1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Gnus 5.6.32 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The news reader Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
19 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
20 \usepackage{pagestyle}
28 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
29 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
31 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
33 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
34 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
36 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
37 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
39 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}}
40 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
41 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}''}
42 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
43 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
44 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
45 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
46 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
47 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
50 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
51 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
52 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
54 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
55 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
56 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
57 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
58 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
59 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
60 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
61 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
62 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
63 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
64 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
66 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head.eps,height=1cm}}}
67 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
68 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
71 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
73 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
80 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
82 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
84 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
85 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
88 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
89 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
90 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
95 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
97 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
104 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
105 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1cm}}}
108 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
109 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
112 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
113 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
116 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
117 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
120 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
122 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
123 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
127 \newenvironment{codelist}%
132 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
138 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
143 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
148 \newenvironment{samplist}%
153 \newenvironment{varlist}%
158 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
163 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
164 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
165 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
167 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
172 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
176 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
185 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
187 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
192 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
197 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
201 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
209 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
211 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
221 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
225 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
233 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
235 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
240 \pagenumbering{roman}
241 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
251 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
252 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
254 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
256 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\\
259 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=15cm}
262 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
269 \thispagestyle{empty}
271 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
273 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
274 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
275 are preserved on all copies.
277 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
278 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
279 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
280 permission notice identical to this one.
282 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
283 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
292 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
294 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
297 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
298 are preserved on all copies.
301 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
302 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
303 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
304 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
308 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
309 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
310 permission notice identical to this one.
312 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
313 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
319 @title Gnus 5.6.32 Manual
321 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
324 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
325 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
327 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
328 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
329 are preserved on all copies.
331 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
332 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
333 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
334 permission notice identical to this one.
336 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
337 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
346 @top The Gnus Newsreader
350 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
351 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
352 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
355 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.6.32.
366 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
367 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
369 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
370 being accused of plagiarism:
372 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
373 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
374 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
375 even read news with it!
377 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
378 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
379 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
380 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
381 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
389 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
390 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
391 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
392 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
393 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
394 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
395 * Various:: General purpose settings.
396 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
397 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
398 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
399 * Key Index:: Key Index.
403 @chapter Starting Gnus
408 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
409 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
412 @findex gnus-other-frame
413 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
414 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
415 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
417 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
418 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
419 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
421 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
422 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
425 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
426 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
427 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
428 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
429 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
430 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
431 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
432 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
433 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
434 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
435 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
439 @node Finding the News
440 @section Finding the News
443 @vindex gnus-select-method
445 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
446 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
447 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
448 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
451 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
452 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
455 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
458 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
461 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
464 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
465 certainly be much faster.
467 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
469 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
470 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
471 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
472 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
473 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
474 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
476 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
477 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
478 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
479 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
481 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
482 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
483 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
484 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
485 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
486 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
488 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
490 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
491 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
492 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
493 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
494 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
495 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
497 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
499 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
500 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
501 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
502 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
503 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
504 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
507 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
508 would typically set this variable to
511 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
516 @section The First Time
517 @cindex first time usage
519 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
520 be subscribed by default.
522 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
523 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
524 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
525 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
528 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
529 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
530 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
532 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
533 help you with most common problems.
535 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
536 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
540 @node The Server is Down
541 @section The Server is Down
542 @cindex server errors
544 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
545 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
546 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
548 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
549 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
550 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
551 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
552 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
553 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
554 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
556 @findex gnus-no-server
557 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
559 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
560 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
561 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
562 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
563 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
564 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
569 @section Slave Gnusae
572 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
573 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
574 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
575 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
577 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
580 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
581 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
582 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
583 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
584 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
585 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
586 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
588 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
589 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
590 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
591 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
592 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
593 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
594 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
595 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
597 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
598 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
601 @node Fetching a Group
602 @section Fetching a Group
603 @cindex fetching a group
605 @findex gnus-fetch-group
606 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
607 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
608 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
609 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
610 It takes the group name as a parameter.
618 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
619 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
620 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
621 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
622 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
623 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
624 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
625 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
626 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
629 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
630 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
631 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
635 @node Checking New Groups
636 @subsection Checking New Groups
638 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
639 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
640 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
641 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
642 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
643 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
644 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
645 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
646 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
647 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
649 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
650 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
651 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
652 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
653 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
654 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
655 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
656 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
657 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
658 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
659 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
661 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
662 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
663 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
664 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
665 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
666 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
669 @node Subscription Methods
670 @subsection Subscription Methods
672 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
673 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
674 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
676 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
677 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
679 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
683 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
684 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
685 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
686 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
687 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
689 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
690 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
691 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
692 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
694 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
695 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
696 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
698 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
699 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
700 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
701 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
702 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
703 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
704 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
705 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
706 up. Or something like that.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
710 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
711 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
712 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
714 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
715 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
720 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
721 A closely related variable is
722 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
723 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
724 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
725 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
728 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
729 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
730 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
731 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
734 @node Filtering New Groups
735 @subsection Filtering New Groups
737 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
738 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
739 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
742 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
745 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
746 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
747 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
748 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
749 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
750 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
751 subscribing these groups.
752 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
753 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
755 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
756 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
757 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
758 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
759 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
760 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
761 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
762 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
764 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
765 Yet another variable that meddles here is
766 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
767 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
768 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
769 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
770 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
771 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
772 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
773 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
775 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
776 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
779 @node Changing Servers
780 @section Changing Servers
781 @cindex changing servers
783 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
784 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
785 very flaky and you want to use another.
787 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
788 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
792 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
793 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
794 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
795 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
798 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
799 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
800 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
801 functions more than absolutely necessary.
803 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
804 @findex gnus-change-server
805 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
806 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
807 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
808 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
809 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
811 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
812 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
813 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
814 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
815 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
817 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
818 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
819 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
820 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
822 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
826 @section Startup Files
827 @cindex startup files
832 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
833 information is traditionally stored in this file.
835 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
836 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
837 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
838 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
839 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
840 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
841 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
843 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
844 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
845 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
846 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
847 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
848 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
850 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
851 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
852 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
853 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
854 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
855 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
857 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
858 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
859 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
860 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
861 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
862 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
863 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
864 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
865 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
866 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
867 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
868 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
870 @vindex gnus-startup-file
871 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
872 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
873 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
875 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
876 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
877 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
878 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
879 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
880 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
881 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
882 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
883 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
884 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
887 (defun turn-off-backup ()
888 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
890 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
891 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
894 @vindex gnus-init-file
895 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
896 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
897 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
898 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
899 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
900 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
901 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
902 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
903 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
912 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
913 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
914 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
915 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
916 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
919 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
920 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
923 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
924 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
925 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
927 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
928 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
929 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
930 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
931 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
932 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
934 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
935 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
936 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
939 @node The Active File
940 @section The Active File
942 @cindex ignored groups
944 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
945 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
946 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
948 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
949 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
950 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
951 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
952 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
953 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
954 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
957 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
958 @c if you set it to anything else.
960 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
962 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
963 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
964 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
966 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
967 you actually subscribe to.
969 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
970 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
971 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
972 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
974 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
975 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
976 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
977 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
978 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
979 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
981 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
982 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
983 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
984 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
985 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
986 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
988 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
989 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
991 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
992 secondary select methods.
995 @node Startup Variables
996 @section Startup Variables
1000 @item gnus-load-hook
1001 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1002 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1003 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1004 times you start Gnus.
1006 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1007 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1008 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1010 @item gnus-startup-hook
1011 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1012 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1014 @item gnus-started-hook
1015 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1016 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1019 @item gnus-started-hook
1020 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1021 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1022 generating the group buffer.
1024 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1025 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1026 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1027 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1028 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1029 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1030 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1031 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1033 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1034 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1035 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1036 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1037 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1038 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1040 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1041 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1042 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1044 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1045 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1046 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1048 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1049 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1050 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1051 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1056 @node The Group Buffer
1057 @chapter The Group Buffer
1058 @cindex group buffer
1060 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1061 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1062 long as Gnus is active.
1066 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1067 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1068 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1069 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1070 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1071 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1072 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1073 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1079 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1080 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1081 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1082 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1083 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1084 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1085 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1086 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1087 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1088 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1089 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1090 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1091 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1092 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1093 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1094 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1095 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1099 @node Group Buffer Format
1100 @section Group Buffer Format
1103 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1104 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1105 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1109 @node Group Line Specification
1110 @subsection Group Line Specification
1111 @cindex group buffer format
1113 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1114 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1116 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1119 25: news.announce.newusers
1120 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1125 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1126 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1127 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1128 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1130 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1131 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1132 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1133 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1134 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1135 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1137 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1139 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1140 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1141 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1142 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1145 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1146 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1147 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1149 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1154 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1157 Whether the group is subscribed.
1160 Level of subscribedness.
1163 Number of unread articles.
1166 Number of dormant articles.
1169 Number of ticked articles.
1172 Number of read articles.
1175 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1176 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1179 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1182 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1191 Newsgroup description.
1194 @samp{m} if moderated.
1197 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1206 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1210 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1213 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1214 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1215 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1216 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1217 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1220 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1222 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1226 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1230 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1231 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1232 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1233 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1234 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1235 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1240 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1241 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1242 group, or a bogus native group.
1245 @node Group Modeline Specification
1246 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1247 @cindex group modeline
1249 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1250 The mode line can be changed by setting
1251 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1252 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1256 The native news server.
1258 The native select method.
1262 @node Group Highlighting
1263 @subsection Group Highlighting
1264 @cindex highlighting
1265 @cindex group highlighting
1267 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1268 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1269 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1270 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1271 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1273 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1277 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1278 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1279 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1280 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1281 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1283 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1284 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1285 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1286 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1287 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1288 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1291 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1293 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1300 The number of unread articles in the group.
1304 Whether the group is a mail group.
1306 The level of the group.
1308 The score of the group.
1310 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1312 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1313 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1315 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1316 topic being inserted.
1319 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1320 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1321 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1323 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1324 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1325 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1326 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1327 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1330 @node Group Maneuvering
1331 @section Group Maneuvering
1332 @cindex group movement
1334 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1335 expected, hopefully.
1341 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1342 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1343 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1349 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1350 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1351 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1355 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1356 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1360 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1361 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1365 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1366 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1367 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1371 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1372 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1373 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1376 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1382 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1383 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1384 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1389 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1390 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1391 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1395 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1396 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1397 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1400 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1401 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1402 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1403 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1407 @node Selecting a Group
1408 @section Selecting a Group
1409 @cindex group selection
1414 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1415 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1416 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1417 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1418 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1419 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1420 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1421 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1422 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1423 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1427 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1428 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1429 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1430 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1431 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1435 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1436 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1437 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1438 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1439 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1440 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1441 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1442 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1443 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1444 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1447 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1448 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1449 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1450 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1451 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1454 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1455 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1456 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1457 doing any processing of its contents
1458 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1459 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1460 manner will have no permanent effects.
1464 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1465 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1466 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1467 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1468 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1469 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1470 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1471 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1474 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1475 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1476 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1477 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1482 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1483 full summary buffer.
1486 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1489 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1493 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1494 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1495 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1499 @node Subscription Commands
1500 @section Subscription Commands
1501 @cindex subscription
1509 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1510 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1511 Toggle subscription to the current group
1512 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1518 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1519 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1520 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1521 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1527 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1528 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1529 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1536 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1539 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1540 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1541 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1542 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1543 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1549 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1550 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1554 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1555 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1558 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1559 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1560 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1561 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1562 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1563 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1564 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1565 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1566 @file{.newsrc} file.
1570 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1580 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1581 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1582 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1583 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1584 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1585 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1590 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1591 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1592 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1596 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1597 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1598 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1600 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1601 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1602 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1603 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1604 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1605 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1612 @section Group Levels
1616 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1617 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1618 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1619 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1620 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1622 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1628 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1629 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1630 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1631 prompted for a level.
1634 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1635 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1636 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1637 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1638 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1639 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1640 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1641 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1642 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1643 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1644 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1645 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1646 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1647 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1648 reasons of efficiency.
1650 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1651 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1653 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1654 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1655 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1657 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1658 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1659 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1660 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1661 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1662 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1663 relevant valid ranges.
1665 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1666 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1667 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1668 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1669 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1670 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1673 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1674 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1675 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1678 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1679 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1680 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1681 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1684 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1685 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1686 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1687 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1689 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1690 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1691 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1692 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1693 to 5. The default is 6.
1697 @section Group Score
1702 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1703 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1704 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1707 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1708 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1709 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1710 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1711 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1712 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1713 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1715 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1716 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1717 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1718 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1719 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1720 action after each summary exit, you can add
1721 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1722 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1723 slow things down somewhat.
1726 @node Marking Groups
1727 @section Marking Groups
1728 @cindex marking groups
1730 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1731 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1732 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1733 bidding on those groups.
1735 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1736 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1737 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1745 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1746 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1752 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1753 Remove the mark from the current group
1754 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1758 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1759 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1763 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1764 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1768 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1769 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1773 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1774 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1775 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1778 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1780 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1781 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1782 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1783 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1784 the command to be executed.
1787 @node Foreign Groups
1788 @section Foreign Groups
1789 @cindex foreign groups
1791 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1792 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1793 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1794 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1801 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1802 @cindex making groups
1803 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1804 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1805 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1809 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1810 @cindex renaming groups
1811 Rename the current group to something else
1812 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1813 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1819 @findex gnus-group-customize
1820 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1824 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1825 @cindex renaming groups
1826 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1827 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1831 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1832 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1833 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1837 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1838 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1839 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1843 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1845 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1846 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1851 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1852 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1856 @cindex (ding) archive
1857 @cindex archive group
1858 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1859 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1860 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1861 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1862 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1863 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1864 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1868 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1870 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1871 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1872 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1873 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1877 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1879 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1880 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1881 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1885 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1886 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1888 Make a group based on some file or other
1889 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1890 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1891 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1892 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1893 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1894 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1895 @xref{Document Groups}.
1899 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1904 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1905 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1906 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1907 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1908 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1909 @xref{Web Searches}.
1911 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1912 to a particular group by using a match string like
1913 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1916 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1917 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1918 This function will delete the current group
1919 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1920 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1921 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1922 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1923 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1927 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1928 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1933 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1934 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1935 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1938 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1941 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1942 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1943 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1944 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1945 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1946 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1950 @node Group Parameters
1951 @section Group Parameters
1952 @cindex group parameters
1954 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1955 Here's an example group parameter list:
1958 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1962 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
1963 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
1964 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
1965 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1967 The following group parameters can be used:
1972 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1975 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
1978 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
1979 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
1980 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
1981 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
1982 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
1984 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1985 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1986 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1987 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1988 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1989 list address instead.
1993 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
1996 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
1999 It is totally ignored
2000 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2001 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2003 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2004 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2005 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2006 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2007 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2009 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2010 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2011 sending the message.
2015 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2016 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2017 of whether it has any unread articles.
2019 @item broken-reply-to
2020 @cindex broken-reply-to
2021 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2022 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2023 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2024 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2025 broken behavior. So there!
2029 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2030 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2034 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2035 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2036 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2041 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2042 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2043 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2044 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2045 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2046 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2047 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2051 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2052 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2053 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2056 @cindex total-expire
2057 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2058 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2059 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2060 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2065 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2066 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2067 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2068 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2069 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2070 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2073 @cindex score file group parameter
2074 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2075 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2076 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2079 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2080 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2081 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2082 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2085 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2086 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2087 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2088 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2091 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2092 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2096 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2099 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2104 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2105 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2106 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2109 @item @var{(variable form)}
2110 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2111 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2112 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2113 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2114 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2115 @code{eval}ed there.
2117 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2118 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2119 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2120 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2121 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2125 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2126 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2130 @node Listing Groups
2131 @section Listing Groups
2132 @cindex group listing
2134 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2142 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2143 List all groups that have unread articles
2144 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2145 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2146 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2147 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2154 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2155 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2156 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2157 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2158 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2159 unsubscribed groups).
2163 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2164 List all unread groups on a specific level
2165 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2166 with no unread articles.
2170 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2171 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2172 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2173 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2178 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2179 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2183 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2184 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2185 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2189 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2190 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2194 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2195 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2196 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2197 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2198 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2199 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2200 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2201 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2205 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2206 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2207 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2211 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2212 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2213 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2217 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2218 @cindex visible group parameter
2219 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2220 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2221 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2222 get the same effect.
2224 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2225 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2226 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2227 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2228 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2231 @node Sorting Groups
2232 @section Sorting Groups
2233 @cindex sorting groups
2235 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2236 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2237 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2238 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2239 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2240 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2245 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2246 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2247 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2249 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2250 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2251 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2253 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2254 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2255 Sort by group level.
2257 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2258 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2259 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2261 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2262 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2263 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2264 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2266 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2267 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2268 Sort by number of unread articles.
2270 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2271 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2272 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2277 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2278 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2282 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2283 some sorting criteria:
2287 @kindex G S a (Group)
2288 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2289 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2290 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2293 @kindex G S u (Group)
2294 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2295 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2296 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2299 @kindex G S l (Group)
2300 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2301 Sort the group buffer by group level
2302 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2305 @kindex G S v (Group)
2306 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2307 Sort the group buffer by group score
2308 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2311 @kindex G S r (Group)
2312 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2313 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2314 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2317 @kindex G S m (Group)
2318 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2319 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2320 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2324 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2326 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2330 @kindex G P a (Group)
2331 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2332 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2333 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2336 @kindex G P u (Group)
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2338 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2339 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2342 @kindex G P l (Group)
2343 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2344 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2345 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2348 @kindex G P v (Group)
2349 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2350 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2351 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2354 @kindex G P r (Group)
2355 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2356 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2357 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2360 @kindex G P m (Group)
2361 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2362 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2363 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2369 @node Group Maintenance
2370 @section Group Maintenance
2371 @cindex bogus groups
2376 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2377 Find bogus groups and delete them
2378 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2382 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2383 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2384 With 1 @kbd{C-u{, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2385 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2386 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2390 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2392 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2393 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2396 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2398 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2399 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2404 @node Browse Foreign Server
2405 @section Browse Foreign Server
2406 @cindex foreign servers
2407 @cindex browsing servers
2412 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2413 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2414 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2415 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2418 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2419 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2420 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2421 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2423 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2428 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2429 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2433 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2434 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2437 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2438 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2439 Enter the current group and display the first article
2440 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2443 @kindex RET (Browse)
2444 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2445 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2449 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2450 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2451 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2457 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2458 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2462 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2463 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2464 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2469 @section Exiting Gnus
2470 @cindex exiting Gnus
2472 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2477 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2478 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2479 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2480 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2484 @findex gnus-group-exit
2485 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2486 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-quit
2491 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2492 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2495 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2496 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2497 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2498 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2499 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2504 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2505 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2506 trying to customize meta-variables.
2511 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2512 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2513 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2519 @section Group Topics
2522 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2523 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2524 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2525 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2526 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2527 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2531 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2532 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2543 2: alt.religion.emacs
2546 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2548 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2549 13: comp.sources.unix
2552 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2554 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2555 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2556 is a toggling command.)
2558 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2559 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2560 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2561 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2564 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2565 the hook for the group mode:
2568 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2572 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2573 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2574 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2575 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2576 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2580 @node Topic Variables
2581 @subsection Topic Variables
2582 @cindex topic variables
2584 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2585 really neat, I think.
2587 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2588 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2589 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2602 Number of groups in the topic.
2604 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2606 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2609 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2610 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2611 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2614 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2615 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2617 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2618 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2619 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2622 @node Topic Commands
2623 @subsection Topic Commands
2624 @cindex topic commands
2626 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2627 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2628 definitions slightly.
2634 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2635 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2636 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2640 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2641 Move the current group to some other topic
2642 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2643 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2647 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2648 Copy the current group to some other topic
2649 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2650 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2654 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2655 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2656 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2657 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2658 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2659 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2660 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2663 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2664 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2668 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2669 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2670 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2674 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2675 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2676 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2680 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2681 Toggle hiding empty topics
2682 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2686 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2687 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2688 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2691 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2692 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2693 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2694 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2698 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2700 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2701 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2702 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2703 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2704 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2705 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2709 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2711 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2712 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2713 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2714 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2717 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2718 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2719 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2720 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2724 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2725 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2726 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2730 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2731 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2732 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2737 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2738 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2741 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2742 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2743 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2747 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2748 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2753 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2754 @cindex group parameters
2755 @cindex topic parameters
2757 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2758 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2764 @subsection Topic Sorting
2765 @cindex topic sorting
2767 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2773 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2774 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2775 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2776 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2779 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2780 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2781 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2782 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2785 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2786 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2787 Sort the current topic by group level
2788 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2791 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2792 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2793 Sort the current topic by group score
2794 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2797 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2798 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2799 Sort the current topic by group rank
2800 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2803 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2804 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2805 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2806 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2810 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2813 @node Topic Topology
2814 @subsection Topic Topology
2815 @cindex topic topology
2818 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2824 2: alt.religion.emacs
2827 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2829 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2830 13: comp.sources.unix
2833 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2834 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2835 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2840 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2841 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2845 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2846 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2847 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2848 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2849 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2850 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2852 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2853 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2854 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2857 @node Topic Parameters
2858 @subsection Topic Parameters
2859 @cindex topic parameters
2861 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2862 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2863 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2865 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2866 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2867 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2868 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2874 2: alt.religion.emacs
2878 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2880 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2881 13: comp.sources.unix
2885 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2886 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2887 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2888 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2889 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2890 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2892 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2893 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2894 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2895 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2896 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2898 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2899 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2900 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2901 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2902 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2903 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2904 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2905 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2908 @node Misc Group Stuff
2909 @section Misc Group Stuff
2912 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2913 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2914 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2915 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2922 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2923 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2924 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2928 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2929 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2930 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2934 @findex gnus-group-mail
2935 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2939 Variables for the group buffer:
2943 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2944 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2945 is called after the group buffer has been
2948 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2949 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2950 is called after the group buffer is
2951 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2954 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2955 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2956 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2957 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2959 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2960 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2961 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2962 whether they are empty or not.
2967 @node Scanning New Messages
2968 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2969 @cindex new messages
2970 @cindex scanning new news
2976 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2977 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
2978 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2979 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2980 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2981 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
2986 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2987 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2988 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
2989 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2990 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2991 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2992 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2994 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2995 @cindex activating groups
2997 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2998 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3003 @findex gnus-group-restart
3004 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3005 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3006 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3010 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3011 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3013 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3014 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3018 @node Group Information
3019 @subsection Group Information
3020 @cindex group information
3021 @cindex information on groups
3028 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3029 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3032 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3033 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3034 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3035 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3036 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3037 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3038 for fetching the file.
3040 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3041 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3045 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3047 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3048 @cindex describing groups
3049 @cindex group description
3050 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3051 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3052 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3056 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3057 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3058 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3065 @findex gnus-version
3066 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3070 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3071 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3074 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3077 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3078 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3082 @node Group Timestamp
3083 @subsection Group Timestamp
3085 @cindex group timestamps
3087 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3088 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3089 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3092 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3095 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3097 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3098 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3101 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3102 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3105 This will result in lines looking like:
3108 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3109 0: custom 19961002T012713
3112 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3113 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3117 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3118 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3123 @subsection File Commands
3124 @cindex file commands
3130 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3131 @vindex gnus-init-file
3132 @cindex reading init file
3133 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3134 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3138 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3139 @cindex saving .newsrc
3140 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3141 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3142 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3145 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3146 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3147 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3152 @node The Summary Buffer
3153 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3154 @cindex summary buffer
3156 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3157 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3159 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3160 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3162 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3165 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3166 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3167 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3168 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3169 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3170 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3171 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3172 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3173 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3174 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3175 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3176 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3177 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3178 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3179 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3180 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3181 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3182 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3183 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3184 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3185 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3186 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3187 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3188 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3189 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3190 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3191 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3195 @node Summary Buffer Format
3196 @section Summary Buffer Format
3197 @cindex summary buffer format
3201 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3202 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3203 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3209 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3210 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3211 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3214 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3215 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3216 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3217 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3218 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3219 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3220 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3221 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3222 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3223 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3224 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3226 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3227 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3228 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3229 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3232 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3233 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3235 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3236 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3237 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3238 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3239 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3241 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3243 The following format specification characters are understood:
3251 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3252 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3253 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3255 Full @code{From} header.
3257 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3259 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3260 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3261 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3262 may be more thorough.
3264 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3267 Number of lines in the article.
3269 Number of characters in the article.
3271 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3273 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3274 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3276 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3277 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3279 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3280 for adopted articles.
3282 One space for each thread level.
3284 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3289 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3290 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3294 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3296 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3297 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3298 default level. If the difference between
3299 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3300 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3308 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3310 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3316 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3317 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3319 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3320 article has any children.
3326 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3327 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3328 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3329 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3330 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3331 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3334 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3335 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3336 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3337 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3338 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3339 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3341 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3342 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3344 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3347 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3348 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3350 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3351 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3352 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3353 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3355 Here are the elements you can play with:
3361 Unprefixed group name.
3363 Current article number.
3365 Current article score.
3369 Number of unread articles in this group.
3371 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3374 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3375 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3376 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3377 and no unselected ones.
3379 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3380 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3382 Subject of the current article.
3384 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3386 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3388 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3390 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3392 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3394 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3398 @node Summary Highlighting
3399 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3403 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3404 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3405 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3406 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3407 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3409 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3410 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3411 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3412 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3414 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3415 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3416 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3417 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3419 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3420 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3421 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3422 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3423 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3424 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3426 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3427 ((> score default) . bold))
3429 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3430 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3434 @node Summary Maneuvering
3435 @section Summary Maneuvering
3436 @cindex summary movement
3438 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3439 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3441 None of these commands select articles.
3446 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3447 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3448 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3449 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3450 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3454 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3455 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3456 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3457 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3458 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3463 @kindex G j (Summary)
3464 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3465 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3466 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3469 @kindex G g (Summary)
3470 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3471 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3472 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3475 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3476 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3477 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3478 to the group buffer.
3480 Variables related to summary movement:
3484 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3485 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3486 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3487 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3488 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3489 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3490 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3491 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3492 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3493 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3494 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3495 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3496 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3497 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3499 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3500 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3501 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3502 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3503 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3504 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3505 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3507 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3509 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3510 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3511 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3512 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3513 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3515 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3516 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3517 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3518 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3519 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3520 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3521 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3522 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3528 @node Choosing Articles
3529 @section Choosing Articles
3530 @cindex selecting articles
3533 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3534 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3538 @node Choosing Commands
3539 @subsection Choosing Commands
3541 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3542 and they all select and display an article.
3546 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3547 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3548 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3549 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3554 @kindex G n (Summary)
3555 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3556 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3557 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3562 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3563 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3564 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3569 @kindex G N (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3571 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3576 @kindex G P (Summary)
3577 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3578 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3581 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3582 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3583 Go to the next article with the same subject
3584 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3587 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3588 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3589 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3590 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3594 @kindex G f (Summary)
3596 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3597 Go to the first unread article
3598 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3602 @kindex G b (Summary)
3604 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3605 Go to the article with the highest score
3606 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3611 @kindex G l (Summary)
3612 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3613 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3616 @kindex G o (Summary)
3617 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3619 @cindex article history
3620 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3621 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3622 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3623 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3624 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3625 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3629 @node Choosing Variables
3630 @subsection Choosing Variables
3632 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3635 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3636 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3637 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3638 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3639 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3640 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3642 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3643 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3644 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3645 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3647 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3648 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3649 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3650 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3651 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3652 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3653 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3654 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3655 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3656 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3657 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3658 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3659 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3660 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3665 @node Paging the Article
3666 @section Scrolling the Article
3667 @cindex article scrolling
3672 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3673 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3674 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3675 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3676 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3679 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3680 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3681 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3684 @kindex RET (Summary)
3685 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3686 Scroll the current article one line forward
3687 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3691 @kindex A g (Summary)
3693 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3694 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3695 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3696 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3697 the way it came from the server.
3702 @kindex A < (Summary)
3703 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3704 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3705 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3710 @kindex A > (Summary)
3711 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3712 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3716 @kindex A s (Summary)
3718 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3719 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3720 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3724 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3725 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3730 @node Reply Followup and Post
3731 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3734 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3735 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3739 @node Summary Mail Commands
3740 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3742 @cindex composing mail
3744 Commands for composing a mail message:
3750 @kindex S r (Summary)
3752 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3753 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3754 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3755 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3756 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3761 @kindex S R (Summary)
3762 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3763 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3764 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3765 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3766 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3769 @kindex S w (Summary)
3770 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3771 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3772 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3773 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3774 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3777 @kindex S W (Summary)
3778 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3779 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3780 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3781 the process/prefix convention.
3784 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3785 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3786 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3787 Forward the current article to some other person
3788 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3789 headers of the forwarded article.
3794 @kindex S m (Summary)
3795 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3796 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3797 Send a mail to some other person
3798 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3801 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3802 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3803 @cindex bouncing mail
3804 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3805 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3806 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3807 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3808 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3809 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3810 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3811 very well fail, though.
3814 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3815 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3816 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3817 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3818 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3819 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3820 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3821 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3822 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3823 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3825 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3826 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3827 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3828 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3829 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3831 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3832 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3835 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3836 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3837 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3838 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3839 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3842 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3843 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3844 @cindex crossposting
3845 @cindex excessive crossposting
3846 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3847 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3849 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3850 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3851 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3852 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3853 command understands the process/prefix convention
3854 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3858 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3861 @node Summary Post Commands
3862 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3864 @cindex composing news
3866 Commands for posting a news article:
3872 @kindex S p (Summary)
3873 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3874 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3875 Post an article to the current group
3876 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3881 @kindex S f (Summary)
3882 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3883 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3884 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3888 @kindex S F (Summary)
3890 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3891 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3892 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3893 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3894 process/prefix convention.
3897 @kindex S n (Summary)
3898 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3899 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3900 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3903 @kindex S N (Summary)
3904 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
3905 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3906 message through mail and include the original message
3907 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3908 the process/prefix convention.
3911 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3912 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3913 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3914 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3915 headers of the forwarded article.
3918 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3919 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3921 @cindex making digests
3922 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3923 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3924 process/prefix convention.
3927 @kindex S u (Summary)
3928 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3929 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3930 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3931 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3934 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3937 @node Canceling and Superseding
3938 @section Canceling Articles
3939 @cindex canceling articles
3940 @cindex superseding articles
3942 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3943 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3945 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3947 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3949 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3950 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3951 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3952 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3953 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3954 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3956 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3957 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3960 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
3961 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
3962 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
3964 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3965 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3966 your original article.
3968 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3970 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3971 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3972 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3975 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3976 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3977 have posted almost the same article twice.
3979 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3980 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3981 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3982 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3983 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3984 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3985 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3986 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3987 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3988 canceled/superseded.
3990 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3993 @node Marking Articles
3994 @section Marking Articles
3995 @cindex article marking
3996 @cindex article ticking
3999 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4001 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4002 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4003 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4005 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4008 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4009 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4010 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4014 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4018 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4019 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4023 @node Unread Articles
4024 @subsection Unread Articles
4026 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4031 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4032 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4034 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4035 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4036 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4037 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4038 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4042 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4043 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4045 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4046 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4047 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4050 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4051 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4053 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4058 @subsection Read Articles
4059 @cindex expirable mark
4061 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4066 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4067 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4068 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4071 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4072 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4075 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4076 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4077 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4080 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4081 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4084 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4085 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4088 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4089 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4092 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4093 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4096 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4097 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4100 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4101 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4104 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4105 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4109 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4110 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4111 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4115 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4116 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4118 One more special mark, though:
4122 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4123 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4125 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4126 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4127 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4128 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4134 @subsection Other Marks
4135 @cindex process mark
4138 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4144 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4145 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4146 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4147 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4148 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4151 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4152 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4153 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4154 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4157 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4158 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4159 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4162 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4163 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4164 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4165 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4168 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4169 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4170 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4171 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4172 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4175 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4176 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4177 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4178 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4179 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4180 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4184 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4185 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4186 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4188 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4189 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4190 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4194 @subsection Setting Marks
4195 @cindex setting marks
4197 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4202 @kindex M c (Summary)
4203 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4204 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4205 @cindex mark as unread
4206 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4207 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4213 @kindex M t (Summary)
4214 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4215 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4216 @xref{Article Caching}
4221 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4222 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4223 Mark the current article as dormant
4224 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4228 @kindex M d (Summary)
4230 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4231 Mark the current article as read
4232 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4236 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4237 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4238 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4243 @kindex M k (Summary)
4244 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4245 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4246 and then select the next unread article
4247 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4251 @kindex M K (Summary)
4252 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4253 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4254 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4255 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4258 @kindex M C (Summary)
4259 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4260 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4261 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4264 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4265 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4266 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4267 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4270 @kindex M H (Summary)
4271 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4272 Catchup the current group to point
4273 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4276 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4277 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4278 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4279 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4282 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4283 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4284 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4285 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4289 @kindex M e (Summary)
4291 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4292 Mark the current article as expirable
4293 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4296 @kindex M b (Summary)
4297 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4298 Set a bookmark in the current article
4299 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4302 @kindex M B (Summary)
4303 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4304 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4305 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4308 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4309 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4310 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4311 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4314 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4315 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4316 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4317 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4320 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4321 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4322 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4323 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4324 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4327 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4328 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4329 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4330 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4331 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4332 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4333 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4334 The default is @code{t}.
4337 @node Setting Process Marks
4338 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4339 @cindex setting process marks
4346 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4347 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4348 Mark the current article with the process mark
4349 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4350 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4354 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4355 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4356 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4357 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4360 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4361 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4362 Remove the process mark from all articles
4363 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4366 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4367 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4368 Invert the list of process marked articles
4369 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4372 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4373 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4374 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4375 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4378 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4379 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4380 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4383 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4384 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4385 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4386 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4389 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4390 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4391 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4392 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4395 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4396 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4397 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4398 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4401 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4402 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4403 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4406 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4408 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4409 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4412 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4414 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4417 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4419 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4420 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4423 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4424 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4425 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4426 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4429 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4430 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4431 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4432 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4435 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4437 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4438 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4447 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4448 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4449 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4452 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4453 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4454 additional articles.
4460 @kindex / / (Summary)
4461 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4462 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4463 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4466 @kindex / a (Summary)
4467 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4468 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4469 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4473 @kindex / u (Summary)
4475 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4476 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4477 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4478 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4479 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4482 @kindex / m (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4484 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4485 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4488 @kindex / t (Summary)
4489 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4490 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4491 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4492 articles younger than that number of days.
4495 @kindex / n (Summary)
4496 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4497 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4498 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4499 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4502 @kindex / w (Summary)
4503 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4504 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4505 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4509 @kindex / v (Summary)
4510 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4511 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4512 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4516 @kindex M S (Summary)
4517 @kindex / E (Summary)
4518 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4519 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4520 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4523 @kindex / D (Summary)
4524 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4525 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4526 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4529 @kindex / * (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4531 Include all cached articles in the limit
4532 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4535 @kindex / d (Summary)
4536 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4537 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4538 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4541 @kindex / T (Summary)
4542 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4543 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4546 @kindex / c (Summary)
4547 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4548 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4549 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4552 @kindex / C (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4554 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4555 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4556 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4564 @cindex article threading
4566 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4567 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4568 hierarchical fashion.
4570 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4571 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4572 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4573 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4574 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4575 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4576 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4578 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4582 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4585 A tree-like article structure.
4588 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4591 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4592 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4593 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4594 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4595 called loose threads.
4597 @item thread gathering
4598 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4600 @item sparse threads
4601 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4602 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4608 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4609 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4613 @node Customizing Threading
4614 @subsection Customizing Threading
4615 @cindex customizing threading
4618 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4619 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4620 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4621 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4626 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4629 @cindex loose threads
4632 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4633 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4634 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4635 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4636 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4637 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4639 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4640 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4641 There are four possible values:
4645 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4646 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4647 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4648 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4649 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4654 @cindex adopting articles
4659 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4660 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4661 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4662 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4665 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4666 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4667 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4668 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4669 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4670 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4671 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4674 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4675 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4676 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4680 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4681 display them after one another.
4684 Don't gather loose threads.
4687 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4688 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4689 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4690 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4691 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4692 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4693 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4694 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4695 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4696 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4697 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4699 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4700 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4701 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4704 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4705 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4706 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4707 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4708 simplification is used.
4710 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4711 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4712 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4713 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4715 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4717 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4723 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4724 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4725 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4726 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4731 (mapconcat 'identity
4732 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4734 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4737 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4740 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4741 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4742 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4743 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4744 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4745 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4747 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4750 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4751 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4752 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4754 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4755 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4758 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4759 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4760 Remove excessive whitespace.
4763 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4766 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4767 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4768 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4769 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4770 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4771 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4772 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4773 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4775 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4776 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4777 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4778 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4779 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4780 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4781 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4782 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4783 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4787 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4788 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4789 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4790 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4792 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4793 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4794 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4797 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4801 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4802 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4808 @node Filling In Threads
4809 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4812 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4813 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4814 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4815 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4816 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4817 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4818 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4819 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4820 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4821 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4822 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4823 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4825 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4826 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4827 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4829 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4830 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4831 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4832 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4833 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4834 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4835 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4836 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4837 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4838 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4839 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4840 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4841 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4842 @code{nil} by default.
4847 @node More Threading
4848 @subsubsection More Threading
4851 @item gnus-show-threads
4852 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4853 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4854 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4855 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4856 slower and more awkward.
4858 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4859 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4860 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4863 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4864 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4865 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4866 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4867 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4868 threads are expunged.
4870 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4871 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4872 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4875 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4876 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4877 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4878 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4879 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4882 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4883 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4884 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4890 @node Low-Level Threading
4891 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4895 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4896 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4897 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4898 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4899 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4900 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4902 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4903 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4904 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4905 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4906 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4907 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4908 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4909 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4910 meaningful. Here's one example:
4913 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4915 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4916 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4918 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4920 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4927 @node Thread Commands
4928 @subsection Thread Commands
4929 @cindex thread commands
4935 @kindex T k (Summary)
4936 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4937 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4938 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4939 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4940 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4945 @kindex T l (Summary)
4946 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4947 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4948 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4949 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4952 @kindex T i (Summary)
4953 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4954 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4955 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4958 @kindex T # (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4960 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4961 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4964 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4965 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4966 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4967 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4970 @kindex T T (Summary)
4971 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4972 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4975 @kindex T s (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4977 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4981 @kindex T h (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4983 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4986 @kindex T S (Summary)
4987 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4988 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4991 @kindex T H (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4993 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4996 @kindex T t (Summary)
4997 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4998 Re-thread the current article's thread
4999 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5000 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5003 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5004 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5005 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5006 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5010 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5011 understand the numeric prefix.
5016 @kindex T n (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5018 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5021 @kindex T p (Summary)
5022 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5023 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5026 @kindex T d (Summary)
5027 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5028 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5031 @kindex T u (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5033 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5036 @kindex T o (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5038 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5041 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5042 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5043 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5044 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5045 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5046 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5047 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5048 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5049 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5050 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5051 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5052 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5059 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5060 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5061 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5062 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5063 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5064 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5065 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5066 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5067 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5068 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5069 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5070 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5071 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5072 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5074 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5075 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5076 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5077 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5078 in the list. You should probably always include
5079 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5080 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5081 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5082 ascending article order.
5084 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5085 number, you could do something like:
5088 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5089 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5090 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5091 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5094 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5095 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5096 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5097 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5098 which the articles arrived.
5100 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5104 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5106 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5107 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5110 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5111 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5112 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5113 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5116 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5117 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5118 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5119 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5120 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5121 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5122 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5123 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5124 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5125 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5126 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5127 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5128 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5130 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5134 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5135 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5136 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5141 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5142 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5143 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5144 @cindex article pre-fetch
5147 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5148 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5149 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5150 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5151 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5153 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5154 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5156 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5157 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5158 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5159 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5160 connection is blocked.
5162 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5163 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5164 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5165 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5167 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5168 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5169 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5170 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5173 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5176 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5177 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5178 happen automatically.
5180 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5181 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5182 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5183 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5184 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5185 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5186 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5188 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5189 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5190 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5191 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5192 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5193 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5194 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5195 data structure as the only parameter.
5197 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5200 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5201 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5202 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5203 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5206 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5209 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5210 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5211 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5213 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5214 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5215 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5216 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5220 Remove articles when they are read.
5223 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5226 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5228 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5229 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5230 from the next group.
5233 @node Article Caching
5234 @section Article Caching
5235 @cindex article caching
5238 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5239 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5240 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5241 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5242 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5244 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5246 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5247 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5248 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5249 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5250 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5251 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5252 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5253 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5255 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5256 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5257 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5258 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5259 as dormant, and don't worry.
5261 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5263 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5264 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5265 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5266 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5267 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5268 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5269 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5270 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5271 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5272 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5274 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5275 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5276 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5277 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5278 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5279 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5280 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5281 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5282 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5283 not then be downloaded by this command.
5285 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5286 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
5287 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5288 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5289 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
5290 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
5291 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
5294 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5295 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5296 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5297 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5298 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5299 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5300 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5301 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5302 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5306 @node Persistent Articles
5307 @section Persistent Articles
5308 @cindex persistent articles
5310 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5311 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5312 useful in my opinion.
5314 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5315 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5316 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5317 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5318 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5319 the expiry going on at the news server.
5321 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5322 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5323 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5329 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5330 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5333 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5335 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5336 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5340 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5342 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5343 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5344 interested in persistent articles:
5347 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5351 @node Article Backlog
5352 @section Article Backlog
5354 @cindex article backlog
5356 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5357 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5358 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5359 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5360 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5361 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5362 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5363 increase memory usage some.
5365 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5366 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5367 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5368 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5369 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5370 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5371 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5373 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5376 @node Saving Articles
5377 @section Saving Articles
5378 @cindex saving articles
5380 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5381 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5382 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5383 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5384 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5386 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5387 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5388 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5390 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5391 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5392 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5393 deleted before saving.
5399 @kindex O o (Summary)
5401 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5402 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5403 Save the current article using the default article saver
5404 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5407 @kindex O m (Summary)
5408 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5409 Save the current article in mail format
5410 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5413 @kindex O r (Summary)
5414 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5415 Save the current article in rmail format
5416 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5419 @kindex O f (Summary)
5420 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5421 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5422 Save the current article in plain file format
5423 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5426 @kindex O F (Summary)
5427 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5428 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5429 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5432 @kindex O b (Summary)
5433 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5434 Save the current article body in plain file format
5435 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5438 @kindex O h (Summary)
5439 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5440 Save the current article in mh folder format
5441 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5444 @kindex O v (Summary)
5445 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5446 Save the current article in a VM folder
5447 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5450 @kindex O p (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5452 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5453 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5456 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5457 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5458 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5459 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5460 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5461 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5462 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5463 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5464 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5465 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5466 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5467 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5471 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5472 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5473 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5474 functions below, or you can create your own.
5478 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5479 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5480 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5481 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5482 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5483 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5484 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5486 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5487 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5488 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5489 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5490 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5491 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5493 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5494 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5495 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5496 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5497 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5498 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5499 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5501 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5502 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5503 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5504 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5505 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5507 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5508 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5509 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5510 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5511 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5514 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5515 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5516 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5517 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5518 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5520 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5521 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5522 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5523 reader to use this setting.
5526 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5527 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5528 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5529 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5532 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5533 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5534 available functions that generate names:
5538 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5539 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5540 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5542 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5543 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5544 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5546 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5547 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5548 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5550 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5551 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5552 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5555 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5556 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5557 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5558 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5559 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5563 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5564 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5565 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5566 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5569 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5570 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5571 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5572 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5573 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5574 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5575 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5576 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5577 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5579 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5580 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5581 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5582 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5584 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5585 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5586 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5589 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5590 lots of mail groups called things like
5591 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5592 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5593 following will do just that:
5596 (defun my-save-name (group)
5597 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5598 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5600 (setq gnus-split-methods
5601 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5606 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5607 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5608 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5609 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5610 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5611 all the files in the top level directory
5612 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5613 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5614 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5615 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5617 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5618 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5619 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5620 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5621 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5624 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5628 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5629 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5632 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5633 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5634 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5635 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5638 @node Decoding Articles
5639 @section Decoding Articles
5640 @cindex decoding articles
5642 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5643 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5646 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5647 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5648 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5649 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5650 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5651 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5655 @cindex article series
5656 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5657 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5658 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5659 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5660 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5662 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5663 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5664 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5666 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5667 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5668 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5670 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5671 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5672 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5675 @node Uuencoded Articles
5676 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5678 @cindex uuencoded articles
5683 @kindex X u (Summary)
5684 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5685 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5686 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5689 @kindex X U (Summary)
5690 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5691 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5692 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5695 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5696 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5697 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5700 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5701 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5702 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5703 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5707 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5708 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5709 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5710 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5711 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5713 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5714 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5715 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5716 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5719 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5720 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5721 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5722 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5723 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5724 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5728 @node Shell Archives
5729 @subsection Shell Archives
5731 @cindex shell archives
5732 @cindex shared articles
5734 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5735 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5736 some commands to deal with these:
5741 @kindex X s (Summary)
5742 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5743 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5746 @kindex X S (Summary)
5747 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5748 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5751 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5752 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5753 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5756 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5757 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5758 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5759 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5763 @node PostScript Files
5764 @subsection PostScript Files
5770 @kindex X p (Summary)
5771 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5772 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5775 @kindex X P (Summary)
5776 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5777 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5778 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5781 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5782 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5783 View the current PostScript series
5784 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5787 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5788 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5789 View and save the current PostScript series
5790 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5795 @subsection Other Files
5799 @kindex X o (Summary)
5800 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5801 Save the current series
5802 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5805 @kindex X b (Summary)
5806 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5807 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5808 doesn't really work yet.
5812 @node Decoding Variables
5813 @subsection Decoding Variables
5815 Adjective, not verb.
5818 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5819 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5820 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5824 @node Rule Variables
5825 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5826 @cindex rule variables
5828 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5829 variables are of the form
5832 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5839 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5840 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5842 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5843 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5846 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5847 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5850 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5851 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5852 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5853 user and default view rules.
5855 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5856 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5857 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5862 @node Other Decode Variables
5863 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5866 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5868 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5869 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5870 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5871 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5872 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5876 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5877 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5880 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5881 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5882 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5885 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5886 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5887 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5888 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5889 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5892 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5893 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5894 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5896 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5897 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5898 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5899 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5900 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5903 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5904 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5905 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5907 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5908 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5909 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5910 looking for files to display.
5912 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5913 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5914 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5917 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5918 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5919 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5922 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5923 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5924 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5927 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5928 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5929 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5932 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5933 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5934 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5935 decoded articles as unread.
5937 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5938 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5939 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5940 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5942 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5943 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5944 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5946 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5947 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5949 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5950 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5951 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5952 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5954 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5955 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5956 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5957 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5958 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5959 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5960 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5961 simply dropped them.
5966 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5967 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5971 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5972 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5973 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5974 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5975 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5976 for you when you post the article.
5978 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5979 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5980 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5981 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5983 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5984 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5985 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5986 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
5987 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5988 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5989 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5991 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5992 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5993 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5994 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5995 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5996 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5997 Default is @code{t}.
6003 @subsection Viewing Files
6004 @cindex viewing files
6005 @cindex pseudo-articles
6007 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6008 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6009 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6010 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6011 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6012 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6013 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6015 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6016 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6017 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6018 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6020 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6021 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6022 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6024 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6025 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6026 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6027 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6028 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6030 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6031 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6032 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6033 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6034 a list of parameters to that command.
6036 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6037 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6038 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6040 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6041 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6042 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6045 @node Article Treatment
6046 @section Article Treatment
6048 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6049 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6050 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6051 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6052 these articles easier.
6055 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6056 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6057 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6058 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6059 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6060 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6061 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6065 @node Article Highlighting
6066 @subsection Article Highlighting
6067 @cindex highlighting
6069 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6070 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6075 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6076 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6077 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6078 Do much highlighting of the current article
6079 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6080 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6082 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6083 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6084 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6085 signature and adds buttons.
6088 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6089 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6090 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6091 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6092 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6093 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6094 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6095 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6096 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6097 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6098 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6101 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6102 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6103 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6105 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6108 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6110 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6111 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6112 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6114 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6115 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6116 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6118 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6119 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6120 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6122 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6123 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6124 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6125 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6126 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6127 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6129 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6130 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6131 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6133 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6134 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6135 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6137 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6138 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6139 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6140 that it's a citation.
6142 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6143 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6144 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6146 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6147 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6148 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6150 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6151 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6152 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6153 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6159 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6160 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6161 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6162 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6163 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6164 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6165 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6166 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6171 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6174 @node Article Fontisizing
6175 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6177 @cindex article emphasis
6179 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6180 @kindex W e (Summary)
6181 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6182 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6183 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6184 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6186 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6187 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6188 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6189 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6190 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6191 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6192 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6193 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6197 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6198 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6199 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6202 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6203 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6204 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6205 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6206 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6207 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6208 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6209 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6210 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6211 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6212 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6213 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6214 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6216 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6217 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6218 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6222 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6225 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6228 @node Article Hiding
6229 @subsection Article Hiding
6230 @cindex article hiding
6232 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6233 too much cruft in most articles.
6238 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-article-hide
6240 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6241 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6242 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6245 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6246 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6247 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6251 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6252 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6253 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6254 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6257 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6259 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6263 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6264 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6265 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6266 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6267 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6268 signature has been hidden.
6271 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6272 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6273 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6274 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6277 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6278 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6279 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6280 customizing the hiding:
6284 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6285 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6286 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6287 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6288 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6289 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6290 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6295 Start point of the hidden text.
6297 End point of the hidden text.
6299 Length of the hidden text.
6302 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6303 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6304 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6309 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6310 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6312 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6313 following two variables:
6316 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6317 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6318 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6319 50), hide the cited text.
6321 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6322 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6323 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6328 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6329 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6330 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6331 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6332 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6333 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6337 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6338 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6339 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6341 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6342 citation customization.
6344 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6348 @node Article Washing
6349 @subsection Article Washing
6351 @cindex article washing
6353 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6354 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6356 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6357 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6363 @kindex W l (Summary)
6364 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6365 Remove page breaks from the current article
6366 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6370 @kindex W r (Summary)
6371 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6372 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6373 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6374 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6375 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6376 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6378 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6379 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6380 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6381 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6384 @kindex W t (Summary)
6385 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6386 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6387 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6390 @kindex W v (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6392 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6393 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6396 @kindex W m (Summary)
6397 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6398 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6399 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6402 @kindex W o (Summary)
6403 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6404 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6407 @kindex W d (Summary)
6408 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6409 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6412 @kindex W w (Summary)
6413 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6414 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6415 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6416 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6418 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6422 @kindex W c (Summary)
6423 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6424 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6425 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6428 @kindex W q (Summary)
6429 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6430 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6431 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6432 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6433 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6437 @kindex W f (Summary)
6439 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6440 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6441 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6442 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6448 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6449 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6450 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6451 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6452 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6453 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6454 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6455 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6456 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6457 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6458 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6459 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6460 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6461 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6465 @kindex W b (Summary)
6466 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6467 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6468 @xref{Article Buttons}
6471 @kindex W B (Summary)
6472 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6473 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6474 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6477 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6478 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6479 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6480 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6483 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6484 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6485 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6486 lines with a single empty line.
6487 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6490 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6491 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6492 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6493 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6496 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6498 Do all the three commands above
6499 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6502 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6503 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6504 Remove all blank lines
6505 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6508 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6510 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6511 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6515 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6518 @node Article Buttons
6519 @subsection Article Buttons
6522 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6523 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6524 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6525 button on these references.
6527 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6528 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6529 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6534 @item gnus-button-alist
6535 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6536 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6539 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6545 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6546 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6547 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6550 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6551 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6552 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6555 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6556 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6557 avoid false matches.
6560 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6563 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6564 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6568 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6571 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6574 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6575 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6576 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6577 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6578 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6581 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6584 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6586 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6587 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6588 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6589 default values of the variables above.
6591 @item gnus-article-button-face
6592 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6593 Face used on buttons.
6595 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6596 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6597 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6601 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6605 @subsection Article Date
6607 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6608 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6609 when the article was sent.
6614 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6615 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6616 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6617 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6620 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6621 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6623 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6624 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6627 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6628 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6629 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6632 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6633 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6634 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6635 @findex format-time-string
6636 Display the date using a user-defined format
6637 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6638 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6639 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6640 for a list of possible format specs.
6643 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6644 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6645 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6646 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6647 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6648 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6649 updated continually, you can put
6652 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6655 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6656 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6660 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6662 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6663 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6664 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6665 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6666 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6670 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6671 preferred format automatically.
6674 @node Article Signature
6675 @subsection Article Signature
6677 @cindex article signature
6679 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6680 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6681 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6682 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6683 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6684 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6685 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6686 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6687 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6690 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6691 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6692 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6693 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6694 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6695 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6696 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6697 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6700 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6703 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6704 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6709 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6712 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6715 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6716 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6718 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6719 in question is not a signature.
6722 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6723 listed above. Here's an example:
6726 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6727 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6730 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6731 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6732 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6733 signature after all.
6736 @node Article Commands
6737 @section Article Commands
6744 @kindex A P (Summary)
6745 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6746 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6747 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6748 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6749 run just before printing the buffer.
6754 @node Summary Sorting
6755 @section Summary Sorting
6756 @cindex summary sorting
6758 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6759 can't really see why you'd want that.
6764 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6765 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6766 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6769 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6770 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6771 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6774 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6775 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6776 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6779 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6781 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6784 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6785 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6786 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6789 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6790 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6791 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6794 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6795 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6796 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6797 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6798 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6802 @node Finding the Parent
6803 @section Finding the Parent
6804 @cindex parent articles
6805 @cindex referring articles
6810 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6811 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6812 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6813 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6814 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6815 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6816 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6817 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6818 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6820 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6821 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6822 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6823 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6824 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6828 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6829 @kindex A R (Summary)
6830 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6831 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6834 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6835 @kindex A T (Summary)
6836 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6837 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6838 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6839 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6840 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6841 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6842 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6844 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6845 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6846 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6847 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6848 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6849 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6852 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6853 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6855 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6856 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6857 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6858 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6859 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6860 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6861 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6864 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6865 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6866 by giving this command a prefix.
6868 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6869 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6870 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6871 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6872 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6873 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6876 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6877 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6878 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6879 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6880 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6881 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6884 @node Alternative Approaches
6885 @section Alternative Approaches
6887 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6888 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6891 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6892 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6897 @subsection Pick and Read
6898 @cindex pick and read
6900 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6901 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6902 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6903 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6905 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6906 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6907 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6908 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6909 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6910 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6912 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6917 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
6918 Pick the article or thread on the current line
6919 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
6920 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
6921 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
6922 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
6923 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
6924 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6927 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6928 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6929 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6930 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6934 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
6935 Unpick the thread or article
6936 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
6937 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
6938 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
6939 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
6940 the thread or article at that line.
6944 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6945 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6946 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6947 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6948 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6949 will still be visible when you are reading.
6953 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
6954 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
6955 which is mapped to the same function
6956 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
6958 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6961 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6964 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6965 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6967 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6968 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6969 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6971 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6972 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
6973 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6974 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6975 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6976 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6977 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6981 @subsection Binary Groups
6982 @cindex binary groups
6984 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6985 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6986 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6987 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6988 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6989 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6990 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6993 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6994 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
6995 command, when you have turned on this mode
6996 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6998 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6999 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7003 @section Tree Display
7006 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7007 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7008 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7009 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7012 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7015 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7016 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7017 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7019 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7020 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7021 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7022 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7023 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7025 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7026 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7027 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7028 default is @code{modeline}.
7030 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7031 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7032 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7033 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7034 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7035 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7036 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7042 The name of the poster.
7044 The @code{From} header.
7046 The number of the article.
7048 The opening bracket.
7050 The closing bracket.
7055 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7057 Variables related to the display are:
7060 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7061 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7062 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7063 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7064 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7065 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7067 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7068 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7069 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7070 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7074 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7075 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7076 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7077 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7078 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7079 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7080 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7081 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7082 other windows displayed next to it.
7084 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7085 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7086 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7087 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7088 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7089 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7090 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7094 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7097 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7107 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7111 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7112 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7114 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7116 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7121 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7122 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7123 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7126 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7127 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7128 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7129 (gnus-add-configuration
7133 (summary 0.75 point)
7138 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7141 @node Mail Group Commands
7142 @section Mail Group Commands
7143 @cindex mail group commands
7145 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7146 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7148 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7149 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7154 @kindex B e (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7156 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7157 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7160 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7161 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7162 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7163 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7164 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7165 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7168 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7169 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7170 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7171 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7172 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7173 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7176 @kindex B m (Summary)
7178 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7179 Move the article from one mail group to another
7180 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7183 @kindex B c (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7186 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7187 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7188 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7191 @kindex B B (Summary)
7192 @cindex crosspost mail
7193 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7194 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7195 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7196 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7197 be properly updated.
7200 @kindex B i (Summary)
7201 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7202 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7203 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7204 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7207 @kindex B r (Summary)
7208 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7209 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7210 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7211 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7212 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7216 @kindex B w (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7219 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7220 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7221 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7222 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7223 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7226 @kindex B q (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7228 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7229 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7230 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7233 @kindex B t (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7235 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7236 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7239 @kindex B p (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7241 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7242 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7243 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7244 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7245 article from your news server (or rather, from
7246 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7247 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7248 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7249 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7250 just not have arrived yet.
7254 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7255 @cindex moving articles
7256 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7257 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7258 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7259 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7260 suggestions you find reasonable.
7263 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7264 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7265 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7266 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7270 @node Various Summary Stuff
7271 @section Various Summary Stuff
7274 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7275 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7276 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7277 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7281 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7282 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7283 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7285 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7286 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7287 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7288 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7289 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7290 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7293 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7294 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7295 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7296 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7297 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7299 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7300 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7301 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7302 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7303 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7304 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7305 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7306 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7307 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7308 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7313 @node Summary Group Information
7314 @subsection Summary Group Information
7319 @kindex H f (Summary)
7320 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7321 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7322 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7323 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7324 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7325 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7326 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7327 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7328 be used for fetching the file.
7331 @kindex H d (Summary)
7332 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7333 Give a brief description of the current group
7334 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7335 rereading the description from the server.
7338 @kindex H h (Summary)
7339 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7340 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7341 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7344 @kindex H i (Summary)
7345 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7346 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7350 @node Searching for Articles
7351 @subsection Searching for Articles
7356 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7357 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7358 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7359 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7362 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7364 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7365 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7369 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7370 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7371 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7372 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7376 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7377 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7378 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7379 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7382 @node Summary Generation Commands
7383 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7388 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7389 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7390 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7393 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7395 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7401 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7402 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7407 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7408 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7409 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7410 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7411 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7412 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7413 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7414 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7415 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7419 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7420 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7421 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7422 several documents into one biiig group
7423 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7424 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7425 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7426 command understands the process/prefix convention
7427 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7430 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7431 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7432 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7433 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7434 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7435 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7439 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7440 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7441 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7444 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7445 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7446 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7447 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7452 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7453 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7454 @cindex summary exit
7455 @cindex exiting groups
7457 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7458 group and return you to the group buffer.
7464 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7466 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7467 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7468 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7469 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7470 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7471 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7472 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7473 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7474 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7475 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7476 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7480 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7482 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7483 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7484 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7488 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7490 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7491 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7492 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7493 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7496 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7497 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7498 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7499 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7502 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7504 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7505 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7508 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7509 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7510 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7511 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7512 all articles, both read and unread.
7516 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7517 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7518 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7519 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7520 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7521 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7522 articles, both read and unread.
7525 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7526 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7527 Exit the group and go to the next group
7528 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7531 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7532 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7533 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7534 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7537 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7539 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7540 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7541 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7542 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7545 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7546 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7549 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7550 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7551 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7552 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7553 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7554 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7555 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7556 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7557 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7558 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7559 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7560 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7562 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7564 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7565 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7566 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7567 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7568 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7569 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7570 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7571 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7572 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7575 @node Crosspost Handling
7576 @section Crosspost Handling
7580 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7581 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7582 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7583 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7584 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7585 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7588 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7589 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7590 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7591 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7592 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7594 @cindex cross-posting
7597 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7598 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7599 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7600 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7601 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7602 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7603 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7604 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7605 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7606 the cross reference mechanism.
7608 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7609 @cindex overview.fmt
7610 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7611 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7612 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7613 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7614 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7615 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7618 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7619 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7620 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7625 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7628 @node Duplicate Suppression
7629 @section Duplicate Suppression
7631 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7632 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7633 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7634 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7639 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7640 is evil and not very common.
7643 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7644 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7647 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7648 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7651 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7654 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7655 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7657 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7658 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7659 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7660 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7661 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7662 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7663 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7666 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7667 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7668 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7669 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7670 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7674 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7675 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7676 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7678 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7679 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7680 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7681 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7682 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7683 session are suppressed.
7685 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7686 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7687 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7688 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7690 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7691 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7692 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7693 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7696 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7697 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7698 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7699 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7700 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7701 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7702 to you to figure out, I think.
7705 @node The Article Buffer
7706 @chapter The Article Buffer
7707 @cindex article buffer
7709 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7710 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7711 tell Gnus otherwise.
7714 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7715 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7716 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7717 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7718 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7722 @node Hiding Headers
7723 @section Hiding Headers
7724 @cindex hiding headers
7725 @cindex deleting headers
7727 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7728 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7730 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7731 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7732 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7733 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7734 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7735 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7736 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7737 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7738 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7740 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7744 @item gnus-visible-headers
7745 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7746 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7747 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7748 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7750 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7751 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7754 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7757 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7760 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7761 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7762 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7763 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7764 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7765 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7767 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7768 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7771 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7774 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7777 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7778 variable will have no effect.
7782 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7783 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7784 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7785 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7786 the headers are to be displayed.
7788 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7789 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7792 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7795 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7796 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
7798 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7799 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7800 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7801 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7802 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7803 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7804 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7805 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7806 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7808 These conditions are:
7811 Remove all empty headers.
7813 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7814 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7816 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7819 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7822 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7825 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7827 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7830 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
7833 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7834 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
7837 This is also the default value for this variable.
7841 @section Using @sc{mime}
7844 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7845 while people stand around yawning.
7847 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7848 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7850 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7851 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7852 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7854 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7855 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7856 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7857 @findex metamail-buffer
7858 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7859 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7860 default. This function calls the external @code{metamail} program to
7861 actually do the work. One common problem with this program is that is
7862 thinks that it can't display 8-bit things in the Emacs buffer. To tell
7863 it the truth, put something like the following in your
7864 @file{.bash_profile} file. (You do use @code{bash}, don't you?)
7867 export MM_CHARSET="iso-8859-1"
7870 For more information on @code{metamail}, see its manual page.
7872 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7873 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7874 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7875 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7876 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7877 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7879 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7880 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7881 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7882 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7883 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7884 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7885 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7886 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7887 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7889 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7892 @node Customizing Articles
7893 @section Customizing Articles
7894 @cindex article customization
7896 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7897 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7898 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7899 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7901 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7902 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
7903 By default this hook just contains
7904 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
7905 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
7906 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
7907 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
7908 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7909 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7910 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7911 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7912 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7914 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7915 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7916 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7917 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7918 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7921 @node Article Keymap
7922 @section Article Keymap
7924 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7925 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7926 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7927 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7930 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7935 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7936 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7937 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7940 @kindex DEL (Article)
7941 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7942 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7945 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7946 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7947 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7948 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7949 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7952 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7953 @findex gnus-article-mail
7954 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7955 given a prefix, include the mail.
7959 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7960 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7961 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7965 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7966 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7967 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7970 @kindex TAB (Article)
7971 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7972 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
7973 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7976 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7977 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7978 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
7984 @section Misc Article
7988 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7989 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7990 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7991 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7994 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7995 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7996 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7997 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7998 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7999 the contents of the article buffer.
8001 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8002 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8003 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8004 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8005 hiding headers, and the like.
8007 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8008 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8009 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8011 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8012 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8013 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8014 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8016 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8017 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8018 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8019 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8020 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8025 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8026 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8030 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8032 @item gnus-break-pages
8033 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8034 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8035 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8036 paging will not be done.
8038 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8039 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8040 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8045 @node Composing Messages
8046 @chapter Composing Messages
8047 @cindex composing messages
8050 @cindex sending mail
8055 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8056 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8057 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8058 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8059 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8060 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8061 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8064 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8065 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8066 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8067 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8068 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8069 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8070 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8071 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8074 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8075 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8081 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8084 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8085 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8086 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8087 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8089 @item gnus-add-to-list
8090 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8091 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8092 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8100 Variables for composing news articles:
8103 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8104 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8105 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8106 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8107 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8108 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8109 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8110 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8111 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8114 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8115 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8116 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8117 file. It is 1000 by default.
8122 @node Posting Server
8123 @section Posting Server
8125 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8126 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8128 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8130 @vindex gnus-post-method
8132 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8133 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8134 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8135 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8136 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8139 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8142 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8143 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8144 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8145 the ``current'' server for posting.
8147 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8148 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8150 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8151 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8154 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8155 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8156 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8161 @section Mail and Post
8163 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8167 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8168 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8169 @cindex mailing lists
8171 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8172 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8173 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8174 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8175 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8176 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8177 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8178 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8179 still a pain, though.
8183 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8184 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8185 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8188 @findex ispell-message
8190 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8194 @node Archived Messages
8195 @section Archived Messages
8196 @cindex archived messages
8197 @cindex sent messages
8199 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8200 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8201 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8202 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8205 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8206 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8207 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8211 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8212 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8213 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8214 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8217 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8218 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8219 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8220 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8223 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8224 '(nnfolder "archive"
8225 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8226 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8227 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8230 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8232 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8233 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8234 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8236 This variable can be used to do the following:
8240 Messages will be saved in that group.
8241 @item a list of strings
8242 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8243 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8244 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8246 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8251 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8253 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8256 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8258 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8261 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8263 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8264 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8265 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8266 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8271 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8272 '((if (message-news-p)
8277 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8278 messages in one file per month:
8281 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8282 '((if (message-news-p)
8284 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8285 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8288 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8289 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8291 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8292 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8293 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8294 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8295 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8296 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8297 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8298 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8299 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8300 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8302 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8303 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8304 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8305 this will disable archiving.
8308 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8309 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8310 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8311 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8312 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8315 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8316 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8317 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8320 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8321 but the latter is the preferred method.
8325 @node Posting Styles
8326 @section Posting Styles
8327 @cindex posting styles
8330 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8332 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8333 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8334 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8337 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8338 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8339 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8340 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8341 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8346 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8347 (organization "What me?"))
8349 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8350 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8351 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8354 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8355 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8356 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8357 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8358 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8359 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8360 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8361 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8363 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8364 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8365 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8366 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8367 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8368 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8371 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8372 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8373 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8374 @code{organization}, @code{address} or @code{name}. The attribute name
8375 can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as a header name,
8376 and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article.
8378 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8379 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8380 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8382 So here's a new example:
8385 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8387 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8389 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8390 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8392 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8393 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8394 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8395 (posting-from-work-p
8396 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8397 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8398 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8400 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8408 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8409 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8410 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8411 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8412 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8414 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8415 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8416 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8417 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8418 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8422 @vindex nndraft-directory
8423 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8424 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8425 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8426 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8427 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8428 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8430 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8431 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8434 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8435 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8436 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8437 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8438 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8439 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8440 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8441 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8442 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8443 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8444 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8445 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8446 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8447 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8449 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8450 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8451 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8453 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8455 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8456 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8457 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8459 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8462 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8463 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8464 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8465 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8466 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8467 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8468 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8471 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8472 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8473 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8476 @node Rejected Articles
8477 @section Rejected Articles
8478 @cindex rejected articles
8480 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8481 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8482 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8483 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8485 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8486 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8487 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8488 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8489 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8491 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8492 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8493 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8496 @node Select Methods
8497 @chapter Select Methods
8498 @cindex foreign groups
8499 @cindex select methods
8501 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8502 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8503 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8504 personal mail group.
8506 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8507 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8508 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8509 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8510 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8511 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8513 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8514 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8516 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8519 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8520 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8521 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8522 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8523 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8525 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8528 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8529 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8530 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8531 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8532 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8533 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8537 @node The Server Buffer
8538 @section The Server Buffer
8540 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8541 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8542 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8543 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8544 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8545 backend represents a virtual server.
8547 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8548 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8549 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8550 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8552 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8553 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8554 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8555 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8556 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8557 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8558 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8560 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8561 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8564 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8565 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8566 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8567 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8568 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8569 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8570 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8573 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8574 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8577 @node Server Buffer Format
8578 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8579 @cindex server buffer format
8581 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8582 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8583 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8584 variable, with some simple extensions:
8589 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8592 The name of this server.
8595 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8598 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8601 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8602 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8603 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8604 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8614 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8617 @node Server Commands
8618 @subsection Server Commands
8619 @cindex server commands
8625 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8626 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8630 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8631 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8634 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8635 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8636 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8640 @findex gnus-server-exit
8641 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8645 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8646 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8650 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8651 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8655 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8656 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8660 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8661 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8665 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8666 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8667 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8672 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8673 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8674 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8675 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8680 @node Example Methods
8681 @subsection Example Methods
8683 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8686 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8689 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8695 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8696 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8699 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8700 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8702 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8703 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8707 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8710 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8711 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8713 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8714 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8715 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8719 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8722 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8725 Here's the method for a public spool:
8729 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8730 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8733 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8734 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8735 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8736 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8737 should probably look something like this:
8741 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8742 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8743 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8744 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8745 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8748 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8749 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8750 server that would look something like this:
8754 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8755 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8756 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8757 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8758 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8759 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8762 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8763 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8764 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8765 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8768 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8769 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8771 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8772 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8774 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8775 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8776 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8778 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8780 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8781 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8782 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8783 will contain the following:
8793 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8794 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8795 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8798 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8799 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8800 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8803 @node Server Variables
8804 @subsection Server Variables
8806 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8807 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8808 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8809 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8810 won't change the "derived" variables.
8812 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8813 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8814 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8815 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8816 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8817 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8818 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8819 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8820 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8824 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8825 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8826 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8830 @node Servers and Methods
8831 @subsection Servers and Methods
8833 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8834 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8835 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8836 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8840 @node Unavailable Servers
8841 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8843 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8844 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8845 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8846 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8847 actually the case or not.
8849 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8850 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8851 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8852 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8853 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8854 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8855 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8856 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8858 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8859 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8861 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8862 with the following commands:
8868 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8869 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8870 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8874 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8875 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8876 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8880 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8881 Mark the current server as unreachable
8882 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8885 @kindex M-o (Server)
8886 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8887 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8888 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8891 @kindex M-c (Server)
8892 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8893 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8894 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8898 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8899 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8900 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8906 @section Getting News
8907 @cindex reading news
8908 @cindex news backends
8910 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8911 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8912 or it can read from a local spool.
8915 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8916 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8921 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8924 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8925 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8926 server as the, uhm, address.
8928 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8929 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8930 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8931 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8933 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8934 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8935 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8937 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8942 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8943 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8944 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8946 @cindex authentification
8947 @cindex nntp authentification
8948 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8949 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8950 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
8951 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
8952 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
8953 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
8954 present in this hook.
8956 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8957 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8958 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8959 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
8960 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8961 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
8962 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
8963 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
8964 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
8965 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
8966 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
8967 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
8971 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
8974 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
8975 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
8976 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
8977 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
8978 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
8983 Here's an example file:
8986 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
8987 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
8990 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
8991 have to be first, for instance.
8993 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
8994 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
8995 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
8996 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
8997 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
8998 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
8999 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9001 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9002 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9008 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9009 previously mentioned.
9011 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9013 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9014 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9015 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9016 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9017 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9020 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9024 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9026 The default value is
9029 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9030 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9033 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9034 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9036 @item nntp-maximum-request
9037 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9038 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9039 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9040 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9041 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9042 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9043 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9045 @c @item nntp-connection-timeout
9046 @c @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9047 @c If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9048 @c regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9049 @c responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9050 @c time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9051 @c somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9052 @c that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9053 @c connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9054 @c no timeouts are done.
9056 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9057 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9058 @c @cindex PPP connections
9059 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9060 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9061 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9062 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9063 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9064 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9065 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9066 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9067 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9068 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9070 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9071 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9072 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9073 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9076 @item nntp-server-hook
9077 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9078 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9081 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9082 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9083 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9084 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9085 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9086 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9087 functions are supplied:
9090 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9091 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9094 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9095 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9096 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9099 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9103 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9104 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9105 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9106 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9108 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9109 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9110 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9112 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9113 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9114 User name on the remote system.
9118 @item nntp-open-telnet
9119 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9120 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9122 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9125 @item nntp-telnet-command
9126 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9127 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9129 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9130 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9131 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9133 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9134 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9135 User name for log in on the remote system.
9137 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9138 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9139 Password to use when logging in.
9141 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9142 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9143 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9146 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9147 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9148 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9149 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9151 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9152 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9153 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9154 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9155 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9159 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9160 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9161 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9162 you must have SSLay installed
9163 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9164 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9165 define a server as follows:
9168 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9170 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9172 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9173 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9174 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9175 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9180 @item nntp-end-of-line
9181 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9182 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9183 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9184 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9186 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9187 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9188 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9192 @vindex nntp-address
9193 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9195 @item nntp-port-number
9196 @vindex nntp-port-number
9197 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9200 @item nntp-buggy-select
9201 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9202 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9204 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9205 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9206 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9207 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9210 @item nntp-xover-commands
9211 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9214 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9215 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9219 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9220 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9221 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9222 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9223 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9224 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9225 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9226 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9227 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9228 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9229 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9231 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9232 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9233 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9235 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9236 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9237 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9238 server closes connection.
9240 @item nntp-record-commands
9241 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9242 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9243 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9244 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9245 that doesn't seem to work.
9251 @subsection News Spool
9255 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9256 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9257 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9260 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9261 anything else) as the address.
9263 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9264 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9265 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9266 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9270 @item nnspool-inews-program
9271 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9272 Program used to post an article.
9274 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9275 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9276 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9278 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9279 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9280 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9281 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9283 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9284 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9285 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9286 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9288 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9289 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9290 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9292 @item nnspool-active-file
9293 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9294 The path to the active file.
9296 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9297 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9298 The path to the group descriptions file.
9300 @item nnspool-history-file
9301 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9302 The path to the news history file.
9304 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9305 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9306 The path to the active date file.
9308 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9309 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9310 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9313 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9314 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9316 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9317 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9318 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9324 @section Getting Mail
9325 @cindex reading mail
9328 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9332 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9333 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9334 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9335 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9336 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9337 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9338 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9339 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9340 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9341 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9342 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9346 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9347 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9349 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9350 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9351 and things will happen automatically.
9353 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9354 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9357 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9358 '((nnml "private")))
9361 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9362 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9363 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9364 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9365 like any other group.
9367 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9370 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9371 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9372 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9376 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9377 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9378 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9381 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9382 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9383 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9386 @node Splitting Mail
9387 @subsection Splitting Mail
9388 @cindex splitting mail
9389 @cindex mail splitting
9391 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9392 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9393 to be split into groups.
9396 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9397 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9398 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9402 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9403 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9404 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9405 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9406 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9407 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9408 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9411 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9414 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9415 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9416 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9417 mail belongs in that group.
9419 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9420 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9421 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9422 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9423 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9424 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9426 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9427 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9428 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9429 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9430 thinks should carry this mail message.
9432 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9433 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9434 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9435 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9437 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9438 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9439 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9440 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9441 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9443 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9446 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9447 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9448 links. If that's the case for you, set
9449 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9450 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9452 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9453 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9454 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9455 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9457 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9458 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9459 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9460 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9461 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9462 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9463 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9464 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9468 @node Mail Backend Variables
9469 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9471 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9475 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9476 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9477 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9478 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9480 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9481 @item nnmail-spool-file
9485 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9486 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9487 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9488 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9489 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9490 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9491 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9492 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9493 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9494 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9495 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9496 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9497 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9498 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9499 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9501 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9503 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9504 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9507 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9508 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9509 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9510 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9511 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9512 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9514 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9515 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9516 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9517 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9518 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9519 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9520 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9523 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9524 @item nnmail-crash-box
9525 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9526 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9527 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9530 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9531 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9532 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9533 used for, well, anything, really.
9535 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9536 @item nnmail-split-hook
9537 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9538 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9539 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9540 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9541 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9542 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9543 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9544 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9546 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9547 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9548 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9549 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9550 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9551 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9552 starting to handle the new mail) and
9553 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9554 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9555 default file modes the new mail files get:
9558 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9559 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9561 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9562 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9565 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9566 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9567 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9568 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9569 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9570 it will be used instead.
9572 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9573 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9574 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9575 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9577 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9578 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9581 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9582 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9583 @cindex incoming mail files
9584 @cindex deleting incoming files
9585 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9586 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9589 @c This is @code{nil} by
9590 @c default for reasons of security.
9592 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9593 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9594 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9595 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9596 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9599 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9601 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9602 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9603 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9604 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9605 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9606 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9607 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9609 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9610 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9612 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9614 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9615 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9616 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9617 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9618 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9623 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9624 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9625 @cindex mail splitting
9626 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9628 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9629 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9630 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9631 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9632 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9633 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9635 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9638 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9639 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9640 ;; from real errors.
9641 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9643 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9644 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9645 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9646 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9647 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9648 ;; Other mailing lists...
9649 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9650 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9652 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9653 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9657 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9658 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9659 the five possible split syntaxes:
9664 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9665 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9669 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9670 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9671 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9674 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9675 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9676 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9677 be stored in one or more groups.
9680 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9681 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9684 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9685 this message. Use with extreme caution.
9688 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9689 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9690 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9694 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
9698 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9699 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9700 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9701 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9702 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9704 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9705 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9706 are expanded as specified by the variable
9707 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9708 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9711 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9712 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9713 when all this splitting is performed.
9715 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9716 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9717 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9720 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9723 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9724 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\1}
9725 up to @samp{\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9726 groupings 1 through 9.
9729 @node Mail and Procmail
9730 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9735 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9736 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9737 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9738 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9739 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9741 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9742 something like the following:
9744 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9746 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9747 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9748 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9751 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9752 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9755 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9756 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9757 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9758 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9759 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9760 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9762 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9765 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9767 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9768 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9770 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9771 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9772 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9773 to include all your mail groups.
9775 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9776 method will be created automatically.
9778 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9779 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9780 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9781 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9782 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9783 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9784 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9785 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9787 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9788 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9789 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9790 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9791 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9793 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9794 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9795 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9796 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9797 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9798 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9800 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9801 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9802 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9803 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9804 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9807 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9808 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9809 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9810 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9811 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9815 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9816 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9818 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9819 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9820 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9823 Doing so can be quite easy.
9825 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9826 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9827 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9828 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9829 your @code{nnml} groups.
9835 Go to the group buffer.
9838 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9839 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9842 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9845 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9846 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9849 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9850 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9853 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9854 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9855 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9856 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9857 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9859 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9860 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9861 using the new mail backend.
9865 @subsection Expiring Mail
9866 @cindex article expiry
9868 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9869 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9870 different approach to mail reading.
9872 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9873 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9874 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9875 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9876 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9877 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9880 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9881 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9882 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9883 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9884 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9885 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9886 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9887 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9889 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9890 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9891 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9892 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9893 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9894 column in the summary buffer.
9896 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9897 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9898 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9899 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9902 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9904 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9905 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9906 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9909 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9910 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
9911 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9912 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9913 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9915 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9916 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9919 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9920 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9923 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9924 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9926 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9927 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9928 don't really mix very well.
9930 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9931 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9932 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9933 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9936 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9937 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9938 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9939 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9942 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9944 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9946 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9948 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9950 ((string= group "important")
9956 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9957 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9959 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9960 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
9961 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
9964 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9965 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9967 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9968 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9969 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9970 easier for procmail users.
9972 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9973 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9974 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9975 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9976 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9977 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9978 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9979 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9980 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9981 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9982 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9983 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9984 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9987 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9991 @subsection Washing Mail
9992 @cindex mail washing
9993 @cindex list server brain damage
9994 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9996 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9997 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9998 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9999 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10000 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10001 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10003 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10004 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10005 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10008 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10009 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10010 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10011 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10014 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10015 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10016 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10017 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
10020 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10021 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10022 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10023 Emacs running on MS machines.
10027 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10028 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10029 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10030 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10033 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10034 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10035 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10036 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10038 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10039 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10040 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10041 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10042 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10043 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10044 also be a list of regexp.
10046 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10047 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10050 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10051 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10054 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10055 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10056 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10060 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10061 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10062 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10066 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10067 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10068 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10075 @subsection Duplicates
10077 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10078 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10079 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10080 @cindex duplicate mails
10081 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10082 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10083 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10084 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10085 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10086 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10087 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10088 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10089 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10090 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10091 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10092 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10093 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10095 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10096 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10097 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10098 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10100 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10103 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10104 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10108 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10109 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10110 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10111 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10112 (any mail "mail.misc")
10119 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10120 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10125 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10126 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10127 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10128 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10129 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10132 @node Not Reading Mail
10133 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10135 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10136 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10137 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10139 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10140 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10142 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10143 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10144 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10145 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10146 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10147 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10148 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10149 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10150 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10151 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10152 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10154 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10155 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10159 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10160 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10162 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10163 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10164 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10167 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10168 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10169 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10170 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10171 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10175 @node Unix Mail Box
10176 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10178 @cindex unix mail box
10180 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10181 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10182 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10183 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10184 which group it belongs in.
10186 Virtual server settings:
10189 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10190 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10191 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10193 @item nnmbox-active-file
10194 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10195 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10197 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10198 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10199 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10205 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10209 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10210 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10211 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10212 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10213 article to say which group it belongs in.
10215 Virtual server settings:
10218 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10219 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10220 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10222 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10223 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10224 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10226 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10227 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10228 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10233 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10235 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10237 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10238 format. It should be used with some caution.
10240 @vindex nnml-directory
10241 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10242 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10243 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10244 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10246 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10249 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10250 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10251 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10252 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10253 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10254 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10255 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10256 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10258 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10259 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10260 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10261 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10263 Virtual server settings:
10266 @item nnml-directory
10267 @vindex nnml-directory
10268 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10270 @item nnml-active-file
10271 @vindex nnml-active-file
10272 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10274 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10275 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10276 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10279 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10280 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10281 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10283 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10284 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10285 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10287 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10288 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10289 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10291 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10292 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10293 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10297 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10298 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10299 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10300 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10301 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10302 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10303 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10308 @subsubsection MH Spool
10310 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10312 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10313 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10314 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10315 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10317 Virtual server settings:
10320 @item nnmh-directory
10321 @vindex nnmh-directory
10322 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10324 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10325 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10326 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10329 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10330 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10331 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10332 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10333 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10334 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10335 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10340 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10342 @cindex mbox folders
10343 @cindex mail folders
10345 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10346 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10347 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10350 Virtual server settings:
10353 @item nnfolder-directory
10354 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10355 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10357 @item nnfolder-active-file
10358 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10359 The name of the active file.
10361 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10362 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10363 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10365 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10366 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10367 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10370 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10371 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10372 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10373 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10374 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10375 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10378 @node Other Sources
10379 @section Other Sources
10381 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10382 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10386 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10387 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10388 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10389 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10390 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10391 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10395 @node Directory Groups
10396 @subsection Directory Groups
10398 @cindex directory groups
10400 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10401 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10404 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10405 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10406 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10407 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10409 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10410 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10411 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10412 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10413 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10415 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10417 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10418 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10419 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10420 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10423 @node Anything Groups
10424 @subsection Anything Groups
10427 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10428 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10429 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10432 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10433 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10434 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10435 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10436 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10437 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10438 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10439 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10440 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10441 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10444 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10445 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10446 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10447 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10449 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10450 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10451 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10452 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10454 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10455 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10456 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10457 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10458 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10459 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10460 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10461 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10466 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10467 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10468 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10469 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10471 @item nneething-exclude-files
10472 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10473 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10474 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10476 @item nneething-map-file
10477 @vindex nneething-map-file
10478 Name of the map files.
10482 @node Document Groups
10483 @subsection Document Groups
10485 @cindex documentation group
10488 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10489 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10496 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10501 The standard Unix mbox file.
10503 @cindex MMDF mail box
10505 The MMDF mail box format.
10508 Several news articles appended into a file.
10511 @cindex rnews batch files
10512 The rnews batch transport format.
10513 @cindex forwarded messages
10516 Forwarded articles.
10519 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10523 @cindex MIME digest
10524 @cindex 1153 digest
10525 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10526 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10527 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10529 @item standard-digest
10530 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10533 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10536 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10537 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10538 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10541 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10542 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10543 group. And that's it.
10545 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10546 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10547 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10548 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10549 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10550 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10551 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10552 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10553 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10554 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10556 Virtual server variables:
10559 @item nndoc-article-type
10560 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10561 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10562 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10563 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10564 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10567 @item nndoc-post-type
10568 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10569 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10570 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10575 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10579 @node Document Server Internals
10580 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10582 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10583 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10584 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10585 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10587 First, here's an example document type definition:
10591 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10592 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10595 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10596 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10597 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10598 types can be defined with very few settings:
10601 @item first-article
10602 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10603 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10606 @item article-begin
10607 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10608 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10610 @item head-begin-function
10611 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10614 @item nndoc-head-begin
10615 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10618 @item nndoc-head-end
10619 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10620 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10622 @item body-begin-function
10623 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10627 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10630 @item body-end-function
10631 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10635 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10638 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10639 regexp will be totally ignored.
10643 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10644 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10645 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10646 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10647 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10650 @item prepare-body-function
10651 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10652 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10653 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10655 @item article-transform-function
10656 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10657 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10658 body of the article.
10660 @item generate-head-function
10661 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10662 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10663 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10664 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10668 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10673 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10674 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10675 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10676 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10677 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10678 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10679 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10680 (subtype digest guess))
10683 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10684 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10685 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10686 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10687 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10689 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10690 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10691 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10692 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10693 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
10694 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10695 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10696 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10697 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10698 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10706 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10707 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10708 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10710 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10711 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10712 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10715 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10716 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10717 that interested in doing things properly.
10719 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10720 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10723 First some terminology:
10728 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10729 get news and/or mail from.
10732 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10733 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10736 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10740 @item message packets
10741 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10742 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10743 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10745 @item response packets
10746 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10747 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10748 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10758 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10759 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10760 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10761 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10764 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10767 You put the packet in your home directory.
10770 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10771 the native or secondary server.
10774 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10775 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10778 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10782 You transfer this packet to the server.
10785 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10788 You then repeat until you die.
10792 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10793 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10796 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10797 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10798 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10802 @node SOUP Commands
10803 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10805 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10809 @kindex G s b (Group)
10810 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10811 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10812 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10813 process/prefix convention.
10816 @kindex G s w (Group)
10817 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10818 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10821 @kindex G s s (Group)
10822 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10823 Send all replies from the replies packet
10824 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10827 @kindex G s p (Group)
10828 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10829 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10832 @kindex G s r (Group)
10833 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10834 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10837 @kindex O s (Summary)
10838 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10839 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10840 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10841 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10846 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10851 @item gnus-soup-directory
10852 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10853 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10854 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10856 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10857 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10858 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10859 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10861 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10862 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10863 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10864 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10866 @item gnus-soup-packer
10867 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10868 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10869 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10871 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10872 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10873 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10874 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10876 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10877 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10878 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10880 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10881 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10882 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10883 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10889 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10892 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10893 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10894 you can read them at leisure.
10896 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10900 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10901 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10902 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10903 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10905 @item nnsoup-directory
10906 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10907 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10908 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10910 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10911 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10912 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
10913 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10915 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10916 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10917 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10918 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10919 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10921 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10922 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10923 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
10924 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10926 @item nnsoup-active-file
10927 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10928 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10929 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10930 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10931 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10933 @item nnsoup-packer
10934 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10935 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10936 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10938 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10939 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10940 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10941 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10943 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10944 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10945 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10948 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10949 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10950 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10953 @item nnsoup-always-save
10954 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
10955 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
10961 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10963 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10964 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10965 more for that to happen.
10967 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10968 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10969 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10972 In specific, this is what it does:
10975 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10976 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10979 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10980 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10981 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10985 @subsection Web Searches
10989 @cindex InReference
10990 @cindex Usenet searches
10991 @cindex searching the Usenet
10993 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10994 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10995 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10996 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10997 searches without having to use a browser.
10999 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11000 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11001 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11002 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11003 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11005 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11006 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11007 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11008 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11009 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11010 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11011 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11012 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11013 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11014 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11017 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11018 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11019 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11020 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11021 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11022 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11024 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11025 to use @code{nnweb}.
11027 Virtual server variables:
11032 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11033 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11037 @vindex nnweb-search
11038 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11040 @item nnweb-max-hits
11041 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11042 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11045 @item nnweb-type-definition
11046 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11047 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11048 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11053 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11057 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11060 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11063 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11067 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11074 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11075 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11076 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11079 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11080 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11081 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11083 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11089 @item nngateway-address
11090 @vindex nngateway-address
11091 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11093 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11094 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11095 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11096 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11097 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11098 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11099 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11102 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11103 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11104 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11107 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11110 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11113 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11116 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11118 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11121 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11122 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11123 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11125 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11127 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11128 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11129 @code{nngateway-address}.
11134 (setq gnus-post-method
11135 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11136 (nngateway-header-transformation
11137 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11145 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11148 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11152 @node Combined Groups
11153 @section Combined Groups
11155 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11159 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11160 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11164 @node Virtual Groups
11165 @subsection Virtual Groups
11167 @cindex virtual groups
11168 @cindex merging groups
11170 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11173 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11174 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11175 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11177 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11178 regexp to match component groups.
11180 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11181 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11182 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11183 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11184 the virtual group.)
11186 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11187 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11190 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11193 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11194 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11196 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11197 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11198 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11199 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11202 "^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11205 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11206 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11207 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11209 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11210 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11211 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11212 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11213 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11215 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11216 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11217 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11219 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11220 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11221 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11222 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11223 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11224 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11225 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11226 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11227 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11228 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11229 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11232 @node Kibozed Groups
11233 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11237 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11238 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11239 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11240 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11242 @kindex G k (Group)
11243 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11246 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11247 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11248 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11249 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11251 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11252 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11253 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11255 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11256 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11257 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11258 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11259 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11260 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11261 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11262 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11264 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11265 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11266 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11267 Stranger things have happened.
11269 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11270 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11272 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11273 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11274 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11275 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11276 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11277 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11279 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11280 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11283 @node Gnus Unplugged
11284 @section Gnus Unplugged
11289 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11291 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11292 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11293 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11294 read news. Believe it or not.
11296 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11297 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11298 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11299 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11300 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11302 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11303 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11304 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11305 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11306 reading news on a machine.
11308 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11312 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11313 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11317 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11318 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11325 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11327 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11330 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11331 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11332 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11333 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11334 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11335 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11336 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11337 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11342 @subsection Agent Basics
11344 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11346 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11347 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11348 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11349 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11351 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11352 connected to the net continuously.
11354 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11355 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11357 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11362 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11363 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11364 already fetched while in this mode.
11367 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11368 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11369 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11372 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11373 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11374 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11375 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11378 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11379 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11380 then you read the news offline.
11383 And then you go to step 2.
11386 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11392 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11393 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11394 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11395 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11396 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11397 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11400 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11407 @node Agent Categories
11408 @subsection Agent Categories
11410 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11411 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11412 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11413 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11414 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11415 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11416 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11418 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11419 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11420 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11423 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11424 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11425 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11429 @node Category Syntax
11430 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11432 A category consists of two things.
11436 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11437 are eligible for downloading; and
11440 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11441 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11442 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11445 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11448 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11450 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11451 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11457 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11458 short (for some value of ``short'').
11460 Here's a more complex predicate:
11469 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11470 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11473 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11474 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11475 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11477 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11478 you want to do, you can write your own.
11482 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11483 lines; default 100.
11486 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11487 lines; default 200.
11490 True iff the article has a download score less than
11491 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11494 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11495 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11498 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11499 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11500 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11509 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11510 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11511 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11514 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11515 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11516 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11517 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11518 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11519 and @code{References}.
11522 @node The Category Buffer
11523 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11525 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11526 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11527 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11529 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11533 @kindex q (Category)
11534 @findex gnus-category-exit
11535 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11538 @kindex k (Category)
11539 @findex gnus-category-kill
11540 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11543 @kindex c (Category)
11544 @findex gnus-category-copy
11545 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11548 @kindex a (Category)
11549 @findex gnus-category-add
11550 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11553 @kindex p (Category)
11554 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11555 Edit the predicate of the current category
11556 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11559 @kindex g (Category)
11560 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11561 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11562 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11565 @kindex s (Category)
11566 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11567 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11568 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11571 @kindex l (Category)
11572 @findex gnus-category-list
11573 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11577 @node Category Variables
11578 @subsubsection Category Variables
11581 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11582 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11583 Hook run in category buffers.
11585 @item gnus-category-line-format
11586 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11587 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11588 Variables}). Valid elements are:
11592 The name of the category.
11595 The number of groups in the category.
11598 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11599 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11600 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
11602 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11603 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11604 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11606 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11607 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11608 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11610 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11611 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11612 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11615 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11616 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11617 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11623 @node Agent Commands
11624 @subsection Agent Commands
11626 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11627 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11628 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11632 * Group Agent Commands::
11633 * Summary Agent Commands::
11634 * Server Agent Commands::
11637 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11638 following incantation:
11640 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11642 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11647 @node Group Agent Commands
11648 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11652 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11653 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11654 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11655 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11658 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11659 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11660 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11663 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11664 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11665 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11666 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11669 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11670 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11671 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11672 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11675 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11676 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11677 Add the current group to an Agent category
11678 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11683 @node Summary Agent Commands
11684 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11688 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11689 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11690 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11693 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11694 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11695 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11696 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11699 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11700 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11701 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11704 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11705 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11706 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11711 @node Server Agent Commands
11712 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11716 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11717 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11718 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11719 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11722 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11723 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11724 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11725 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11731 @subsection Agent Expiry
11733 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11734 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11735 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11736 @cindex Agent expiry
11737 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11740 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11741 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11742 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11743 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11744 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11745 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11747 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11748 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11749 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11750 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11751 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11754 @node Outgoing Messages
11755 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11757 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11758 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11759 after posting, and edit them at will.
11761 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11762 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11763 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11764 messages in the draft group.
11768 @node Agent Variables
11769 @subsection Agent Variables
11772 @item gnus-agent-directory
11773 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11774 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11775 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11777 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11778 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11779 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11780 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11781 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11784 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11785 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11786 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11788 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11789 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11790 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11795 @node Example Setup
11796 @subsection Example Setup
11798 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11799 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11800 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11803 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11804 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11805 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11807 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11808 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11809 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11810 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11812 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11813 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11815 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11819 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11820 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11823 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11824 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11825 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11826 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11827 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11830 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11831 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11832 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11833 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11834 back all the killed groups.)
11836 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11837 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11838 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11841 @node Batching Agents
11842 @subsection Batching Agents
11844 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11845 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11846 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11850 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11859 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11860 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11861 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11864 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11865 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11866 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11867 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11868 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11870 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11871 before generating the summary buffer.
11873 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11874 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11875 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
11877 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
11878 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
11879 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
11880 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
11883 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
11884 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
11885 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
11886 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
11887 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
11888 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
11889 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
11890 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
11891 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
11892 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
11893 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
11894 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
11895 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
11896 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
11897 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
11898 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
11902 @node Summary Score Commands
11903 @section Summary Score Commands
11904 @cindex score commands
11906 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
11907 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
11908 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
11909 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
11910 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
11912 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
11913 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
11914 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
11915 score file the current one.
11917 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
11922 @kindex V s (Summary)
11923 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
11924 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
11927 @kindex V S (Summary)
11928 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
11929 Display the score of the current article
11930 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
11933 @kindex V t (Summary)
11934 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
11935 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
11936 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
11939 @kindex V R (Summary)
11940 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
11941 Run the current summary through the scoring process
11942 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
11943 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
11944 effect you're having.
11947 @kindex V c (Summary)
11948 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
11949 Make a different score file the current
11950 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
11953 @kindex V e (Summary)
11954 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
11955 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
11956 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
11960 @kindex V f (Summary)
11961 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
11962 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
11963 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
11966 @kindex V F (Summary)
11967 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11968 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
11969 after editing score files.
11972 @kindex V C (Summary)
11973 @findex gnus-score-customize
11974 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
11975 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
11979 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
11984 @kindex V m (Summary)
11985 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
11986 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
11987 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
11990 @kindex V x (Summary)
11991 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
11992 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
11993 expunge all articles below this score
11994 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
11997 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
11998 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12001 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12002 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12006 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12007 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12009 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12010 keys are available:
12014 Score on the author name.
12017 Score on the subject line.
12020 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12023 Score on thread---the References line.
12029 Score on the number of lines.
12032 Score on the Message-ID.
12035 Score on followups.
12045 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12046 what headers you are scoring on.
12058 Substring matching.
12061 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12090 Greater than number.
12095 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12096 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12097 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12101 Temporary score entry.
12104 Permanent score entry.
12107 Immediately scoring.
12112 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12113 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12114 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12115 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12117 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12118 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12119 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12120 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12121 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12123 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12124 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12125 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12126 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12127 current score file.
12129 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12130 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12131 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12134 @node Group Score Commands
12135 @section Group Score Commands
12136 @cindex group score commands
12138 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12143 @kindex W f (Group)
12144 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12145 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12146 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12147 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12151 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12153 @findex gnus-batch-score
12154 @cindex batch scoring
12156 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12160 @node Score Variables
12161 @section Score Variables
12162 @cindex score variables
12166 @item gnus-use-scoring
12167 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12168 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12169 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12171 @item gnus-kill-killed
12172 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12173 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12174 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12175 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12176 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12177 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12178 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12180 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12181 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12182 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12183 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12184 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12186 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12187 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12188 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12189 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12191 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12192 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12193 @cindex score cache
12194 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12195 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12196 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
12197 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12198 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12199 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12202 @item gnus-save-score
12203 @vindex gnus-save-score
12204 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12205 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12206 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12208 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12209 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12210 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12211 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12212 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12213 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12214 manually entered data.
12216 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12217 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12218 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12220 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12221 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12222 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12223 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12224 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12225 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12227 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12228 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12229 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12230 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12232 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12233 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12234 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12235 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12237 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12238 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12239 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12240 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12242 Predefined functions available are:
12245 @item gnus-score-find-single
12246 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12247 Only apply the group's own score file.
12249 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12250 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12251 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12252 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12253 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12254 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12255 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12256 then a regexp match is done.
12258 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12259 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12261 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12262 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12263 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12264 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12266 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12267 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12268 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12269 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12270 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12273 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12274 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12275 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12276 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12277 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12278 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12281 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12282 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12283 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12284 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12285 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12287 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12288 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12289 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12290 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12291 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12292 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12293 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12296 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12297 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12298 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12300 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12301 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12302 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12303 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12304 threading---according to the current value of
12305 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12306 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12307 simplified in this manner.
12312 @node Score File Format
12313 @section Score File Format
12314 @cindex score file format
12316 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12317 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12318 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12320 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12324 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12326 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12328 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12330 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12335 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12339 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12340 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12341 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12342 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12346 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12347 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12349 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12350 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12351 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12353 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12358 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12359 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12360 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12361 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12362 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12363 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12364 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12365 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12366 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12367 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12368 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12369 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12370 to articles that matches these score entries.
12372 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12373 score entry has one to four elements.
12377 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12378 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12382 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12383 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12384 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12385 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12386 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12387 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12390 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12391 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12392 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12393 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12394 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12397 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12398 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12399 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12400 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12403 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12404 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12405 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12406 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12407 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12408 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12409 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12410 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12411 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12412 instead, if you feel like.
12415 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12416 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12418 These predicates are true if
12421 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12424 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12425 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12432 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12433 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12434 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12435 it's not. I think.)
12437 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12438 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12439 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12440 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12443 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12444 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12445 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12446 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12447 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12448 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12449 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12453 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12454 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12455 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12456 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12457 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12458 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12459 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12460 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12463 @item Head, Body, All
12464 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12468 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12469 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12470 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12471 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12472 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12473 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12474 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12478 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12479 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12480 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12481 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12482 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12483 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12484 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12485 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12486 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12487 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12491 @cindex Score File Atoms
12493 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12494 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12497 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12498 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12500 @item mark-and-expunge
12501 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12502 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12505 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12506 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12507 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12508 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12509 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12512 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12513 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12516 @item exclude-files
12517 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12518 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12522 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12523 ignored when handling global score files.
12526 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12527 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12528 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12529 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12532 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12533 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12534 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12535 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12537 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12541 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12544 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12545 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12546 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12547 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12548 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12550 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12551 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12552 ordinary scoring rules.
12555 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12556 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12557 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12558 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12559 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12560 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12561 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12562 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12563 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12564 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12565 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12569 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12570 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12571 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12572 file for a number of groups.
12575 @cindex local variables
12576 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12577 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12578 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12579 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12580 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12584 @node Score File Editing
12585 @section Score File Editing
12587 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12588 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12589 with a mode for that.
12591 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12592 additional commands:
12597 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12598 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12599 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12600 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12603 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12604 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12605 Insert the current date in numerical format
12606 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12607 you were wondering.
12610 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12611 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12612 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12613 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12614 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12619 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12621 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12622 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12624 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12625 e} to begin editing score files.
12628 @node Adaptive Scoring
12629 @section Adaptive Scoring
12630 @cindex adaptive scoring
12632 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12633 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12634 stupidity, to be precise.
12636 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12637 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12638 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12639 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12640 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12641 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12642 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12643 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12644 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12646 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12647 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12648 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12649 might look something like this:
12652 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12653 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12654 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12655 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12656 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12657 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12658 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12659 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12660 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12661 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12662 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12663 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12666 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12667 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12668 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12669 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12670 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12671 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12674 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12675 will be applied to each article.
12677 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12678 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12679 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12680 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12682 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12683 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12684 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12685 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12687 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12688 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12689 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12690 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12692 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12693 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12694 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12695 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12696 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12697 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12699 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12700 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12701 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12702 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12703 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12704 aspirins afterwards.)
12706 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12707 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12708 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12710 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12711 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12712 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12714 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12715 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12716 let you use different rules in different groups.
12718 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12719 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12720 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12723 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12724 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12725 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12726 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12727 the length of the match is less than
12728 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12729 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12732 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12733 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12734 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12735 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12736 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12739 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12740 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12741 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12742 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12743 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12746 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12747 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12748 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12749 score with 30 points.
12751 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12752 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12753 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12754 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12755 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12757 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12758 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12759 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12760 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12762 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12763 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12764 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12765 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12767 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12768 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12769 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12771 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12772 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12773 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12774 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12777 @node Home Score File
12778 @section Home Score File
12780 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12781 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12782 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12783 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12785 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12786 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12787 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12789 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12790 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12795 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12799 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12800 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12804 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12808 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12809 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12812 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12813 the home score file.
12816 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12819 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12824 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12827 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12828 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12831 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12832 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12834 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
12836 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12837 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12840 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12841 Other functions include
12844 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
12845 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
12846 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
12847 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
12851 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12852 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12853 their own home score files:
12856 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12857 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12858 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12859 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12860 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
12863 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12864 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12865 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12866 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12867 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12869 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12870 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12871 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
12872 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
12873 precedence over this variable.
12876 @node Followups To Yourself
12877 @section Followups To Yourself
12879 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
12880 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
12881 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
12882 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
12883 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
12884 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
12888 @item gnus-score-followup-article
12889 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
12890 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
12893 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
12894 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
12895 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
12899 @vindex message-sent-hook
12900 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
12901 @code{message-sent-hook}.
12903 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
12904 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
12908 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12909 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12912 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
12913 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
12918 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
12922 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
12923 is system-dependent.
12927 @section Scoring Tips
12928 @cindex scoring tips
12934 @cindex scoring crossposts
12935 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
12936 the @code{Xref} header.
12938 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
12941 @item Multiple crossposts
12942 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
12943 more than, say, 3 groups:
12945 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
12948 @item Matching on the body
12949 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
12950 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
12951 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
12952 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
12953 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
12954 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
12955 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
12958 @item Marking as read
12959 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
12960 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
12961 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
12965 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
12967 @item Negated character classes
12968 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
12969 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
12970 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
12974 @node Reverse Scoring
12975 @section Reverse Scoring
12976 @cindex reverse scoring
12978 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
12979 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
12980 like this in your score file:
12984 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
12989 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
12990 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
12993 @node Global Score Files
12994 @section Global Score Files
12995 @cindex global score files
12997 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
12998 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
12999 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13001 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13002 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13003 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13005 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13006 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13007 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13008 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13009 files are applicable to which group.
13011 Say you want to use the score file
13012 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13013 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13016 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13017 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13018 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13021 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13022 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13023 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13024 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13025 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13027 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13028 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13030 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13031 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13032 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13033 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13034 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13035 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13037 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13043 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13045 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13047 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13049 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13050 lowered out of existence.
13052 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13053 articles completely.
13056 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13057 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13058 old articles for a long time.
13061 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13062 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13063 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13064 holding our breath yet?
13068 @section Kill Files
13071 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13072 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13073 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13075 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13076 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13077 files into score files.
13079 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13080 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13081 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13082 that isn't a very good idea.
13084 Normal kill files look like this:
13087 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13088 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13092 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13093 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13095 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13096 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13099 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13104 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13105 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13106 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13109 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13110 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13111 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13114 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13119 @kindex M-k (Group)
13120 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13121 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13124 @kindex M-K (Group)
13125 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13126 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13129 Kill file variables:
13132 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13133 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13134 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13135 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13136 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13137 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13138 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13140 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13141 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13142 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13143 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13146 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13147 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13148 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13149 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13150 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13151 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13152 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13153 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13154 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13156 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13157 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13158 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13163 @node Converting Kill Files
13164 @section Converting Kill Files
13166 @cindex converting kill files
13168 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13169 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13170 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13173 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13174 You can fetch it from
13175 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13177 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13178 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13179 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13187 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13188 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13189 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13191 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13192 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13193 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13194 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13195 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13196 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13197 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13198 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13202 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13203 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13204 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13205 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13209 @node Using GroupLens
13210 @subsection Using GroupLens
13212 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13214 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13215 better bit in town at the moment.
13217 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13221 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13222 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13223 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13224 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13226 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13227 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13228 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13229 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13231 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13232 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13233 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13237 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13238 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13239 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13240 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13241 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13242 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13245 @node Rating Articles
13246 @subsection Rating Articles
13248 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13249 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13250 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13251 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13254 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13259 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13260 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13261 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13264 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13265 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13266 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13267 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13268 threads in rec.humor.
13272 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13273 the score of the article you're reading.
13278 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13279 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13280 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13283 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13284 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13285 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13289 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13290 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13293 @node Displaying Predictions
13294 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13296 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13297 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13298 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13299 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13300 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13302 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13303 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13304 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13305 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13306 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13307 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13308 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13309 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13310 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13311 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13312 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13313 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13314 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13316 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13317 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13318 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13319 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13321 The following are valid values for that variable.
13324 @item prediction-spot
13325 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13328 @item confidence-interval
13329 A numeric confidence interval.
13331 @item prediction-bar
13332 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13334 @item confidence-bar
13335 Numerical confidence.
13337 @item confidence-spot
13338 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13340 @item prediction-num
13341 Plain-old numeric value.
13343 @item confidence-plus-minus
13344 Prediction +/- confidence.
13349 @node GroupLens Variables
13350 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13354 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13355 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13356 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13357 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13360 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13361 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13364 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13365 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13367 @item grouplens-score-offset
13368 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13369 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13372 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13373 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13374 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13379 @node Advanced Scoring
13380 @section Advanced Scoring
13382 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13383 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13384 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13385 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13386 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13388 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13392 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13393 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13394 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13398 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13399 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13401 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13402 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13403 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13404 non-@code{nil} value.
13406 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13407 operator, and various match operators.
13414 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13415 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13416 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13421 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13422 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13423 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13428 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13429 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13433 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13434 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13435 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13436 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13437 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13438 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13439 the ancestry you want to go.
13441 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13442 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13443 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13444 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13445 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13448 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13449 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13451 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13452 when he's talking about Gnus:
13456 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13457 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13463 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13467 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13474 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13475 really don't want to read what he's written:
13479 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13480 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13484 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13485 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13486 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13493 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13494 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13495 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13496 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13500 The possibilities are endless.
13503 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13504 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13506 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13507 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13508 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13509 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13510 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13511 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13512 @samp{subject}) first.
13514 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13515 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13526 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13527 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13533 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13540 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13541 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13546 @section Score Decays
13547 @cindex score decays
13550 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13551 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13552 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13553 use them in any sensible way.
13555 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13556 @findex gnus-decay-score
13557 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
13558 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13559 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13560 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13561 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13562 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
13563 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13564 definition of that function:
13567 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13568 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant' and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13571 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13573 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13575 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13578 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13579 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13580 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13581 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13585 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13588 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13591 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13595 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13596 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13597 the new score, which should be an integer.
13599 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13600 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13607 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13608 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13609 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13610 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13611 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13612 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13613 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13614 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13615 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13616 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13617 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13618 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13619 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13620 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13621 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13622 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13623 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
13624 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13628 @node Process/Prefix
13629 @section Process/Prefix
13630 @cindex process/prefix convention
13632 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13633 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13635 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13636 command to be performed on.
13640 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13641 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13642 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13643 with the current one.
13645 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13646 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13647 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13649 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13650 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13653 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13654 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13656 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13659 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13660 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13661 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13662 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13664 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13665 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13666 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13667 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13668 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13669 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13670 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13671 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13675 @section Interactive
13676 @cindex interaction
13680 @item gnus-novice-user
13681 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13682 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13683 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13684 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13685 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13688 @item gnus-expert-user
13689 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13690 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13691 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13692 matter how strange.
13694 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13695 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13696 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13697 is @code{t} by default.
13699 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13700 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13701 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13706 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13707 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13708 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13710 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13711 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
13712 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13713 rule of 900 to the current article.
13715 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13716 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13717 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13718 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13719 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13720 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13721 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13723 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13724 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13725 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13726 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13727 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13728 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13729 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13730 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13731 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13733 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13734 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13735 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13737 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13741 @node Formatting Variables
13742 @section Formatting Variables
13743 @cindex formatting variables
13745 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
13746 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13747 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13748 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13749 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13752 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13753 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13754 lots of percentages everywhere.
13757 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13758 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
13759 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13760 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13761 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13764 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13765 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13766 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13767 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13768 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13769 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13770 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13771 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13773 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13774 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13776 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13777 @findex gnus-update-format
13778 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13779 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13780 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13781 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13785 @node Formatting Basics
13786 @subsection Formatting Basics
13788 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13789 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13790 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13792 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13793 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13794 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13795 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13796 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13799 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13800 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13801 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13802 less than 4 characters wide.
13805 @node Mode Line Formatting
13806 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
13808 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
13809 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
13810 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
13811 with the following two differences:
13816 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
13819 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
13820 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
13821 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
13822 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
13823 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
13824 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
13825 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
13830 @node Advanced Formatting
13831 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13833 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13834 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13835 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13836 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13838 These are the valid modifiers:
13843 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13847 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13852 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13855 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13860 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13863 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13866 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13869 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
13873 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
13874 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
13875 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
13876 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
13877 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
13878 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
13879 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
13881 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
13882 last operation, padding.
13884 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
13885 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
13886 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
13887 @xref{Compilation}.
13890 @node User-Defined Specs
13891 @subsection User-Defined Specs
13893 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
13894 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
13895 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
13896 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
13897 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
13898 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
13899 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
13900 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
13901 should protect against that.
13903 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
13904 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
13905 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
13906 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
13910 @node Formatting Fonts
13911 @subsection Formatting Fonts
13913 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
13914 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
13915 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
13916 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
13919 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
13920 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
13921 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
13922 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
13923 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
13924 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
13926 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
13929 ;; Create three face types.
13930 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
13931 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
13933 ;; We want the article count to be in
13934 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
13935 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
13936 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
13938 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
13939 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
13941 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
13942 (setq gnus-group-line-format
13943 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
13946 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
13947 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
13949 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
13950 mode-line variables.
13953 @node Windows Configuration
13954 @section Windows Configuration
13955 @cindex windows configuration
13957 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
13959 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
13960 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
13961 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
13962 @code{t} by default.
13964 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
13965 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
13966 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
13969 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
13970 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
13971 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13975 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
13976 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
13977 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
13978 possible names is listed below.
13980 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
13981 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
13984 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13988 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
13989 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
13990 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
13991 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
13992 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
13993 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
13994 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
13995 size spec per split.
13997 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
13998 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
13999 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14000 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14001 present) gets focus.
14003 Here's a more complicated example:
14006 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14007 (summary 0.25 point)
14008 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14012 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14013 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14014 occupy, not a percentage.
14016 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14017 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14018 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14019 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14020 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14023 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14026 (article (horizontal 1.0
14031 (summary 0.25 point)
14036 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14037 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14039 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14040 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14041 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14042 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14043 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14045 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14046 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14047 lines from the splits.
14049 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14053 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14054 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14055 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14056 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14057 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14058 size = number | frame-params
14059 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14062 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14063 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14064 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14065 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14067 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14068 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14069 @cindex window height
14070 @cindex window width
14071 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14072 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14073 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14074 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14075 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14076 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14078 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14079 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14080 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14081 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14083 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14084 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14085 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14086 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14087 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14088 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14089 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14090 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14091 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14092 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14093 configuration list.
14096 (gnus-configure-frame
14100 (article 0.3 point))
14108 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14109 @code{frame} split:
14112 (gnus-configure-frame
14115 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14117 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14118 (user-position . t)
14119 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14124 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14125 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14126 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14127 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14128 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14129 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14130 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14131 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14134 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14135 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14137 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14138 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14139 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14140 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14141 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14142 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14144 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14145 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14146 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14150 (message (horizontal 1.0
14151 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14153 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14158 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14159 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14160 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14161 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14162 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14165 (gnus-add-configuration
14166 '(article (vertical 1.0
14168 (summary .25 point)
14172 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14173 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14174 Gnus has been loaded.
14176 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14177 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14178 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14179 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14180 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14183 @node Faces and Fonts
14184 @section Faces and Fonts
14189 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14190 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14191 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14196 @section Compilation
14197 @cindex compilation
14198 @cindex byte-compilation
14200 @findex gnus-compile
14202 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14203 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14204 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14205 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14206 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14207 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14210 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14211 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14212 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14213 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14214 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14215 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14216 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14220 @section Mode Lines
14223 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14224 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14225 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14226 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14227 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14228 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14229 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14232 @cindex display-time
14234 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14235 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14236 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14237 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14238 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14239 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14240 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14241 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14244 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14246 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14247 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14249 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14250 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14251 (length display-time-string)))))
14254 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14255 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14256 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14257 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14258 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14261 @node Highlighting and Menus
14262 @section Highlighting and Menus
14264 @cindex highlighting
14267 @vindex gnus-visual
14268 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14269 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14270 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14273 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14274 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14277 @item group-highlight
14278 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14279 @item summary-highlight
14280 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14281 @item article-highlight
14282 Do highlights in the article buffer.
14284 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14286 Create menus in the group buffer.
14288 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14290 Create menus in the article buffer.
14292 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14294 Create menus in the server buffer.
14296 Create menus in the score buffers.
14298 Create menus in all buffers.
14301 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14302 buffers, you could say something like:
14305 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14308 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14311 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14314 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14315 in all Gnus buffers.
14317 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14320 @item gnus-mouse-face
14321 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14322 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14323 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14327 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14331 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14332 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14333 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14335 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14336 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14337 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14339 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14340 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14341 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14343 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14344 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14345 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14347 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14348 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14349 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14351 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14352 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14353 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14364 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14365 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14366 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14367 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14368 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14372 @vindex gnus-carpal
14373 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14374 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14375 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14380 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14381 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14382 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14384 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14385 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14386 Face used on buttons.
14388 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14389 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14390 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14392 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14393 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14394 Buttons in the group buffer.
14396 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14397 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14398 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14400 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14401 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14402 Buttons in the server buffer.
14404 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14405 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14406 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14409 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14410 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14411 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14419 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14420 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14421 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14422 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14423 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14425 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14426 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14427 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14429 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14430 been idle for thirty minutes:
14433 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14436 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14440 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14443 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14444 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14445 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14447 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14448 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14449 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14450 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14452 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14453 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14454 @var{idle} minutes.
14456 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14457 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14460 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14461 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14462 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14464 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14465 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14466 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14467 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14469 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14470 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14471 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14473 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14474 your @file{.gnus} file:
14476 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14478 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14481 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14482 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14483 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14484 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14485 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14486 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14487 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14488 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14489 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14490 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14491 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14493 @findex gnus-demon-init
14494 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14495 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14496 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14497 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14498 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14500 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14501 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14502 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14511 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14512 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14514 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14515 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14516 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14517 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14520 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14521 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14522 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14523 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14525 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14526 this will make spam disappear.
14528 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14531 @item gnus-use-nocem
14532 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14533 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14536 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14537 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14538 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14539 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14540 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14542 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14543 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14544 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14545 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14546 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14547 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14548 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14550 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14553 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14554 @cindex Chris Lewis
14555 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14556 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14559 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14560 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14561 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14563 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14565 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14568 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14569 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14570 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14573 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14574 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14575 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14576 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14577 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14578 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14579 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14580 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14581 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14582 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14584 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14585 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14588 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14591 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14592 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14595 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14598 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14601 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14602 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14604 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14605 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14606 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14607 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14609 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14610 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14613 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14615 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14623 This might be dangerous, though.
14625 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14626 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14627 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14628 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14630 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14631 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14632 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14633 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14634 might then see old spam.
14638 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14639 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14640 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14641 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14648 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14649 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14650 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14652 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14653 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14654 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14655 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14656 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14657 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14658 @code{undo} function.
14660 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14661 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14662 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14663 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14664 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14665 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14666 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14667 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14668 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14669 never be totally undoable.
14671 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14672 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14674 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14675 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14676 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14677 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14682 @section Moderation
14685 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14686 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14687 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14690 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14694 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14697 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14699 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14704 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14705 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14706 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14709 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14710 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14713 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14714 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14718 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14721 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14722 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14726 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14727 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14730 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14734 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14735 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14736 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14737 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14750 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14751 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14752 over your shoulder as you read news.
14755 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14756 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14757 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14758 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14759 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14764 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14766 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14775 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14776 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14777 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14778 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14779 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14780 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14781 @code{GIF} formats.
14784 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14785 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14786 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14787 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string
14788 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14790 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14791 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14792 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at
14793 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14794 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14795 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14798 @node Picon Requirements
14799 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14801 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14802 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14805 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14806 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14807 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14809 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14810 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14811 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14812 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14813 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14817 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14819 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14820 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14823 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14824 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14825 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14828 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14829 containing the Picons databases.
14831 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14834 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14839 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14847 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14848 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14849 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14850 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14851 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14856 @item gnus-picons-database
14857 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14858 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14859 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14860 subdirectories. This is only useful if
14861 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
14862 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
14864 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14865 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14866 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
14867 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
14868 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
14869 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
14870 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14872 @item gnus-picons-display-where
14873 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14874 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
14875 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
14876 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
14877 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
14878 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
14879 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
14881 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14882 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14883 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
14888 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
14889 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
14891 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
14892 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
14895 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
14896 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14898 @item gnus-article-display-picons
14899 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14900 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
14901 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
14902 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14904 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
14905 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14906 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
14907 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14911 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
14912 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
14915 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14919 @node Picon Useless Configuration
14920 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
14928 The following variables offer further control over how things are
14929 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
14930 don't need to worry about.
14934 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
14935 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
14936 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14937 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
14939 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
14940 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
14941 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
14942 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
14944 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
14945 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
14946 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14947 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
14948 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
14950 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14951 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14952 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
14953 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
14954 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
14955 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
14956 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
14958 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14959 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14960 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
14961 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
14963 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14964 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14965 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
14966 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
14967 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
14968 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
14969 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
14971 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14972 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14973 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
14974 Defaults to @code{nil}.
14976 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
14977 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
14978 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
14979 Defaults to @code{t}.
14981 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14982 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14983 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
14984 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
14986 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14987 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14988 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
14989 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
14991 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14992 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14993 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
14994 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
14995 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
14996 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
14997 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
14998 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15009 @subsection Smileys
15014 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15019 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15020 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15022 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15023 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15026 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15029 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15030 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15031 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15032 text and maps that to file names.
15034 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15035 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15036 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15037 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15038 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15039 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15041 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15042 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15044 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15045 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15046 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15048 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15049 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15053 @item smiley-data-directory
15054 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15055 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15057 @item smiley-flesh-color
15058 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15059 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15061 @item smiley-features-color
15062 @vindex smiley-features-color
15063 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15065 @item smiley-tongue-color
15066 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15067 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15069 @item smiley-circle-color
15070 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15071 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15073 @item smiley-mouse-face
15074 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15075 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15081 @subsection Toolbar
15091 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15092 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15093 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15094 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15095 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15097 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15098 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15099 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15101 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15102 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15103 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15105 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15106 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15107 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15113 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15116 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15117 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15118 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15119 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15120 unusual directory structure.
15122 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15123 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15124 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15125 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15127 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15128 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15129 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15130 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15131 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15132 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15134 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15135 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15136 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15150 @node Fuzzy Matching
15151 @section Fuzzy Matching
15152 @cindex fuzzy matching
15154 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15155 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15157 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15158 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15159 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15161 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15162 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15163 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15164 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15165 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15168 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15169 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15173 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15175 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15176 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15177 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15178 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15179 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15180 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15181 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15182 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15185 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15186 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15187 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15188 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15189 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15190 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15194 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15195 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15197 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15198 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15199 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15200 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15201 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15202 part of the mail address.)
15205 (setq message-default-news-headers
15206 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15209 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15210 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15215 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15216 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15217 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15223 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15224 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15225 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15226 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15228 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15229 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15230 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15231 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15232 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15233 your fancy split rule in this way:
15238 (to "larsi" "misc")
15242 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15243 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15244 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15245 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15246 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15248 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15249 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15250 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15251 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15252 cosmic balance somewhat.
15254 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15255 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15256 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15257 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15260 @node Various Various
15261 @section Various Various
15267 @item gnus-home-directory
15268 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15269 defaults to @file{~/}.
15271 @item gnus-directory
15272 @vindex gnus-directory
15273 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15274 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15275 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15277 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15278 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15279 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15280 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15282 @item gnus-default-directory
15283 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15284 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15285 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15286 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15287 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15288 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15289 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15292 @vindex gnus-verbose
15293 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15294 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15295 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15296 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15297 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15299 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15300 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15301 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15302 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15304 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15305 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15306 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15307 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15308 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15309 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15310 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15311 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15312 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15313 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15315 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15316 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15317 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15318 read when doing the operation described above.
15320 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15321 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15323 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15324 @cindex characters in file names
15325 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15326 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15327 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15330 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15334 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15335 Windows (phooey) systems.
15337 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15338 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15339 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15340 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15341 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15343 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15344 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15345 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15346 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15347 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15349 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15350 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15351 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15360 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15361 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15363 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15365 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15371 Not because of victories @*
15374 but for the common sunshine,@*
15376 the largess of the spring.
15380 but for the day's work done@*
15381 as well as I was able;@*
15382 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15383 but at the common table.@*
15388 @chapter Appendices
15391 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15392 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15393 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15394 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15395 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15396 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15397 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15405 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15406 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15408 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15409 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15410 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15411 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15412 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15414 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15415 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15416 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15417 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15418 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15419 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15421 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15422 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15423 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15424 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15426 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15427 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15428 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15430 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15431 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15433 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15434 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
15436 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
15437 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6.32' on March 8th 1998.
15439 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15440 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15441 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15442 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15443 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15447 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15448 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15449 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15450 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15451 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15452 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15453 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15460 What's the point of Gnus?
15462 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15463 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15464 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15465 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15466 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15467 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15468 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15469 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15470 keep track of millions of people who post?
15472 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15473 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15474 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15475 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15476 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15477 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15478 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15479 every one of you to explore and invent.
15481 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15482 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15485 @node Compatibility
15486 @subsection Compatibility
15488 @cindex compatibility
15489 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15490 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15491 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15496 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15500 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15503 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15506 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15507 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15508 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15509 important variables have their values copied into their global
15510 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15511 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15513 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15514 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15515 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15516 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15517 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15521 @cindex highlighting
15522 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15523 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15524 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15525 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15526 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15527 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15530 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15531 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15532 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15533 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15535 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15536 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15537 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15538 to stop doing it the old way.
15540 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15542 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15544 @cindex reporting bugs
15546 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15547 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15548 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15550 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
15551 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
15552 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
15553 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
15558 @subsection Conformity
15560 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15561 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15568 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15572 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15574 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15575 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15576 We do have some breaches to this one.
15581 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
15582 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15585 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15586 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15587 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15588 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15589 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15594 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15595 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15600 @subsection Emacsen
15606 Gnus should work on :
15611 Emacs 19.32 and up.
15614 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
15617 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
15621 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15622 reliably, at least.
15624 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15625 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15626 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15631 @subsection Contributors
15632 @cindex contributors
15634 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15635 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15636 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15637 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15638 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15639 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15640 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15641 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15642 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15643 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15645 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15651 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15654 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15655 well as numerous other things).
15658 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15661 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15664 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15665 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15668 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15671 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15672 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15675 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15678 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15681 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15684 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15687 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15688 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15691 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15694 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15697 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15700 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15704 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15707 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15710 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15713 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15714 well as autoconf support.
15718 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15719 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15721 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15730 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15734 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15756 Massimo Campostrini,
15764 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15770 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15773 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15777 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15783 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15785 Michelangelo Grigni,
15788 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15790 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
15792 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15797 François Felix Ingrand,
15798 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15800 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15808 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15809 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15810 Thor Kristoffersen,
15812 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15829 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15830 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15837 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15841 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15843 John McClary Prevost,
15848 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
15853 Christian von Roques,
15855 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
15861 Philippe Schnoebelen,
15863 Randal L. Schwartz,
15891 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
15893 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
15895 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
15896 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
15897 (550kB and counting).
15899 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
15902 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
15903 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
15907 @subsection New Features
15908 @cindex new features
15911 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
15912 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
15913 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
15914 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6.32.
15917 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
15918 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
15919 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
15923 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
15925 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
15930 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
15931 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
15934 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
15935 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
15938 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
15941 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
15942 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
15943 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15946 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
15947 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
15948 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
15949 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15952 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
15953 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15956 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
15957 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
15958 (@pxref{The Active File}).
15961 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
15962 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
15965 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
15966 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
15967 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15970 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
15971 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
15972 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
15975 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
15976 the @file{.emacs} file.
15979 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
15980 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15983 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
15984 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
15987 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
15988 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15991 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
15992 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
15995 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
15996 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15999 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16002 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16003 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16006 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16007 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16010 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16011 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16014 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16017 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16018 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16021 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16025 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16029 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16030 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16033 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16039 @node September Gnus
16040 @subsubsection September Gnus
16044 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16048 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16053 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16054 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16058 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16059 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16063 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16067 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16068 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16071 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16075 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16078 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16081 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16084 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16088 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16089 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16092 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16096 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16100 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16104 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16108 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16111 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16112 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16115 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16119 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16120 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16123 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16126 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16127 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16128 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16131 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16135 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16138 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16142 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16143 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16146 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16147 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16150 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16151 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16154 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16155 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16156 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16159 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16160 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16163 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16166 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16169 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16170 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16174 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16177 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16180 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16181 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16184 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16188 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16191 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16196 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16199 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16203 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16206 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16210 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16213 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16216 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16217 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16220 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16221 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16225 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16226 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16229 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16233 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16234 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16237 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16240 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16244 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16248 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16249 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16252 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16256 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16257 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16260 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16261 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16264 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16268 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16271 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16272 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16276 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16279 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16285 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16287 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16291 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16298 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16301 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16302 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16305 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16306 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16310 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16311 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16314 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16317 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16318 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16321 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16325 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16326 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16330 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16331 Server Internals}).
16334 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16338 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16341 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16342 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16345 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16346 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16347 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16350 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16351 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16354 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16355 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16358 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16362 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16363 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16366 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16367 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16370 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16374 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16377 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16381 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16382 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16385 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16386 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16389 A new command for reading collections of documents
16390 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16391 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16394 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16398 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16399 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16402 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16403 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16404 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16407 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16408 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16412 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16416 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16420 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16425 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16429 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16433 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16434 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16437 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16440 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16447 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16449 New features in Gnus 5.6.32:
16454 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16455 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16456 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16459 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16460 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16461 group, which is created automatically.
16464 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16468 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16471 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16472 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16475 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16479 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16482 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16483 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16486 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16489 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16490 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16493 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16494 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16497 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16498 control over simplification.
16501 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16504 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16508 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16511 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16514 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16515 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16516 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16519 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16520 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16523 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16527 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16528 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16531 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16532 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16535 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16539 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16542 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16545 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16546 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16549 A new function for citing in Message has been
16550 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16553 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16556 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16560 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16561 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16564 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16565 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16568 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16571 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16576 @node Newest Features
16577 @subsection Newest Features
16580 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16583 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16585 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16586 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16589 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16594 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16597 Really do unbinhexing.
16600 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16601 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16604 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16607 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16610 facep is not declared.
16613 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16614 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16617 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16622 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16623 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16624 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16625 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16626 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16627 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16628 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16633 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16636 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16639 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16641 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16642 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16644 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16646 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16648 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16649 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16651 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16653 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16654 be marked as unread.
16656 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
16658 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16660 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16661 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16663 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
16665 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16667 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16668 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16670 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16671 articles aren't displayed.
16673 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16675 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16676 make the mail groups killed.
16678 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16680 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16681 and articles have to be removed.
16683 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16686 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16688 finding short score file names takes forever.
16690 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16692 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16694 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16696 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16698 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16700 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16702 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16703 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16707 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16709 really unbinhex binhex files.
16711 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16712 bar and the Gnus bar.
16715 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16716 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16717 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16718 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16719 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16720 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16725 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16729 postponed commands.
16731 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16733 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16736 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16737 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
16739 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16740 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16742 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16744 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16745 for backends that support that.
16747 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16749 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16750 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16752 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16753 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16755 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16757 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16759 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16761 server mode command: close/open all connections
16763 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16764 has been changed before using it.
16766 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16768 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16770 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16772 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16774 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16775 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16777 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16778 contain groups that match a regexp.
16780 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16783 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16786 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16787 from subject lines.
16789 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16791 nntp-ping-before-connect
16793 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16795 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16796 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16798 message annotations.
16800 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16802 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16803 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16805 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16810 support qmail maildir spools
16812 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16814 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16816 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16818 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16819 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16821 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16823 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16825 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16826 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16828 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16829 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16831 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16833 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16835 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16836 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16838 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16840 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16842 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16843 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16846 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16848 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
16850 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
16851 `C-c C-c' when posting.
16853 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
16856 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
16857 should be marker as expirable.
16859 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
16861 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
16862 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
16864 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
16865 Also consult Date headers.
16867 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
16869 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
16871 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
16872 Message-ID, delete the "original".
16874 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
16875 into a See-Also header.
16877 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
16879 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
16881 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
16882 should be listed as such and not as "K".
16884 generate font names dynamically.
16886 score file mode auto-alist.
16888 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
16889 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
16891 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
16892 absolutely all headers there is.
16894 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
16895 and pipe them to the process.
16897 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
16898 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
16899 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
16901 function for starting to edit a file to put into
16902 the current mail group.
16904 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
16906 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
16907 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
16909 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
16910 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
16912 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
16914 when replying to several process-marked articles,
16915 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
16917 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
16918 groups it has been mailed to.
16920 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
16922 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
16924 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
16926 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
16927 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
16929 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
16930 newlines) should be ignored.
16932 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
16933 groups in subtopics as well.
16935 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
16937 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
16940 add edit and forward secondary marks.
16942 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
16944 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
16946 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
16948 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
16950 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
16952 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
16953 or the formatted article.
16955 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
16957 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
16958 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
16960 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
16962 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
16964 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
16966 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
16967 even unread articles.
16969 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
16971 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
16973 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
16975 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
16977 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16979 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
16982 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
16983 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
16985 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
16986 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
16988 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
16990 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
16992 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
16993 from a particular server? Hm.
16995 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
16996 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
16998 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17000 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17001 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17003 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17004 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17006 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17007 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17008 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17011 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17012 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17014 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17016 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17018 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17020 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17023 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17026 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17027 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17029 command to show and edit group scores
17031 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17034 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17036 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17038 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17039 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17042 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17043 that are of that length.
17045 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17047 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17049 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17051 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17053 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17055 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17057 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17058 a score lower than this number.
17060 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17062 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17064 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17065 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17067 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17069 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17070 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17072 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17075 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17076 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17077 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17078 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17080 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17083 command to remove all topic stuff.
17085 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17086 and splitting the resulting digests.
17088 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17090 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17092 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17093 matches an alist -- before saving.
17095 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17097 variable to activate each group before entering them
17098 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17100 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17101 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17103 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17104 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17106 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17108 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17109 of several groups at once.
17111 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17112 matches some regexp(s).
17114 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17116 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17118 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17120 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17122 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17124 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17126 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17128 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17129 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17130 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17131 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17133 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17134 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17136 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17138 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17139 recently cited text.
17141 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17143 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17146 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17147 server and just read the articles in the server
17149 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17150 value of nnoo variables.
17152 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17154 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17155 listed in each group info.
17157 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17160 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17161 should only be applied to some groups.
17163 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17164 mail-copies-to: never.
17166 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17167 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17169 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
17171 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17174 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17177 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17179 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17182 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17186 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17188 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17189 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17190 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17191 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17192 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17194 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at
17195 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17202 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17203 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17205 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17206 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17208 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17209 "Return the date the group was last read."
17210 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17215 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17216 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17217 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17218 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17222 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17223 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17225 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17228 They could be used like this:
17232 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17233 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17234 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17236 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17238 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17241 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17244 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17245 affect the summary line format.
17249 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17251 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17252 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17254 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17257 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17259 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17261 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17263 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17265 - For other files, just find them normally.
17267 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17268 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17271 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17272 tell him what you are doing.
17275 Currently, I get prompted:
17279 decend into sci.something ?
17283 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17284 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17285 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17286 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17289 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17290 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17291 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17292 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17295 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17296 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17302 more than n blank lines
17304 more than m identical lines
17305 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17307 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17311 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17312 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17313 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17314 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17317 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17318 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17319 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17320 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17323 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17326 soup - bowl of soup
17327 score below - dim light bulb
17328 score over - bright light bulb
17331 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17336 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17337 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17338 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17339 if (articles-selected)
17340 start-reading-selected-articles;
17341 junk-unread-articles;
17346 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17347 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17348 select-thread-under-cursor;
17350 select-article-under-cursor;
17354 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17355 if (more-pages-in-article)
17357 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17364 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17365 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17366 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17369 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17370 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17371 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17372 the wildcard expression).
17375 It would be nice if it also handled
17377 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17379 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17384 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17385 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17386 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17387 article versions) variable.
17389 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17391 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17392 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17396 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17399 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17400 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17401 (message-sent-hook).
17403 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17406 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17410 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17411 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17414 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17415 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17416 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17419 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17420 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17424 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17427 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17431 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17432 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17435 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17436 value of the signature file.
17439 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17440 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17443 (setq message-tab-alist
17444 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17445 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17447 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17451 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17454 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17457 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17460 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17461 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17464 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17467 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17468 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17469 do more gathering by subject.
17472 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17473 article numerical order.
17476 (gnus-thread-total-score
17477 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17481 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17484 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17485 in the summary buffer.
17488 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17489 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17492 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17493 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17494 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17495 and/or newsgroup name.
17498 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17501 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17504 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17507 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17508 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17509 will automatically get the process mark.
17512 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17513 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17514 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17517 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17521 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17522 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17525 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17526 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17530 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17531 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17534 be able to post via DejaNews.
17537 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17540 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
17541 allow them to be displayed separately.
17544 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17545 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17548 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17549 articles that match a certain From header.
17552 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17553 saving living summary buffers.
17556 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17557 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17560 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17561 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17564 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17565 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17568 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17569 (goto-char (point-min))
17570 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17571 (replace-match "`" t t))
17572 (goto-char (point-min))
17573 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17574 (replace-match "'" t t))
17575 (goto-char (point-min))
17576 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17577 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17578 (goto-char (point-min))
17579 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17580 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17585 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17587 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17588 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17589 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17590 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17594 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17597 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17598 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17601 gnus-cacheable-groups
17605 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17606 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17607 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17609 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17610 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17612 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17613 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17618 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17619 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17622 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17623 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
17625 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17627 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17628 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17631 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17632 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17635 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17639 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17640 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17643 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17646 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17649 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17652 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17656 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17662 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17665 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17669 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17670 X characters in the body.
17673 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17676 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17679 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17682 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17685 command to display all dormant articles.
17688 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17691 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17692 to something someone else has said.
17695 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17696 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17699 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17700 the displayed version.
17703 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17707 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17710 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17711 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17712 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17716 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17717 in the head or body.
17720 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17723 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17726 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17727 in a special, unique buffer.
17730 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17733 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17734 is less than a certain number of days old.
17737 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
17740 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
17743 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
17744 file, for instance.
17747 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
17748 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
17749 dummy root instead of the first article.
17752 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
17753 topics for displaying.
17756 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
17757 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
17760 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
17763 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
17764 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
17765 summary buffer for each article.
17768 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
17771 Solve the halting problem.
17780 @section The Manual
17784 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17785 either @code{texi2dvi}
17787 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17788 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17790 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17792 The following conventions have been used:
17797 This is a @samp{string}
17800 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17803 This is a @file{file}
17806 This is a @code{symbol}
17810 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17814 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17817 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17820 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17823 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17824 ever get them confused.
17828 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17829 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17830 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17831 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17832 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17833 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17834 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
17842 @section Terminology
17844 @cindex terminology
17849 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
17850 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
17851 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
17852 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
17853 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
17857 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
17858 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
17859 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
17860 not posting, and replying is not following up.
17864 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
17868 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
17873 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
17874 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
17875 is all done by the backends.
17879 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
17880 default, way of getting news.
17884 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
17885 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
17890 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
17891 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
17895 A message that has been posted as news.
17898 @cindex mail message
17899 A message that has been mailed.
17903 A mail message or news article
17907 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
17912 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
17917 A line from the head of an article.
17921 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
17922 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
17926 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
17927 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
17928 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
17929 normal @sc{head} format.
17933 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
17934 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
17935 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
17936 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
17937 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
17938 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
17940 @item killed groups
17941 @cindex killed groups
17942 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
17943 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
17945 @item zombie groups
17946 @cindex zombie groups
17947 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
17950 @cindex active file
17951 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
17952 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
17953 is rather large, as you might surmise.
17956 @cindex bogus groups
17957 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
17958 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
17959 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
17962 @cindex activating groups
17963 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
17964 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
17965 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
17969 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
17971 @item select method
17972 @cindex select method
17973 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
17976 @item virtual server
17977 @cindex virtual server
17978 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
17979 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
17980 whole is a virtual server.
17984 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
17985 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
17988 @item ephemeral groups
17989 @cindex ephemeral groups
17990 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
17991 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
17992 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
17995 @cindex solid groups
17996 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
17997 group buffer are solid groups.
17999 @item sparse articles
18000 @cindex sparse articles
18001 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18002 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18006 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18007 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18011 @cindex thread root
18012 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18013 articles in the thread.
18017 An article that has responses.
18021 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18025 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18026 specified by RFC1153.
18032 @node Customization
18033 @section Customization
18034 @cindex general customization
18036 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18037 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18038 for some quite common situations.
18041 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18042 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18043 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18044 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18048 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18049 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18051 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18052 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18053 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18057 @item gnus-read-active-file
18058 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18059 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18060 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18061 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18062 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18064 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18065 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18066 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18067 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18071 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18072 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18074 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18075 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18076 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18080 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18081 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18082 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18083 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18084 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18086 @item gnus-visible-headers
18087 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18088 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18089 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18090 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18092 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18093 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18095 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18096 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
18097 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18100 @item gnus-use-full-window
18101 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18102 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18103 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18104 want to read them anyway.
18106 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18107 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18110 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18111 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18112 lines, which might save some time.
18116 @node Little Disk Space
18117 @subsection Little Disk Space
18120 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18121 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18125 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18126 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18127 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18128 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18131 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18132 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18133 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18134 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18135 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18141 @subsection Slow Machine
18142 @cindex slow machine
18144 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18145 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18147 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18148 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18150 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18151 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18152 summary buffer faster.
18154 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18155 processing a bit faster.
18159 @node Troubleshooting
18160 @section Troubleshooting
18161 @cindex troubleshooting
18163 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18171 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18174 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18175 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18179 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18180 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18181 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18182 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18185 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18189 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18190 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18191 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18192 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18193 something like that.
18196 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18199 @cindex reporting bugs
18201 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18203 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18204 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18205 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18206 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18208 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18209 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18210 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18211 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18214 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18215 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18216 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18217 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18218 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18219 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18221 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18222 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18223 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18226 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18227 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18229 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18230 @cindex ding mailing list
18231 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18232 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18236 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
18237 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
18239 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18240 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18241 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18242 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18245 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18246 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18247 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18248 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18249 and general methods of operation.
18252 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18253 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18254 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18255 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18256 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18257 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18258 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18259 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18260 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18264 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18265 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18266 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18267 @cindex utility functions
18269 @cindex internal variables
18271 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18272 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18273 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18277 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18278 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18279 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18281 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18282 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18283 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18285 @item gnus-group-real-name
18286 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18287 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18290 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18291 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18292 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18293 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18295 @item gnus-get-info
18296 @findex gnus-get-info
18297 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18299 @item gnus-group-unread
18300 @findex gnus-group-unread
18301 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18305 @findex gnus-active
18306 The active entry for @var{group}.
18308 @item gnus-set-active
18309 @findex gnus-set-active
18310 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18312 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18313 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18314 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18317 @item gnus-continuum-version
18318 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18319 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18320 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18323 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18324 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18325 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18327 @item gnus-news-group-p
18328 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18329 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18331 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18332 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18333 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18335 @item gnus-server-to-method
18336 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18337 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18339 @item gnus-server-equal
18340 @findex gnus-server-equal
18341 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18343 @item gnus-group-native-p
18344 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18345 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18347 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18348 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18349 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18351 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18352 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18353 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18355 @item group-group-find-parameter
18356 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18357 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18358 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18360 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18361 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18362 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18364 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18365 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18366 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18368 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18369 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18370 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18371 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18374 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18378 @item gnus-read-method
18379 @findex gnus-read-method
18380 Prompts the user for a select method.
18385 @node Backend Interface
18386 @subsection Backend Interface
18388 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18389 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18390 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18391 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18392 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18393 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18395 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18396 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18397 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18398 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18399 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18400 been opened, the function should fail.
18402 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18403 name. Take this example:
18407 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18408 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18411 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18412 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18414 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18415 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18416 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18418 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18419 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18420 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18422 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18423 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18424 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18425 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18426 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18427 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18430 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18431 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18432 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18433 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18436 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18439 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18442 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18443 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18444 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18445 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18446 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18447 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18451 @node Required Backend Functions
18452 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18456 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18458 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18459 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18460 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18461 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18463 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18464 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18465 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18466 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18468 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18469 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18470 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18471 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18472 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18473 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18474 number, do maximum fetches.
18476 Here's an example HEAD:
18479 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18480 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18481 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18482 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18483 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18484 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18485 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18487 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18488 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18489 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18493 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18494 these in the data buffer.
18496 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18500 head = error / valid-head
18501 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18502 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18503 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18504 header = <text> eol
18507 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18508 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18512 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18513 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18514 field = <text except TAB>
18517 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18521 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18523 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18524 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18526 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18527 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18528 server. In fact, it should do so.
18530 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18531 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18534 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18536 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18537 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18540 There should be no data returned.
18543 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18545 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18546 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18547 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18548 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18550 There should be no data returned.
18553 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18555 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18556 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18557 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18558 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18560 There should be no data returned.
18563 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18565 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18567 There should be no data returned.
18570 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18572 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18573 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18574 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18575 it would be nice if that were possible.
18577 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18578 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18579 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18580 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18581 into its article buffer.
18583 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18584 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18585 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18586 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18587 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18588 on successful article retrieval.
18591 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18593 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18594 making @var{group} the current group.
18596 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18599 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18602 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18605 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18606 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18607 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18608 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18609 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18610 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18611 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18612 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18615 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18616 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18617 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18621 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18623 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18624 a no-op on most backends.
18626 There should be no data returned.
18629 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18631 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18634 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18637 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18638 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18641 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18642 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18645 active-file = *active-line
18646 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18648 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18651 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18652 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18653 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18656 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18658 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18659 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18660 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18661 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18662 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18663 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18665 There should be no result data from this function.
18670 @node Optional Backend Functions
18671 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18675 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18677 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18678 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18679 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18681 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18682 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18683 former is in the same format as the data from
18684 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18685 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18688 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18692 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18694 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18695 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18696 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18697 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18698 should return the (altered) group info.
18700 There should be no result data from this function.
18703 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18705 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18706 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18707 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18708 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18709 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18710 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18711 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18712 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18714 There should be no result data from this function.
18717 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18719 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18720 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18721 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18722 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18723 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18725 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18726 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18727 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18730 There should be no result data from this function.
18733 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18735 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18736 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18737 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18738 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18739 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18740 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18741 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18743 There should be no result data from this function.
18746 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18748 The result data from this function should be a description of
18752 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18754 description = <text>
18757 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18759 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18760 groups available on the server.
18763 description-buffer = *description-line
18767 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18769 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18770 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18771 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18774 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18776 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18778 There should be no return data.
18781 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18783 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18784 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18785 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18786 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18787 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18790 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18793 There should be no result data returned.
18796 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18799 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18800 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18802 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18803 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18804 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18805 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18806 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18807 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18809 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18810 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18813 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18814 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18816 There should be no data returned.
18819 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18821 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18822 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18823 this function in short order.
18825 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18826 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18828 There should be no data returned.
18831 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18833 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18834 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18836 There should be no data returned.
18839 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
18841 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
18842 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
18843 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
18845 There should be no data returned.
18848 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
18850 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
18851 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
18853 There should be no data returned.
18858 @node Error Messaging
18859 @subsubsection Error Messaging
18861 @findex nnheader-report
18862 @findex nnheader-get-report
18863 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
18864 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
18865 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
18866 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
18867 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
18868 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
18871 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
18873 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
18876 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
18877 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
18878 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
18879 takes one argument---the server symbol.
18881 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
18882 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
18883 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
18886 @node Writing New Backends
18887 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
18889 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
18890 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
18891 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
18892 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
18893 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
18896 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
18897 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
18898 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
18900 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
18901 package called @code{nnoo}.
18903 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
18904 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
18910 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
18911 parameters. For instance:
18914 (nnoo-declare nndir
18918 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
18919 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
18922 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
18923 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
18924 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
18926 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
18927 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
18928 a function in those backends.
18931 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18932 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18933 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18936 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
18937 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
18938 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
18940 @item nnoo-define-basics
18941 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
18945 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18949 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
18950 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
18951 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
18953 @item nnoo-map-functions
18954 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
18955 functions from the parent backends.
18958 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18959 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18960 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
18963 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
18964 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
18965 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
18966 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
18969 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
18970 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
18971 haven't already been defined.
18977 nnmh-request-newgroups)
18981 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
18982 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
18983 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
18988 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
18991 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
18992 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
18996 (require 'nnheader)
19000 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19002 (nnoo-declare nndir
19005 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19006 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19007 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19009 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19010 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19013 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19014 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19015 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19017 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19018 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19020 ;;; Interface functions.
19022 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19024 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19025 (setq nndir-directory
19026 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19028 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19029 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19030 (push `(nndir-current-group
19031 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19033 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19034 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19036 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19038 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19039 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19040 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19041 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19042 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19046 nnmh-status-message
19048 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19054 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19055 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19057 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19058 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19059 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19060 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19062 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19063 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19068 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19071 The abilities can be:
19075 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19077 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19079 This backend supports both mail and news.
19081 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19084 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19085 articles and groups.
19087 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19088 true for almost all backends.
19089 @item prompt-address
19090 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19091 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19092 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19096 @node Mail-like Backends
19097 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19099 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19100 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19101 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19102 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19105 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19106 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19107 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19110 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19111 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19114 This function takes four parameters.
19118 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19121 @item exit-function
19122 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19124 @item temp-directory
19125 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19128 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19129 performed for one group only.
19132 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19133 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19134 find the article number assigned to this article.
19136 The function also uses the following variables:
19137 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19138 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19139 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19140 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19144 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19145 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19149 @node Score File Syntax
19150 @subsection Score File Syntax
19152 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19153 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19154 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19156 Here's a typical score file:
19160 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19167 BNF definition of a score file:
19170 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19171 element = rule / atom
19172 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19173 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19174 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19175 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19177 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19178 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19179 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19180 date-header = "date"
19181 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19182 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19183 score = "nil" / <integer>
19184 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19185 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19186 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19187 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19188 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19189 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19190 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19191 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19192 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19193 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19194 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19195 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19196 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19197 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19198 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19199 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19200 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19201 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19202 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19203 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19204 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19205 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19206 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19207 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19208 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19209 eval = "eval" space <form>
19210 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19213 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19216 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19217 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19218 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19219 one looong line, then that's ok.
19221 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19222 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19226 @subsection Headers
19228 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19229 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19230 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19231 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19233 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19234 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19235 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19236 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19237 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19238 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19239 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19241 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19242 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19243 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
19244 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19245 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19247 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
19254 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19255 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19257 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19258 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19259 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19260 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19262 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19266 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19269 is transformed into
19272 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19275 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19276 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19279 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19282 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19283 is slightly tricky:
19286 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19292 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19295 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19301 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19308 and is equal to the previous range.
19310 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19311 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19312 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19316 range = simple-range / normal-range
19317 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19318 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19319 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19320 number *[ " " contents ]
19323 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19324 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19325 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19326 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19327 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19332 @subsection Group Info
19334 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19335 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19336 describes the group.
19338 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19339 second is a more complex one:
19342 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19344 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19345 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19347 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19350 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19351 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19352 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19353 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19354 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19355 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19356 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19357 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19358 this section is about.
19360 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19361 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19362 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19364 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19367 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19368 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19369 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19370 group = quote <string> quote
19371 ralevel = rank / level
19372 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19373 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19374 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19376 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19377 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19378 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19379 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19382 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19383 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19386 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19387 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19390 @item gnus-info-group
19391 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19392 @findex gnus-info-group
19393 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19394 Get/set the group name.
19396 @item gnus-info-rank
19397 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19398 @findex gnus-info-rank
19399 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19400 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19402 @item gnus-info-level
19403 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19404 @findex gnus-info-level
19405 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19406 Get/set the group level.
19408 @item gnus-info-score
19409 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19410 @findex gnus-info-score
19411 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19412 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19414 @item gnus-info-read
19415 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19416 @findex gnus-info-read
19417 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19418 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19420 @item gnus-info-marks
19421 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19422 @findex gnus-info-marks
19423 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19424 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19426 @item gnus-info-method
19427 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19428 @findex gnus-info-method
19429 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19430 Get/set the group select method.
19432 @item gnus-info-params
19433 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19434 @findex gnus-info-params
19435 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19436 Get/set the group parameters.
19439 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19440 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19442 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19443 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19444 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19445 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19448 @node Extended Interactive
19449 @subsection Extended Interactive
19450 @cindex interactive
19451 @findex gnus-interactive
19453 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19454 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19455 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19458 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19459 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19464 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19465 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19466 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19467 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19468 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19469 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19470 @code{interactive}.
19472 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19477 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19478 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19482 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19483 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19484 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19487 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19491 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19495 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19501 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19502 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19506 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19507 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19508 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19510 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19511 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19512 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19513 Gnus, that's very useful.
19515 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19516 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19517 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19518 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19519 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19520 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19521 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19522 following function:
19525 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19529 (,function ,@@args))
19533 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19534 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19535 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19538 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19539 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19540 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19542 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19543 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19544 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19547 @node Various File Formats
19548 @subsection Various File Formats
19551 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19552 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19556 @node Active File Format
19557 @subsubsection Active File Format
19559 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19560 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19563 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19566 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19567 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19568 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19569 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19570 no.general 1000 900 y
19573 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19576 active = *group-line
19577 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19578 group = <non-white-space string>
19580 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19581 low-number = <positive integer>
19582 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19585 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19586 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19589 @node Newsgroups File Format
19590 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19592 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19593 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19594 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19597 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19598 Here's the definition:
19602 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19603 group = <non-white-space string>
19605 description = <string>
19610 @node Emacs for Heathens
19611 @section Emacs for Heathens
19613 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19614 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19615 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19616 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19617 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19618 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19619 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19623 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19624 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19629 @subsection Keystrokes
19633 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19636 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19639 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19640 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19641 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19642 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19643 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19644 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19646 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19647 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19648 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19649 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19650 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19651 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19652 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19654 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19655 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19656 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19657 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19658 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19659 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19660 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19662 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19663 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19664 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19665 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19666 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19672 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19674 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19675 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19676 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19677 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19679 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19680 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19681 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19682 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19683 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19684 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19685 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19688 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19689 write the following:
19692 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19695 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19696 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19697 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19700 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19701 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19702 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19703 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19704 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19706 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19707 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19708 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19712 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19716 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19719 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19720 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19723 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19726 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19727 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19730 @include gnus-faq.texi