353 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18356 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18361 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18364 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18365 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18368 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18369 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18371 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18373 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18374 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18377 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18378 Other functions include
18381 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18382 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18383 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18384 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18388 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18389 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18390 their own home score files:
18393 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18394 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18395 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18396 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18397 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18400 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18401 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18402 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18403 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18404 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18406 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18407 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18408 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18409 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18410 precedence over this variable.
18413 @node Followups To Yourself
18414 @section Followups To Yourself
18416 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18417 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18418 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18419 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18420 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18421 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18425 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18426 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18427 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18430 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18431 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18432 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18436 @vindex message-sent-hook
18437 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18438 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18440 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18444 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18445 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18449 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18450 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18453 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18454 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18459 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18463 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18464 is system-dependent.
18467 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18468 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18469 @cindex scoring on other headers
18471 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18472 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18473 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18474 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18475 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18477 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18478 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18479 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18480 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18481 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18483 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18486 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18487 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18490 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18491 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18492 time if you have much mail.
18494 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18495 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18501 @section Scoring Tips
18502 @cindex scoring tips
18508 @cindex scoring crossposts
18509 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18510 the @code{Xref} header.
18512 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18515 @item Multiple crossposts
18516 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18517 more than, say, 3 groups:
18520 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18524 @item Matching on the body
18525 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18526 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18527 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18528 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18529 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18530 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18531 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18534 @item Marking as read
18535 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18536 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18537 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18541 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18543 @item Negated character classes
18544 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18545 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18546 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18550 @node Reverse Scoring
18551 @section Reverse Scoring
18552 @cindex reverse scoring
18554 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18555 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18556 like this in your score file:
18560 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18565 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18566 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18569 @node Global Score Files
18570 @section Global Score Files
18571 @cindex global score files
18573 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18574 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18575 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18577 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18578 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18579 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18581 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18582 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18583 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18584 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18585 files are applicable to which group.
18587 To use the score file
18588 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18589 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18593 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18594 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18595 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18598 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18600 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18601 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18602 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18603 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18605 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18606 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18608 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18609 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18610 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18611 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18612 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18613 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18615 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18621 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18623 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18625 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18627 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18628 lowered out of existence.
18630 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18631 articles completely.
18634 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18635 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18636 old articles for a long time.
18639 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18640 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18641 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18642 holding our breath yet?
18646 @section Kill Files
18649 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18650 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18651 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18653 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18654 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18655 files into score files.
18657 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18658 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18659 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18660 that isn't a very good idea.
18662 Normal kill files look like this:
18665 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18666 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18670 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18671 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18673 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18674 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18677 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18682 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18683 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18684 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18687 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18688 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18689 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18692 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18697 @kindex M-k (Group)
18698 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18699 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18702 @kindex M-K (Group)
18703 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18704 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18707 Kill file variables:
18710 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18711 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18712 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18713 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18714 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18715 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18716 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18718 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18719 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18720 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18721 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18724 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18725 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18726 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18727 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18728 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18729 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18730 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18731 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18732 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18734 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18735 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18736 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18741 @node Converting Kill Files
18742 @section Converting Kill Files
18744 @cindex converting kill files
18746 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18747 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18748 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18751 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18752 You can fetch it from
18753 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18755 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18756 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18757 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18765 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18766 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18767 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18768 news articles generated every day.
18770 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18771 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18772 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18773 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18774 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18775 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18776 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18777 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18780 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18781 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18784 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18785 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18786 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18787 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18791 @node Using GroupLens
18792 @subsection Using GroupLens
18794 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18796 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18797 better bit in town at the moment.
18799 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18803 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18804 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18805 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18806 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18808 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18809 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18810 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18811 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18813 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18814 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18815 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18819 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18820 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18821 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18822 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18823 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18824 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18827 @node Rating Articles
18828 @subsection Rating Articles
18830 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18831 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18832 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18833 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18836 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18841 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18842 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18843 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18846 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18847 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18848 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18849 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18850 threads in rec.humor.
18854 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18855 the score of the article you're reading.
18860 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18861 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18862 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18865 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18866 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18867 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18871 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18872 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18875 @node Displaying Predictions
18876 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18878 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18879 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18880 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18881 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18882 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18884 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18885 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18886 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18887 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18888 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18889 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18890 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18891 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18892 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18893 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18894 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18895 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18896 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18898 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18899 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18900 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18901 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18903 The following are valid values for that variable.
18906 @item prediction-spot
18907 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18910 @item confidence-interval
18911 A numeric confidence interval.
18913 @item prediction-bar
18914 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18916 @item confidence-bar
18917 Numerical confidence.
18919 @item confidence-spot
18920 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18922 @item prediction-num
18923 Plain-old numeric value.
18925 @item confidence-plus-minus
18926 Prediction +/- confidence.
18931 @node GroupLens Variables
18932 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18936 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18937 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18938 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18939 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18942 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18943 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18946 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18947 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18949 @item grouplens-score-offset
18950 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18951 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18954 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18955 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18956 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18961 @node Advanced Scoring
18962 @section Advanced Scoring
18964 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18965 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18966 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18967 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18968 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18970 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18974 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18975 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18976 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18980 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18981 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18983 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18984 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18985 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18986 non-@code{nil} value.
18988 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18989 operator, and various match operators.
18996 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18997 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18998 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19003 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19004 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19005 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19010 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19011 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19015 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19016 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19017 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19018 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19019 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19020 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19021 the ancestry you want to go.
19023 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19024 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19025 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19026 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19027 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19030 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19031 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19033 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19034 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19037 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19038 when he's talking about Gnus:
19042 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19043 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19049 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19053 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19060 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19061 really don't want to read what he's written:
19065 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19066 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19070 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19071 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19072 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19079 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19080 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19081 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19082 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19086 The possibilities are endless.
19089 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19090 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19092 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19093 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19094 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19095 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19096 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19097 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19098 @samp{subject}) first.
19100 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19101 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19112 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19113 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19119 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19126 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19127 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19132 @section Score Decays
19133 @cindex score decays
19136 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19137 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19138 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19139 use them in any sensible way.
19141 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19142 @findex gnus-decay-score
19143 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19144 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19145 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19146 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19147 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19148 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19149 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19150 definition of that function:
19153 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19155 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19156 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19159 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19161 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19163 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19166 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19167 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19168 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19169 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19173 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19176 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19179 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19183 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19184 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19185 the new score, which should be an integer.
19187 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19188 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19193 @include message.texi
19194 @chapter Emacs MIME
19195 @include emacs-mime.texi
19197 @include sieve.texi
19207 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19208 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19209 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19210 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19211 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19212 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19213 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19214 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19215 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19216 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19217 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19218 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19219 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19220 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19221 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19222 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19223 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19224 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19225 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19229 @node Process/Prefix
19230 @section Process/Prefix
19231 @cindex process/prefix convention
19233 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19234 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19236 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19237 command to be performed on.
19241 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19242 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19243 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19244 with the current one.
19246 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19247 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19248 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19250 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19251 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19254 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19255 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19257 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19260 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19261 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19262 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19263 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19265 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19266 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19267 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19268 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19269 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19270 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19271 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19272 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19274 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19275 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19276 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19277 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19278 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19282 @section Interactive
19283 @cindex interaction
19287 @item gnus-novice-user
19288 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19289 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19290 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19291 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19292 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19295 @item gnus-expert-user
19296 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19297 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19298 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19299 matter how strange.
19301 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19302 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19303 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19304 is @code{t} by default.
19306 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19307 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19308 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19313 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19314 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19315 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19317 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19318 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19319 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19320 rule of 900 to the current article.
19322 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19323 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19324 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19325 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19326 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19327 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19328 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19330 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19331 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19332 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19333 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19334 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19335 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19336 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19337 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19338 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19340 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19341 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19342 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19344 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19348 @node Formatting Variables
19349 @section Formatting Variables
19350 @cindex formatting variables
19352 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19353 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19354 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19355 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19356 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19359 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19360 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19361 lots of percentages everywhere.
19364 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19365 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19366 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19367 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19368 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19369 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19370 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19371 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19374 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19375 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19376 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19377 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19378 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19379 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19380 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19381 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19383 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19384 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19386 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19387 @findex gnus-update-format
19388 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19389 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19390 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19391 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19395 @node Formatting Basics
19396 @subsection Formatting Basics
19398 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19399 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19400 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19402 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19403 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19404 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19405 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19406 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19409 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19410 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19411 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19412 less than 4 characters wide.
19414 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19415 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19418 @node Mode Line Formatting
19419 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19421 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19422 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19423 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19424 with the following two differences:
19429 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19432 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19433 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19434 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19435 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19436 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19437 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19438 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19443 @node Advanced Formatting
19444 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19446 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19447 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19448 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19449 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19451 These are the valid modifiers:
19456 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19460 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19465 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19468 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19473 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19476 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19479 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19482 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19488 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19493 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19494 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19495 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19496 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19497 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19498 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19499 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19501 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19502 last operation, padding.
19504 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
19505 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
19506 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
19507 @xref{Compilation}.
19510 @node User-Defined Specs
19511 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19513 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19514 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19515 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19516 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19517 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19518 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19519 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19520 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19521 should protect against that.
19523 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19524 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19526 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19527 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19528 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19529 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19533 @node Formatting Fonts
19534 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19536 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19537 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19538 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19539 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19542 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19543 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19544 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19545 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19546 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19547 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19549 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19550 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19551 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19552 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19553 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19554 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19555 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19556 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19557 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19558 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19560 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19563 ;; Create three face types.
19564 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19565 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19567 ;; We want the article count to be in
19568 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19569 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19570 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19572 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19573 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19575 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19576 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19577 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19580 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19581 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19583 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19584 mode-line variables.
19586 @node Positioning Point
19587 @subsection Positioning Point
19589 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19590 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19591 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19593 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19595 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19596 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19597 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19599 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19600 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19601 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19606 @subsection Tabulation
19608 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19609 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19610 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19611 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19613 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19614 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19616 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19617 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19618 This is the soft tabulator.
19620 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19621 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19622 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19625 @node Wide Characters
19626 @subsection Wide Characters
19628 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19629 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19630 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19632 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19633 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19634 these coutries, that's not true.
19636 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19637 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19638 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19639 prettieer. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19643 @node Window Layout
19644 @section Window Layout
19645 @cindex window layout
19647 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19649 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19650 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19651 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19652 @code{t} by default.
19654 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19655 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19657 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19658 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19659 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19662 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19663 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19664 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19668 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19669 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19670 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19671 possible names is listed below.
19673 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19674 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19677 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19681 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19682 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19683 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19684 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19685 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19686 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19687 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19688 size spec per split.
19690 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19691 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19692 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19693 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19694 present) gets focus.
19696 Here's a more complicated example:
19699 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19700 (summary 0.25 point)
19701 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19705 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19706 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19707 occupy, not a percentage.
19709 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19710 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19711 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19712 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19713 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19716 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19719 (article (horizontal 1.0
19724 (summary 0.25 point)
19729 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19730 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19732 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19733 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19734 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19735 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19736 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19738 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19739 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19740 lines from the splits.
19742 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19746 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19747 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19748 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19749 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19750 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19751 size = number | frame-params
19752 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19755 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19756 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19757 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19758 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19760 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19761 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19762 @cindex window height
19763 @cindex window width
19764 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19765 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19766 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19767 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19768 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19769 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19771 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19772 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19773 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19774 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19776 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19777 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19778 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19779 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19780 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19781 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19782 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19783 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19784 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19785 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19786 configuration list.
19789 (gnus-configure-frame
19793 (article 0.3 point))
19801 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19802 @code{frame} split:
19805 (gnus-configure-frame
19808 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19810 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19811 (user-position . t)
19812 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19817 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19818 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19819 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19820 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19821 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19822 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19823 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19824 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19826 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19827 be found in its default value.
19829 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19830 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19831 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19835 (message (horizontal 1.0
19836 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19838 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19843 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19844 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19845 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19850 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19851 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19852 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19853 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19854 (name . "Message"))
19855 (message 1.0 point))))
19858 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19859 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19860 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19861 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19862 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19865 (gnus-add-configuration
19866 '(article (vertical 1.0
19868 (summary .25 point)
19872 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19873 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19874 Gnus has been loaded.
19876 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19877 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19878 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19879 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19880 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19882 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19883 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19884 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19887 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19891 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19892 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19907 (gnus-add-configuration
19910 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19912 (summary 0.16 point)
19915 (gnus-add-configuration
19918 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19919 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19925 @node Faces and Fonts
19926 @section Faces and Fonts
19931 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19932 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19933 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19938 @section Compilation
19939 @cindex compilation
19940 @cindex byte-compilation
19942 @findex gnus-compile
19944 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19945 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19946 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19947 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19948 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19949 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19952 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19953 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19954 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19955 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19956 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19957 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19958 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19962 @section Mode Lines
19965 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19966 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19967 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19968 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19969 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19970 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19971 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19974 @cindex display-time
19976 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19977 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19978 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19979 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19980 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19981 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19982 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19983 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19986 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19988 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19989 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19991 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19992 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19993 (length display-time-string)))))
19996 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19997 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19998 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19999 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20000 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20003 @node Highlighting and Menus
20004 @section Highlighting and Menus
20006 @cindex highlighting
20009 @vindex gnus-visual
20010 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20011 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20012 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20015 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20016 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20019 @item group-highlight
20020 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20021 @item summary-highlight
20022 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20023 @item article-highlight
20024 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20026 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20028 Create menus in the group buffer.
20030 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20032 Create menus in the article buffer.
20034 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20036 Create menus in the server buffer.
20038 Create menus in the score buffers.
20040 Create menus in all buffers.
20043 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20044 buffers, you could say something like:
20047 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20050 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20053 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20056 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20057 in all Gnus buffers.
20059 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20062 @item gnus-mouse-face
20063 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20064 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20065 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20069 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20073 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20074 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20075 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20077 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20078 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20079 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20081 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20082 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20083 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20085 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20086 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20087 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20089 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20090 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20091 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20093 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20094 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20095 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20106 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20107 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20108 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20109 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20110 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20114 @vindex gnus-carpal
20115 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20116 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20117 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20122 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20123 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20124 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20126 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20127 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20128 Face used on buttons.
20130 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20131 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20132 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20134 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20135 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20136 Buttons in the group buffer.
20138 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20139 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20140 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20142 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20143 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20144 Buttons in the server buffer.
20146 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20147 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20148 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20151 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20152 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20153 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20161 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20162 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20163 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20164 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20165 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20167 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20168 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20169 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20171 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20172 been idle for thirty minutes:
20175 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20178 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20182 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20185 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20186 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20187 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20189 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20190 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20191 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20192 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20194 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20195 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20196 @var{idle} minutes.
20198 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20199 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20202 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20203 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20204 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20206 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20207 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20208 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20209 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20211 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20212 your @file{.gnus} file:
20214 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20216 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20219 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20220 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20221 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20222 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20223 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20224 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20225 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20226 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20227 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20228 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20229 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
20231 @findex gnus-demon-init
20232 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20233 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20234 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20235 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20236 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20238 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20239 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20240 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20249 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20250 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20252 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20253 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20254 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20255 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20258 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20259 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20260 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20261 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20263 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20264 this will make spam disappear.
20266 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20269 @item gnus-use-nocem
20270 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20271 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20274 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20275 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20276 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20277 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20278 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20280 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20281 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20282 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20283 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20284 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20285 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20287 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20288 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20290 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20291 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20292 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20293 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20294 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20295 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20296 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20297 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20298 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20299 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20301 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20302 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20305 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20308 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20309 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20312 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20315 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20318 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20319 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20321 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20322 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20323 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20324 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20326 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20327 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20330 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20332 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20340 This might be dangerous, though.
20342 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20343 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20344 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20345 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20347 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20348 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20349 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20350 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20351 might then see old spam.
20353 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20354 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20355 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20356 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20357 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20360 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20361 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20362 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20363 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20367 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20368 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20369 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20370 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20377 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20378 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20379 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20381 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20382 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20383 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20384 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20385 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20386 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20387 @code{undo} function.
20389 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20390 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20391 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20392 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20393 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20394 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20395 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20396 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20397 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20398 never be totally undoable.
20400 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20401 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20403 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20404 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20405 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20406 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20410 @node Predicate Specifiers
20411 @section Predicate Specifiers
20412 @cindex predicate specifiers
20414 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20415 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20416 to type all that much.
20418 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20423 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20424 gnus-article-unread-p)
20427 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20428 functions all take one parameter.
20430 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20431 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20432 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20433 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20438 @section Moderation
20441 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20442 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20443 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20446 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20450 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20453 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20455 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20460 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20461 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20462 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20465 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20466 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20469 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20470 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20474 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20477 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20478 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20482 @node Image Enhancements
20483 @section Image Enhancements
20485 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20486 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20489 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20490 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20491 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20492 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20493 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20506 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20507 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20508 over your shoulder as you read news.
20511 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20512 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20513 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20514 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20515 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20520 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20522 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20531 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20532 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20533 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20534 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20535 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20536 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20537 @code{GIF} formats.
20540 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20541 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20542 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20543 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20544 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20546 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20547 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20548 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20549 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20550 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20551 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20553 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20554 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20557 @node Picon Requirements
20558 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20560 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20561 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20562 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20563 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20565 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20566 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20567 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20568 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20569 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20570 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20573 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20575 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20576 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20579 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20580 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20583 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20584 containing the Picons databases.
20586 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20589 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20590 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20595 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20603 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20604 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20605 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20606 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20607 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20612 @item gnus-picons-database
20613 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20614 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20615 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20616 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20617 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20618 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20620 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20621 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20622 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20623 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20624 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20625 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20626 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20628 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20629 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20630 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20631 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20632 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20633 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20634 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20635 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20637 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20638 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20639 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20644 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20645 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20647 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20648 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20651 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20653 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20654 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20655 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20656 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20658 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20659 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20660 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20661 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20667 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20668 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20676 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20677 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20678 don't need to worry about.
20682 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20683 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20684 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20685 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20687 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20688 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20689 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20690 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20692 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20693 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20694 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20695 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20696 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20698 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20699 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20700 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20701 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20702 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20703 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20704 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20705 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20707 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20708 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20709 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20710 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20711 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20713 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20714 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20715 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20716 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20717 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20718 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20719 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20721 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20722 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20723 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20724 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20726 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20727 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20728 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20729 Defaults to @code{t}.
20731 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20732 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20733 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20734 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20736 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20737 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20738 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20740 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20741 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20742 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20743 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20745 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20746 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20748 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20749 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20750 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20751 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20752 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20753 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20754 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20755 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20766 @subsection Smileys
20771 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20776 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20777 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20779 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20780 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20783 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20786 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20787 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20788 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20789 text and maps that to file names.
20791 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20792 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20793 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20794 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20795 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20796 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20798 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20799 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20801 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20802 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20803 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20805 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20806 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20810 @item smiley-data-directory
20811 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20812 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20814 @item smiley-flesh-color
20815 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20816 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20818 @item smiley-features-color
20819 @vindex smiley-features-color
20820 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20822 @item smiley-tongue-color
20823 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20824 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20826 @item smiley-circle-color
20827 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20828 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20830 @item smiley-mouse-face
20831 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20832 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20841 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20842 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20843 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20847 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20848 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20849 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20850 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20858 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20859 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20860 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20861 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20863 The variable that controls this is the
20864 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20865 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20866 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20867 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20868 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20870 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20871 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20872 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20873 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20876 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20877 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20878 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20879 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20880 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20881 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20882 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20883 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20885 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20888 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20889 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20891 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20892 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20893 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20894 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20895 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20896 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20898 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
20899 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20900 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20902 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20903 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20906 (setq message-required-news-headers
20907 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20908 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20911 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20914 (setq message-required-news-headers
20915 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20916 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20917 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20918 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20923 @subsection Toolbar
20933 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20934 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20935 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20936 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20937 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20939 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20940 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20941 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20943 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20944 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20945 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20947 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20948 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20949 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20955 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20958 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20959 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20960 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20961 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20962 unusual directory structure.
20964 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20965 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20966 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20967 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20969 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20970 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20971 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20972 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20973 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20974 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20976 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20977 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20978 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20992 @node Fuzzy Matching
20993 @section Fuzzy Matching
20994 @cindex fuzzy matching
20996 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20997 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20999 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21000 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21001 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21003 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21004 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21005 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21006 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21007 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21010 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21011 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21015 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21017 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21018 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21019 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21020 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21021 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21022 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21023 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21024 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21027 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21028 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21029 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21030 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21031 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21032 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21034 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21037 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21038 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21039 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21040 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21041 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
21042 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
21045 @node The problem of spam
21046 @subsection The problem of spam
21048 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21049 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21051 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21053 First, some background on spam.
21055 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21056 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21057 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21058 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21059 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21060 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21061 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21062 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21064 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21065 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21066 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21067 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21068 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21069 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21070 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21071 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21072 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21075 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21076 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21077 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21078 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21079 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21080 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21081 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21082 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21083 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21084 mail can be useful.
21086 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21087 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21088 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21089 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21090 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21091 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21092 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21093 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21094 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21096 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21097 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21098 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21099 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21100 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21101 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21102 because of the incident.
21104 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21105 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21106 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21107 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21108 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21109 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21110 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21111 to store the database of spam analyses.
21113 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21114 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21118 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21120 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21121 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21123 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21124 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21125 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21126 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21127 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21128 part of the mail address.)
21131 (setq message-default-news-headers
21132 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21135 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21136 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21141 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21142 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21143 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21149 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21150 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21151 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21152 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21154 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21155 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21156 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21157 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21158 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21159 your fancy split rule in this way:
21164 (to "larsi" "misc")
21168 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21169 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21170 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21171 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21172 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21174 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21175 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21176 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21177 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21178 cosmic balance somewhat.
21180 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21181 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21182 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21183 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21188 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21189 @cindex SpamAssassin
21190 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21193 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21194 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21195 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21196 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21197 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21198 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21199 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21201 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21202 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21203 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21204 Specifiers}) follows.
21208 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21211 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21214 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21215 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21216 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21219 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21223 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21226 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21227 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21231 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21232 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21233 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21234 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21237 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21239 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21241 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21242 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21244 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21246 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21247 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21251 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21252 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21253 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21256 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21257 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21259 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21260 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21261 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21265 @subsection Hashcash
21268 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21269 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21270 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21271 since it is not part of the internet standards, but it may be useful
21272 in smaller communities.
21274 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21275 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21276 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21277 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21278 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21279 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21280 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21281 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21282 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21283 one of them separately.
21286 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21287 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21288 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21289 header. For more details, and for the external application
21290 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21291 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21292 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21294 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21298 (require 'hashcash)
21299 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21302 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21303 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21304 development contrib directory.
21306 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21310 @item hashcash-default-payment
21311 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21312 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21313 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21314 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21316 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21317 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21318 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21319 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21320 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21321 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21322 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21323 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21327 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21331 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21332 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21333 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21334 a useful contribution, however.
21336 @node Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21337 @subsection Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21338 @cindex spam filtering
21341 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21342 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21343 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam.
21345 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21346 the following keyboard commands:
21356 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21357 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21359 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{H} mark.
21360 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21361 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group.
21367 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21368 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21370 You must have bogofilter processing enabled for that command to work
21377 Gnus can learn from the spam you get. All you have to do is collect
21378 your spam in one or more spam groups, and set the variable
21379 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. In these groups, all messages
21380 are considered to be spam by default: they get the @samp{H} mark. You must
21381 review these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{H} mark for
21382 every message that is not spam after all. When you leave a spam
21383 group, all messages that continue with the @samp{H} mark, are passed on to
21384 the spam-detection engine (bogofilter, ifile, and others). To remove
21385 the @samp{H} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21386 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all @samp{H}
21387 marked articles, saved or unsaved, are sent to Bogofilter or ifile
21388 (depending on @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-ifile}), which will study
21389 them as spam samples.
21391 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21392 @code{spam-ham-marks-form} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and @samp{r} for
21393 default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and @samp{K} for automatic or
21394 explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for low scores, are all considered
21395 to be associated with articles which are not spam. This assumption
21396 might be false, in particular if you use kill files or score files as
21397 means for detecting genuine spam, you should then adjust
21398 @code{spam-ham-marks-form}. When you leave a group, all _unsaved_ articles
21399 bearing any the above marks are sent to Bogofilter or ifile, which
21400 will study these as not-spam samples. If you explicit kill a lot, you
21401 might sometimes end up with articles marked @samp{K} which you never saw,
21402 and which might accidentally contain spam. Best is to make sure that
21403 real spam is marked with @samp{H}, and nothing else.
21405 All other marks do not contribute to Bogofilter or ifile
21406 pre-conditioning. In particular, ticked, dormant or souped articles
21407 are likely to contribute later, when they will get deleted for real,
21408 so there is no need to use them prematurely. Explicitly expired
21409 articles do not contribute, command @kbd{E} is a way to get rid of an
21410 article without Bogofilter or ifile ever seeing it.
21412 @strong{TODO: @code{spam-use-ifile} does not process spam articles on group exit.
21413 I'm waiting for info from the author of @code{ifile-gnus.el}, because I think
21414 that functionality should go in @code{ifile-gnus.el} rather than @code{spam.el}.}
21416 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21417 must add the following to your fancy split list
21418 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21424 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21425 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21426 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21428 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the mail
21429 considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21430 @code{spam-split-group}. Usually that group name is @samp{spam}.
21432 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21436 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21437 * BBDB Whitelists::
21440 * Ifile spam filtering::
21441 * Extending spam.el::
21444 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21445 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21446 @cindex spam filtering
21447 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21448 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21451 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21452 Set this variables to t (the default) if you want to use blacklists.
21455 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21456 Set this variables to t if you want to use whitelists.
21459 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21460 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21461 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21462 blacklist. Since you start out with an empty blacklist, no harm is
21463 done by having the @code{spam-use-blacklist} variable set, so it is
21464 set by default. Blacklist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21467 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21468 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21469 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21470 whitelists is very comprehensive. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}.
21471 Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21473 The Blacklist and whitelist location can be customized with the
21474 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default). The whitelist
21475 and blacklist files will be in that directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21476 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21478 @node BBDB Whitelists
21479 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21480 @cindex spam filtering
21481 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21482 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21485 @defvar spam-use-bbdb
21487 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21488 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21489 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21490 @code{spam-use-bbdb} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21491 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21496 @subsubsection Blackholes
21497 @cindex spam filtering
21498 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21501 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21503 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21504 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21505 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21506 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21507 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21508 contains outdated servers.
21510 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21511 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21512 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21513 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21514 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21515 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21520 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21521 @cindex spam filtering
21522 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21525 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21527 Set this variable if you want to use Eric Raymond's speedy Bogofilter.
21528 This has been tested with a locally patched copy of version 0.4. Make
21529 sure to read the installation comments in @code{spam.el}.
21531 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{H} mark for spam
21532 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21533 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21534 category, spam or not. The shell command @command{head -1
21535 ~/.bogofilter/*} shows both article counts. The command @kbd{S t} in
21536 summary mode, either for debugging or for curiosity, triggers
21537 Bogofilter into displaying in another buffer the @emph{spamicity}
21538 score of the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0), together with the
21539 article words which most significantly contribute to the score.
21543 @node Ifile spam filtering
21544 @subsubsection Ifile spam filtering
21545 @cindex spam filtering
21546 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21549 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21551 Enable this variable if you want to use Ifile, a statistical analyzer
21552 similar to Bogofilter. Currently you must have @code{ifile-gnus.el}
21553 loaded. The integration of Ifile with @code{spam.el} is not finished
21554 yet, but you can use @code{ifile-gnus.el} on its own if you like.
21558 @node Extending spam.el
21559 @subsubsection Extending spam.el
21560 @cindex spam filtering
21561 @cindex spam.el, extending
21562 @cindex extending spam.el
21564 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. Provide the following:
21574 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21575 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21580 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21582 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21587 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21588 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21589 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21592 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21593 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21594 @cindex Paul Graham
21595 @cindex Graham, Paul
21596 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
21597 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
21598 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
21600 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
21601 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
21602 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
21603 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
21604 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
21605 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
21606 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
21607 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
21608 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
21611 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
21612 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
21613 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
21614 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
21615 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
21616 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
21617 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
21618 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
21620 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
21621 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
21622 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
21623 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
21624 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
21627 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
21628 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
21629 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
21632 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21633 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21635 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
21636 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
21637 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
21638 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
21639 need several hundred emails in both collections.
21641 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
21642 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
21643 per mail. Use the following:
21645 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
21646 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
21647 is treated as one spam mail.
21650 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
21651 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
21652 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
21655 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
21656 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
21657 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
21658 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
21659 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
21660 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
21663 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
21664 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
21665 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
21666 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
21668 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
21669 reset the dictionary.
21673 @defun spam-stat-reset
21674 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
21676 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
21677 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
21678 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
21679 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
21680 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
21681 only non-spam mails.
21684 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
21685 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
21686 to update the dictionary incrementally.
21689 @defun spam-stat-save
21690 Save the dictionary.
21693 @defvar spam-stat-file
21694 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
21695 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
21698 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
21699 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
21701 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
21702 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21705 (require 'spam-stat)
21709 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
21712 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
21713 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. In the simplest case, you only have
21714 two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says
21715 that mail is either spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is
21716 spam, then @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
21719 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21720 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21724 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
21725 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
21728 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
21729 the following expression. It only the mails not matching the regular
21730 expression are considered potential spam.
21733 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21734 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21735 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21739 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
21740 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
21741 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
21742 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
21743 mails, when creating the dictionary!
21746 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21747 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21748 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21752 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
21753 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
21754 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
21755 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
21756 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
21760 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21761 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
21762 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21763 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21768 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21769 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21771 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
21773 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
21774 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail;
21775 use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21779 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
21780 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
21781 mail; use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21785 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
21786 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
21787 mail but spam; use this to change the status of a mail that has
21788 already been processed as non-spam
21792 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
21793 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
21794 normal mail; use this to change the status of a mail that has already
21795 been processed as spam
21799 @defun spam-stat-save
21800 save the hash table to the file; the filename used is stored in the
21801 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21805 @defun spam-stat-load
21806 load the hash table from a file; the filename used is stored in the
21807 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21811 @defun spam-stat-score-word
21812 return the spam score for a word
21816 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
21817 return the spam score for a buffer
21821 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
21822 for fancy mail splitting; add the rule @samp{(: spam-stat-split-fancy)} to
21823 @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21825 This requires the following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21828 (require 'spam-stat)
21834 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
21837 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21838 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21839 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21840 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21841 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21842 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21843 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21844 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21845 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21846 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21847 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21848 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21849 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21850 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21853 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
21856 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21857 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21858 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21859 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
21860 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21861 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21864 @node Various Various
21865 @section Various Various
21871 @item gnus-home-directory
21872 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
21873 defaults to @file{~/}.
21875 @item gnus-directory
21876 @vindex gnus-directory
21877 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
21878 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
21879 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
21881 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
21882 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
21883 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
21884 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
21886 @item gnus-default-directory
21887 @vindex gnus-default-directory
21888 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
21889 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
21890 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
21891 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
21892 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
21893 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
21896 @vindex gnus-verbose
21897 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
21898 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
21899 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
21900 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
21901 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
21903 @item gnus-verbose-backends
21904 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
21905 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
21906 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
21908 @item nnheader-max-head-length
21909 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
21910 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
21911 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
21912 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
21913 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
21914 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
21915 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
21916 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
21917 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
21919 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
21920 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
21921 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
21922 read when doing the operation described above.
21924 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21925 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21927 @cindex invalid characters in file names
21928 @cindex characters in file names
21929 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
21930 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
21931 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
21934 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21938 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
21939 Windows (phooey) systems.
21941 @item gnus-hidden-properties
21942 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
21943 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
21944 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
21945 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
21947 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
21948 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
21949 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
21950 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
21951 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
21953 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
21954 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
21955 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
21957 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21958 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21960 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
21961 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
21962 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
21963 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
21966 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
21974 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
21975 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
21977 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
21979 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
21985 Not because of victories @*
21988 but for the common sunshine,@*
21990 the largess of the spring.
21994 but for the day's work done@*
21995 as well as I was able;@*
21996 not for a seat upon the dais@*
21997 but at the common table.@*
22002 @chapter Appendices
22005 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22006 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22007 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22008 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22009 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22010 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22011 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22012 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22013 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22020 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22022 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22023 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22024 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22025 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22026 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}. The @samp{misc-games}
22027 package is required for Morse decoding.
22034 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22035 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22037 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22038 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22039 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22040 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22041 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22043 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22044 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22045 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22046 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22047 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22048 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22050 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22051 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22052 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22053 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22056 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22057 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22058 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22059 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22060 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22061 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22062 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22063 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22064 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22068 @node Gnus Versions
22069 @subsection Gnus Versions
22071 @cindex September Gnus
22073 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22074 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22078 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22079 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22080 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22082 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22083 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22085 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22086 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22088 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22089 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22091 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22092 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22095 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22097 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22098 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22099 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22100 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22101 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22102 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22105 @node Other Gnus Versions
22106 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22109 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22110 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22111 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22112 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22114 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22115 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22116 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22117 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22124 What's the point of Gnus?
22126 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22127 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22128 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22129 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22130 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22131 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22132 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22133 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22134 keep track of millions of people who post?
22136 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22137 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22138 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22139 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22140 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22141 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22142 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22143 every one of you to explore and invent.
22145 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22146 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22149 @node Compatibility
22150 @subsection Compatibility
22152 @cindex compatibility
22153 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22154 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22155 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22160 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22164 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22167 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22170 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22171 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22172 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22173 important variables have their values copied into their global
22174 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22175 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22177 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22178 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22179 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22180 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22181 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22185 @cindex highlighting
22186 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22187 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22188 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22189 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22190 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22191 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22194 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22195 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22196 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22197 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22199 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22200 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22201 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22202 to stop doing it the old way.
22204 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22206 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22208 @cindex reporting bugs
22210 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22211 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22212 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22214 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22215 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22216 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22217 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22222 @subsection Conformity
22224 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22225 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22233 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22237 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22239 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22240 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22241 We do have some breaches to this one.
22247 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22248 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22249 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22250 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22251 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22256 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22257 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22258 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22259 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22261 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22263 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22265 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22266 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22268 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22271 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22272 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22273 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22274 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22275 decoding (verification and decryption).
22277 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22278 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22279 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22280 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22282 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22283 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22285 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22286 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22287 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22288 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22289 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22290 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22291 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22295 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22296 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22301 @subsection Emacsen
22307 Gnus should work on :
22315 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
22319 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22320 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22323 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22324 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22325 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22329 @node Gnus Development
22330 @subsection Gnus Development
22332 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22333 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22334 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22335 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22336 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22337 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22338 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22339 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22341 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22342 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22343 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22344 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22345 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22348 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22349 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22350 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22351 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22352 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22354 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22355 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22356 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22357 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22358 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22359 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22360 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22361 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22362 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22363 can't be assumed to do so.
22368 @subsection Contributors
22369 @cindex contributors
22371 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22372 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22373 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22374 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22375 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22376 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22377 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22378 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22379 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22380 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22382 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22388 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22391 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22392 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22393 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22394 functionality and stuff.
22397 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22398 well as numerous other things).
22401 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22404 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22407 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22410 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22413 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22414 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22417 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22420 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22421 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22424 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22427 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22430 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22433 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22436 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22437 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22440 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22443 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22446 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22449 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22453 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22456 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22459 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22462 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22463 well as autoconf support.
22467 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22468 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22470 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22479 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22483 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22493 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22508 Massimo Campostrini,
22513 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22514 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22518 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22521 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22527 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22532 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22536 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
22544 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
22546 Michelangelo Grigni,
22550 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
22552 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
22554 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
22561 François Felix Ingrand,
22562 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
22563 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
22565 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
22576 Peter Skov Knudsen,
22577 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
22579 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
22580 Thor Kristoffersen,
22583 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
22601 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
22602 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
22609 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
22614 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
22618 John McClary Prevost,
22624 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
22629 Christian von Roques,
22632 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
22639 Philippe Schnoebelen,
22641 Randal L. Schwartz,
22655 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
22660 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
22676 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
22681 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
22682 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
22683 (550kB and counting).
22685 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
22688 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
22689 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
22693 @subsection New Features
22694 @cindex new features
22697 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
22698 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
22699 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
22700 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
22701 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
22704 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
22705 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
22706 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
22709 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
22711 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
22716 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
22717 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
22720 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
22721 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
22724 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
22727 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
22728 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
22729 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
22732 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
22733 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
22734 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
22735 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22738 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
22739 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22742 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
22743 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
22744 (@pxref{The Active File}).
22747 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
22748 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
22751 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
22752 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
22753 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
22756 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
22757 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
22758 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
22761 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
22762 the @file{.emacs} file.
22765 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
22766 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
22769 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
22770 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
22773 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
22774 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22777 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
22778 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
22781 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
22782 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
22785 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
22788 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
22789 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
22792 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
22793 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
22796 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
22797 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
22800 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
22803 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
22804 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22807 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
22811 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
22815 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
22816 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
22819 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
22825 @node September Gnus
22826 @subsubsection September Gnus
22830 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
22834 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
22839 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
22840 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
22844 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
22845 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
22849 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
22853 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
22854 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
22857 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
22861 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22864 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
22867 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
22870 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
22874 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
22875 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
22878 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
22882 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
22886 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
22890 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
22894 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
22897 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
22898 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
22901 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
22905 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
22906 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
22909 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
22912 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
22913 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
22914 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22917 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
22921 The Gnus cache is much faster.
22924 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
22928 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
22929 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
22932 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
22933 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
22936 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
22937 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22940 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
22941 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
22942 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
22945 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
22946 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
22949 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
22952 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22955 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
22958 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
22961 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
22962 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
22965 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
22969 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
22972 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
22977 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
22980 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
22984 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22987 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
22991 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
22994 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
22997 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
22998 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23001 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23002 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23006 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23007 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23010 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23014 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23015 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23018 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23021 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23025 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23029 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23030 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23033 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23037 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23038 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23041 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23042 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23045 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23049 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23052 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23055 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23061 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23063 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23067 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23074 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23077 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23078 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23081 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23082 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23086 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23087 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23090 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23093 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23094 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23097 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23101 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23102 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23106 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23107 Server Internals}).
23110 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23114 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23117 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23118 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23121 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23122 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23123 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23126 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23127 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23130 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23131 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23134 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23138 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23139 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23142 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23143 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23146 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23150 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23153 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23157 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23158 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23161 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23162 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23165 A new command for reading collections of documents
23166 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23167 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23170 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23174 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23175 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23178 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23179 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23180 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23183 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23184 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23188 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23192 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23196 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23201 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23205 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23209 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23210 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23213 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23219 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23221 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23226 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23227 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23228 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23231 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23232 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23233 group, which is created automatically.
23236 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23240 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23243 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23244 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23247 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23251 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23254 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23255 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23258 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23261 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23262 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23265 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23266 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23269 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23270 control over simplification.
23273 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23276 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23280 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23283 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23286 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23287 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23288 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23291 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23292 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23295 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23299 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23300 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23303 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23304 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23307 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23311 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23314 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23317 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23318 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23321 A new function for citing in Message has been
23322 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23325 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23328 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23332 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23333 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23336 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23337 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23340 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23343 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23347 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23348 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23350 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23355 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23356 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23358 If you used procmail like in
23361 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23362 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23363 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23364 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23367 this now has changed to
23371 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23375 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23376 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23379 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23380 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23383 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23384 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23387 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23388 called to position point.
23391 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23392 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23395 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23396 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23399 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23400 subtly different manner.
23403 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23404 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23405 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23408 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23416 @section The Manual
23420 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23421 either @code{texi2dvi}
23423 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23424 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23426 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23428 The following conventions have been used:
23433 This is a @samp{string}
23436 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23439 This is a @file{file}
23442 This is a @code{symbol}
23446 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23450 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23453 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23456 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23459 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23460 ever get them confused.
23464 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23465 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23466 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23467 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23468 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23469 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23470 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23476 @node On Writing Manuals
23477 @section On Writing Manuals
23479 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23480 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23481 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23482 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23483 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23484 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23487 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23488 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23489 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23492 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23493 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23498 @section Terminology
23500 @cindex terminology
23505 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23506 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23507 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23508 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23509 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23513 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23514 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23515 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23516 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23520 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23524 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23529 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23530 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23531 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23532 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23533 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23534 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23535 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23536 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23537 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23539 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23540 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23541 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23542 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23543 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
23546 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
23547 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
23548 access the articles.
23550 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
23551 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
23552 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
23557 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
23558 default, way of getting news.
23562 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
23563 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
23568 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
23569 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
23573 A message that has been posted as news.
23576 @cindex mail message
23577 A message that has been mailed.
23581 A mail message or news article
23585 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
23590 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
23595 A line from the head of an article.
23599 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
23600 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
23604 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
23605 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
23606 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
23607 normal @sc{head} format.
23611 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
23612 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
23613 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
23614 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
23615 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
23616 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
23618 @item killed groups
23619 @cindex killed groups
23620 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
23621 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
23623 @item zombie groups
23624 @cindex zombie groups
23625 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
23628 @cindex active file
23629 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
23630 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
23631 is rather large, as you might surmise.
23634 @cindex bogus groups
23635 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
23636 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
23637 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
23640 @cindex activating groups
23641 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
23642 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
23643 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
23647 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
23649 @item select method
23650 @cindex select method
23651 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
23654 @item virtual server
23655 @cindex virtual server
23656 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
23657 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
23658 whole is a virtual server.
23662 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
23663 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
23666 @item ephemeral groups
23667 @cindex ephemeral groups
23668 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
23669 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
23670 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
23673 @cindex solid groups
23674 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
23675 group buffer are solid groups.
23677 @item sparse articles
23678 @cindex sparse articles
23679 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
23680 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
23684 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
23685 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
23689 @cindex thread root
23690 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
23691 articles in the thread.
23695 An article that has responses.
23699 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
23703 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
23704 specified by RFC 1153.
23710 @node Customization
23711 @section Customization
23712 @cindex general customization
23714 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
23715 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
23716 for some quite common situations.
23719 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
23720 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
23721 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
23722 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
23726 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
23727 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
23729 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
23730 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
23731 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
23735 @item gnus-read-active-file
23736 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
23737 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
23738 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23739 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
23740 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
23742 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
23743 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
23744 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
23745 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
23749 @node Slow Terminal Connection
23750 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
23752 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
23753 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
23754 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
23758 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
23759 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
23760 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
23761 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
23762 horizontal and vertical recentering.
23764 @item gnus-visible-headers
23765 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
23766 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
23767 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
23768 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
23770 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
23772 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
23773 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
23774 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
23777 @item gnus-use-full-window
23778 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
23779 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
23780 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
23781 want to read them anyway.
23783 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
23784 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
23788 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
23789 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
23790 lines, which might save some time.
23794 @node Little Disk Space
23795 @subsection Little Disk Space
23798 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
23799 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
23803 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
23804 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
23805 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23806 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23809 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
23810 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
23811 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23812 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23815 @item gnus-save-killed-list
23816 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
23817 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
23818 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
23819 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
23825 @subsection Slow Machine
23826 @cindex slow machine
23828 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
23829 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
23831 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23832 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
23834 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
23835 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
23836 summary buffer faster.
23840 @node Troubleshooting
23841 @section Troubleshooting
23842 @cindex troubleshooting
23844 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
23852 Make sure your computer is switched on.
23855 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
23856 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
23860 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
23861 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
23862 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
23863 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
23866 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
23870 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
23871 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
23872 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
23873 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
23874 something like that.
23877 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
23880 @cindex reporting bugs
23882 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23884 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
23885 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
23886 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
23887 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
23889 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
23890 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
23891 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
23892 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
23895 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
23896 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
23897 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
23898 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
23899 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
23900 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
23902 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
23903 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
23904 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
23908 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
23909 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
23912 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
23913 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
23914 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
23915 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
23916 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
23917 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
23918 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
23919 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
23920 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
23921 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
23922 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
23923 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
23924 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
23925 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
23927 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
23928 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
23930 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
23931 @cindex ding mailing list
23932 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
23933 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
23937 @node Gnus Reference Guide
23938 @section Gnus Reference Guide
23940 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
23941 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
23942 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
23943 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
23946 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
23947 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
23948 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
23949 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
23950 and general methods of operation.
23953 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
23954 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
23955 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
23956 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
23957 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
23958 * Group Info:: The group info format.
23959 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
23960 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
23961 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
23965 @node Gnus Utility Functions
23966 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
23967 @cindex Gnus utility functions
23968 @cindex utility functions
23970 @cindex internal variables
23972 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
23973 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
23974 Below is a list of the most common ones.
23978 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
23979 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
23980 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
23982 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
23983 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
23984 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
23986 @item gnus-group-real-name
23987 @findex gnus-group-real-name
23988 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
23991 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
23992 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
23993 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
23994 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
23996 @item gnus-get-info
23997 @findex gnus-get-info
23998 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24000 @item gnus-group-unread
24001 @findex gnus-group-unread
24002 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24006 @findex gnus-active
24007 The active entry for @var{group}.
24009 @item gnus-set-active
24010 @findex gnus-set-active
24011 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24013 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24014 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24015 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24018 @item gnus-continuum-version
24019 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24020 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24021 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24024 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24025 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24026 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24028 @item gnus-news-group-p
24029 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24030 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24032 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24033 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24034 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24036 @item gnus-server-to-method
24037 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24038 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24040 @item gnus-server-equal
24041 @findex gnus-server-equal
24042 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24044 @item gnus-group-native-p
24045 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24046 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24048 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24049 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24050 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24052 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24053 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24054 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24056 @item group-group-find-parameter
24057 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24058 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24059 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24061 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24062 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24063 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24065 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24066 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24067 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24069 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24070 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24071 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24072 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24075 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24079 @item gnus-read-method
24080 @findex gnus-read-method
24081 Prompts the user for a select method.
24086 @node Back End Interface
24087 @subsection Back End Interface
24089 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24090 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24091 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24092 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24093 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24094 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24096 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24097 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24098 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24099 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24100 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24101 been opened, the function should fail.
24103 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24104 name. Take this example:
24108 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24109 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24112 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24113 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24115 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24116 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24117 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24119 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24120 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24121 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24123 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24124 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24125 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24126 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24127 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24128 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24131 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24132 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24133 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24134 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24137 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24138 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24139 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24140 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24141 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24142 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24143 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24144 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24145 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24146 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24148 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24149 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24150 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24151 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24152 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24153 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24154 of numbers as long as possible.
24156 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24157 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24158 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24160 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24163 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24166 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24167 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24168 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24169 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24170 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24171 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24175 @node Required Back End Functions
24176 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24180 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24182 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24183 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24184 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24185 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24187 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24188 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24189 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24190 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24192 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24193 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24194 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24195 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24196 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24197 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24198 number, do maximum fetches.
24200 Here's an example HEAD:
24203 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24204 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24205 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24206 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24207 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24208 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24209 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24211 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24212 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24213 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24217 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24218 these in the data buffer.
24220 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24224 head = error / valid-head
24225 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24226 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24227 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24228 header = <text> eol
24231 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24232 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24236 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24237 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24238 field = <text except TAB>
24241 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24245 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24247 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24248 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24250 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24251 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24252 server. In fact, it should do so.
24254 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24255 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24258 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24260 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24261 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24264 There should be no data returned.
24267 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24269 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24270 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24271 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24272 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24274 There should be no data returned.
24277 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24279 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24280 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24281 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24282 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24284 There should be no data returned.
24287 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24289 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24291 There should be no data returned.
24294 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24296 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24297 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24298 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24299 it would be nice if that were possible.
24301 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24302 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24303 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24304 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24305 into its article buffer.
24307 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24308 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24309 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24310 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24311 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24312 on successful article retrieval.
24315 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24317 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24318 making @var{group} the current group.
24320 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24323 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24326 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24329 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24330 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24331 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24332 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24333 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24334 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24335 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24336 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24337 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24341 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24342 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24343 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24347 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24349 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24350 a no-op on most back ends.
24352 There should be no data returned.
24355 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24357 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24360 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24363 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24364 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24367 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24368 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24369 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24370 and the highest as 0.
24373 active-file = *active-line
24374 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24376 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24379 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24380 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24381 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24384 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24386 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24387 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24388 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24389 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24390 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24391 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24393 There should be no result data from this function.
24398 @node Optional Back End Functions
24399 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24403 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24405 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24406 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24407 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24409 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24410 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24411 former is in the same format as the data from
24412 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24413 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24416 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24420 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24422 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24423 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24424 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24425 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24426 should return a non-nil value.
24428 There should be no result data from this function.
24431 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24433 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24434 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24435 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24436 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24437 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24438 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24439 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24440 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24442 There should be no result data from this function.
24445 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24447 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24448 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24449 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24450 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24451 propagate the mark information to the server.
24453 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24456 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24459 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
24460 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
24461 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
24462 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
24463 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24464 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24465 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24466 possible, not limit itself to these.
24468 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24469 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24470 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24471 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24473 An example action list:
24476 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24477 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24478 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24481 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24482 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24484 There should be no result data from this function.
24486 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24488 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24489 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24490 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24491 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24492 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24494 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24495 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24496 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24499 There should be no result data from this function.
24502 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24504 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24505 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24506 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24507 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24508 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24509 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24510 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24512 There should be no result data from this function.
24515 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24517 The result data from this function should be a description of
24521 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
24523 description = <text>
24526 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
24528 The result data from this function should be the description of all
24529 groups available on the server.
24532 description-buffer = *description-line
24536 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
24538 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
24539 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
24540 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
24541 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
24542 in the active buffer format.
24544 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
24545 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
24546 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
24547 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
24548 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
24549 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
24550 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
24553 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24555 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
24557 There should be no return data.
24560 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
24562 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
24563 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
24564 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
24565 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
24566 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
24569 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
24572 There should be no result data returned.
24575 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
24578 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
24579 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
24581 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
24582 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
24583 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
24584 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
24585 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
24586 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
24588 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
24589 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
24592 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24593 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24595 There should be no data returned.
24598 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
24600 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
24601 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
24602 this function in short order.
24604 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24605 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24607 There should be no data returned.
24610 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
24612 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
24613 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
24615 There should be no data returned.
24618 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
24620 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
24621 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
24622 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
24624 There should be no data returned.
24627 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
24629 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
24630 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
24632 There should be no data returned.
24637 @node Error Messaging
24638 @subsubsection Error Messaging
24640 @findex nnheader-report
24641 @findex nnheader-get-report
24642 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
24643 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
24644 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
24645 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
24646 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
24647 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
24650 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
24652 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
24655 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
24656 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
24657 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
24658 takes one argument---the server symbol.
24660 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
24661 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
24662 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
24665 @node Writing New Back Ends
24666 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
24668 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
24669 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
24670 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
24671 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
24672 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
24675 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
24676 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
24677 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
24679 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
24680 package called @code{nnoo}.
24682 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
24683 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
24689 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
24690 parameters. For instance:
24693 (nnoo-declare nndir
24697 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
24698 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
24701 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
24702 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
24703 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
24705 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
24706 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
24707 a function in those back ends.
24710 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24711 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24712 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24715 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
24716 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
24717 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
24719 @item nnoo-define-basics
24720 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
24724 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24728 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
24729 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
24730 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
24732 @item nnoo-map-functions
24733 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
24734 functions from the parent back ends.
24737 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24738 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24739 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
24742 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
24743 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
24744 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
24745 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
24748 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
24749 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
24750 haven't already been defined.
24756 nnmh-request-newgroups)
24760 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
24761 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
24762 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
24767 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
24770 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
24771 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24775 (require 'nnheader)
24779 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
24781 (nnoo-declare nndir
24784 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24785 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24786 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24788 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
24789 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
24792 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
24794 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
24795 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
24796 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
24798 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
24799 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
24801 ;;; Interface functions.
24803 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24805 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
24806 (setq nndir-directory
24807 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
24809 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
24810 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
24811 (push `(nndir-current-group
24812 ,(file-name-nondirectory
24813 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24815 (push `(nndir-top-directory
24816 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24818 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
24820 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24821 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24822 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24823 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
24824 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
24828 nnmh-status-message
24830 nnmh-request-newgroups))
24836 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24837 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24839 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
24840 @findex gnus-declare-backend
24841 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
24842 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
24843 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
24845 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
24846 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
24851 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
24854 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
24856 The abilities can be:
24860 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
24862 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
24864 This back end supports both mail and news.
24866 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
24869 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
24870 articles and groups.
24872 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
24873 true for almost all back ends.
24874 @item prompt-address
24875 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
24876 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
24877 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
24881 @node Mail-like Back Ends
24882 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
24884 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
24885 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
24886 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
24887 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
24890 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
24891 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
24892 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
24895 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
24896 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
24899 This function takes four parameters.
24903 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
24906 @item exit-function
24907 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
24909 @item temp-directory
24910 Where the temporary files should be stored.
24913 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
24914 performed for one group only.
24917 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
24918 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
24919 find the article number assigned to this article.
24921 The function also uses the following variables:
24922 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
24923 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
24924 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
24925 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
24929 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
24930 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
24934 @node Score File Syntax
24935 @subsection Score File Syntax
24937 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
24938 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
24939 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
24941 Here's a typical score file:
24945 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
24952 BNF definition of a score file:
24955 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
24956 element = rule / atom
24957 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
24958 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
24959 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
24960 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
24962 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
24963 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
24964 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
24965 date-header = "date"
24966 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24967 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24968 score = "nil" / <integer>
24969 date = "nil" / <natural number>
24970 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
24971 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
24972 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
24973 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
24974 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24975 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24976 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
24977 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24978 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
24979 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
24980 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
24981 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
24982 exclude-files / read-only / touched
24983 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
24984 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
24985 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
24986 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
24987 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
24988 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
24989 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
24990 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
24991 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
24992 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
24993 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
24994 eval = "eval" space <form>
24995 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
24998 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25001 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25002 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25003 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25004 one looong line, then that's ok.
25006 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25007 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25011 @subsection Headers
25013 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25014 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25015 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25016 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25018 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25019 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25020 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25021 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25022 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25023 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25024 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25026 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25027 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25028 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25029 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25030 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25032 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25033 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25039 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25040 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25042 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25043 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25044 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25045 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25047 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25051 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25054 is transformed into
25057 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25060 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25061 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25064 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25067 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25068 is slightly tricky:
25071 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25077 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25080 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25086 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25093 and is equal to the previous range.
25095 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25096 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25097 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25101 range = simple-range / normal-range
25102 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25103 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25104 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25105 number *[ " " contents ]
25108 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25109 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25110 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25111 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25112 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25117 @subsection Group Info
25119 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25120 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25121 describes the group.
25123 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25124 second is a more complex one:
25127 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25129 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25130 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25132 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25135 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25136 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25137 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25138 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25139 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25140 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25141 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25142 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25143 this section is about.
25145 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25146 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25147 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25149 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25152 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25153 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25154 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25155 group = quote <string> quote
25156 ralevel = rank / level
25157 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25158 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25159 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25161 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25162 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25163 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25164 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25167 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25168 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25171 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25172 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25175 @item gnus-info-group
25176 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25177 @findex gnus-info-group
25178 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25179 Get/set the group name.
25181 @item gnus-info-rank
25182 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25183 @findex gnus-info-rank
25184 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25185 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25187 @item gnus-info-level
25188 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25189 @findex gnus-info-level
25190 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25191 Get/set the group level.
25193 @item gnus-info-score
25194 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25195 @findex gnus-info-score
25196 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25197 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25199 @item gnus-info-read
25200 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25201 @findex gnus-info-read
25202 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25203 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25205 @item gnus-info-marks
25206 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25207 @findex gnus-info-marks
25208 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25209 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25211 @item gnus-info-method
25212 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25213 @findex gnus-info-method
25214 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25215 Get/set the group select method.
25217 @item gnus-info-params
25218 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25219 @findex gnus-info-params
25220 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25221 Get/set the group parameters.
25224 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25225 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25227 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25228 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25229 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25230 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25233 @node Extended Interactive
25234 @subsection Extended Interactive
25235 @cindex interactive
25236 @findex gnus-interactive
25238 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25239 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25240 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25243 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25244 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25249 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25250 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25251 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25252 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25253 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25254 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25255 @code{interactive}.
25257 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25262 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25263 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25267 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25268 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25269 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25272 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25276 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25280 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25286 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25287 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25291 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25292 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25293 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25295 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25296 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25297 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25298 Gnus, that's very useful.
25300 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25301 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25302 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25303 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25304 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25305 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25306 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25307 following function:
25310 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25314 (,function ,@@args))
25318 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25319 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25320 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25323 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25324 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25325 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25327 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25328 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25329 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25332 @node Various File Formats
25333 @subsection Various File Formats
25336 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25337 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25341 @node Active File Format
25342 @subsubsection Active File Format
25344 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25345 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25348 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25351 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25352 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25353 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25354 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25355 no.general 1000 900 y
25358 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25361 active = *group-line
25362 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25363 group = <non-white-space string>
25365 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25366 low-number = <positive integer>
25367 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25370 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25371 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25374 @node Newsgroups File Format
25375 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25377 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25378 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25379 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25382 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25383 Here's the definition:
25387 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25388 group = <non-white-space string>
25390 description = <string>
25395 @node Emacs for Heathens
25396 @section Emacs for Heathens
25398 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25399 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25400 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25401 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25402 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25403 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25404 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25408 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25409 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25414 @subsection Keystrokes
25418 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25421 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25424 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25425 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25426 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25427 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25428 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25429 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25431 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25432 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25433 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25434 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25435 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25436 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25437 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25439 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25440 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25441 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25442 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25443 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25444 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25445 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25447 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25448 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25449 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25450 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25451 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25457 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25459 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25460 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25461 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25462 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25464 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25465 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25466 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25467 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25468 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25469 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25470 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25473 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25474 write the following:
25477 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25480 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25481 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25482 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25485 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
25486 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25487 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25488 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25489 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25491 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25492 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25493 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25497 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25501 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25504 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25505 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25508 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25511 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25512 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25515 @include gnus-faq.texi
25535 @c Local Variables:
25537 @c coding: iso-8859-1
25539 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
25540 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
25541 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
25542 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
25543 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref