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4 @settitle September Gnus Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
233 @title September Gnus Manual
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
304 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
305 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
306 * Various:: General purpose settings.
307 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
308 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
309 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
310 * Key Index:: Key Index.
315 @chapter Starting Gnus
320 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
321 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
324 @findex gnus-other-frame
325 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
326 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
327 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
329 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
333 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
334 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
335 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
336 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
337 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
338 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
339 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
340 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
341 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
342 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
346 @node Finding the News
347 @section Finding the News
349 @vindex gnus-select-method
351 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
352 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
353 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
354 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
357 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
358 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
361 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
364 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
367 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
370 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
371 certainly be much faster.
373 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
375 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
376 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
377 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
378 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
379 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
380 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
381 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
383 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
384 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
385 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
386 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
388 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
389 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
390 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
391 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
392 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
393 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
395 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
397 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
398 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
399 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
400 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
401 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
402 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
404 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
406 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
407 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
408 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
409 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
410 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
411 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
414 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
415 would typically set this variable to
418 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
423 @section The First Time
424 @cindex first time usage
426 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
427 be subscribed by default.
429 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
430 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
431 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
432 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
435 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few randomly picked
436 groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Random} is here defined as
437 @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
439 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
440 help you with most common problems.
442 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
443 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
447 @node The Server is Down
448 @section The Server is Down
449 @cindex server errors
451 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
452 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
453 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
455 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
456 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
457 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
458 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
459 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
460 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
461 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
463 @findex gnus-no-server
465 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
466 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
467 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
468 if you're in a hurry as well.
472 @section Slave Gnusiï
475 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
476 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
477 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
478 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
480 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
483 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
484 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
485 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
486 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
487 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
488 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
489 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
491 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
492 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
493 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
494 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
495 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
496 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
497 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
498 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
500 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
501 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
504 @node Fetching a Group
505 @section Fetching a Group
507 @findex gnus-fetch-group
508 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
509 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
510 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
511 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
512 It takes the group name as a parameter.
519 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
520 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
521 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
523 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
528 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
529 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
530 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
531 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
534 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
535 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
536 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
538 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
539 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
540 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
542 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
543 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
544 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.
546 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
547 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
548 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
549 you about @strong{all} new groups.
551 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
552 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
557 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
558 A closely related variable is
559 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
560 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
561 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
562 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
565 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
566 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
567 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
569 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
570 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
571 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
574 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
577 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
578 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
579 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
580 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
581 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
582 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
583 subscribing these groups.
584 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
585 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
587 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
588 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
589 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
590 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
591 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
592 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
593 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
594 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
596 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
597 Yet another variable that meddles here is
598 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
599 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
600 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
601 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
602 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
603 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
604 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
605 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
607 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
608 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
609 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
610 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
611 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
612 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
613 is @code{t} by default.
615 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
616 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
617 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
618 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
619 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
620 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
621 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
622 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
623 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
624 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
626 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
627 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
628 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
629 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
630 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
631 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
632 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
633 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
634 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
635 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
636 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
638 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
639 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
640 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
641 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
642 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
643 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
647 @section Startup Files
648 @cindex startup files
651 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
652 information is traditionally stored in this file.
654 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
655 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
656 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
657 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
658 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
659 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
660 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
662 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
663 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
664 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
665 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
667 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
668 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
669 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
670 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
671 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
672 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
674 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
675 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
676 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
677 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
678 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
679 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
680 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
681 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
684 @vindex gnus-startup-file
685 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
686 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
687 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
689 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
690 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
691 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
692 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
693 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
694 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
695 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
696 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
697 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
706 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
707 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
708 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
709 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
710 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
713 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
714 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
717 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
718 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
719 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
721 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
722 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
723 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
724 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
725 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
726 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
729 @node The Active File
730 @section The Active File
732 @cindex ignored groups
734 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
735 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
736 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
738 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
739 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
740 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
741 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
742 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
743 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
744 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
747 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
748 @c if you set it to anything else.
750 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
752 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
753 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
754 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
756 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
757 you actually subscribe to.
759 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
760 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
761 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
762 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
764 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
765 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
766 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
767 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
768 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
769 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
771 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
772 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
773 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
774 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
775 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
776 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
778 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
779 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
782 @node Startup Variables
783 @section Startup Variables
788 @vindex gnus-load-hook
789 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
790 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
791 times you start Gnus.
793 @item gnus-startup-hook
794 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
795 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
797 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
798 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
799 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
800 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
801 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
802 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
803 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
804 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
806 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
807 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
808 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
809 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
812 @item gnus-no-groups-message
813 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
814 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
818 @node The Group Buffer
819 @chapter The Group Buffer
822 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
823 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
824 long as Gnus is active.
827 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
828 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
829 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
830 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
831 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
832 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
833 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
834 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
835 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
836 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
837 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
838 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
839 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what if has to offer.
840 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
841 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
842 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
846 @node Group Buffer Format
847 @section Group Buffer Format
848 @cindex group buffer format
851 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
852 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
853 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
857 @node Group Line Specification
858 @subsection Group Line Specification
860 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
861 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
863 Here's a couple of example group lines:
866 25: news.announce.newusers
867 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
872 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
873 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
874 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
875 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
877 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
878 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
879 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
880 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
881 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
882 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
884 The default value that produced those lines above is
885 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
887 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
888 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
889 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
890 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
893 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
894 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
895 instead of wasting time reading news.)
897 Here's a list of all available format characters:
902 Only marked articles.
905 Whether the group is subscribed.
908 Level of subscribedness.
911 Number of unread articles.
914 Number of dormant articles.
917 Number of ticked articles.
920 Number of read articles.
923 Total number of articles.
926 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
929 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
938 Newsgroup description.
941 @samp{m} if moderated.
944 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
953 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
957 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
960 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
961 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
962 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
963 The default is @code{1}.
966 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
967 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
968 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
969 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
970 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
971 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
975 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
976 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
977 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
980 @node Group Modeline Specification
981 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
983 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
984 The mode line can be changed by setting
985 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
990 The native news server.
992 The native select method.
996 @node Group Highlighting
997 @subsection Group Highlighting
999 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1000 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1001 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1002 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1003 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1005 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1009 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1011 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1012 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1013 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1015 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1017 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1019 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1023 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1030 The number of unread articles in the group.
1034 Whether the group is a mail group.
1036 The level of the group.
1038 The score of the group.
1040 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1043 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1044 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1045 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1047 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1048 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1049 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1050 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1051 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1054 @node Group Maneuvering
1055 @section Group Maneuvering
1056 @cindex group movement
1058 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1059 expected, hopefully.
1065 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1066 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1067 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1074 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1075 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1076 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1080 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1081 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1085 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1086 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1090 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1091 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1092 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1096 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1097 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1098 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1101 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1107 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1108 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1109 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1114 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1115 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1116 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1120 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1121 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1122 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1125 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1126 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1127 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1128 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1132 @node Selecting a Group
1133 @section Selecting a Group
1134 @cindex group selection
1139 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1140 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1141 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1142 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1143 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1144 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1145 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1146 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1147 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1148 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1152 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1153 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1154 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1155 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1156 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1160 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1161 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1162 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1163 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1164 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1165 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1166 enter some humongous groups.
1169 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1170 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1171 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1172 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1173 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1177 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1178 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1179 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1180 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1181 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1186 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1187 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1188 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1191 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1192 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1193 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1194 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1195 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1196 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1197 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1198 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1200 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1201 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1202 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1203 automatically when entering a group.
1208 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1209 full summary buffer.
1212 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1215 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1219 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1220 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1221 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1224 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
1225 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
1226 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
1227 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1228 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
1229 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1230 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
1231 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
1232 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
1233 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
1234 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
1235 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
1236 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
1237 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
1239 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
1240 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
1241 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
1242 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
1243 in the list. You should probably always include
1244 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
1245 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
1246 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
1247 ascending article order.
1249 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
1250 number, you could do something like:
1253 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1254 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1255 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1256 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1259 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
1260 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
1261 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
1262 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
1263 which the articles arrived.
1265 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
1269 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1271 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
1272 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1275 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
1276 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
1277 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
1278 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
1281 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
1282 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
1283 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
1284 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
1285 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
1286 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
1287 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
1288 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
1289 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
1290 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
1291 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
1292 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
1293 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
1295 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
1299 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
1300 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
1301 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
1305 @node Subscription Commands
1306 @section Subscription Commands
1315 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1316 Toggle subscription to the current group
1317 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1323 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1324 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1325 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1326 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1332 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1333 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1339 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1340 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1343 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1344 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1345 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1346 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1347 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1353 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1354 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1358 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1359 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1362 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1363 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1364 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1365 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1366 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1367 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1368 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1369 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1370 @file{.newsrc} file.
1374 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1378 @section Group Levels
1381 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1382 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1383 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1384 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1385 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1391 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1392 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1393 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1394 prompted for a level.
1397 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1398 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1399 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1400 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1401 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1402 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1403 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1404 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1405 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1406 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1407 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1408 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1409 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1410 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1411 for reasons of efficiency.
1413 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1414 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1416 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1417 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1418 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1420 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1421 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1422 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1423 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1424 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1425 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1426 relevant legal ranges.
1428 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1429 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1430 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1431 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1432 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1433 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1436 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1437 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1438 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1441 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1442 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1443 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1444 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1447 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1448 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1449 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1450 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1452 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1453 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1454 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1455 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1460 @section Group Score
1463 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1464 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1465 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1468 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1469 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1470 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1471 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1472 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1473 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1474 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1476 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1477 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1478 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1479 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1480 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1481 action after each summary exit, you can add
1482 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1483 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1484 slow things down somewhat.
1487 @node Marking Groups
1488 @section Marking Groups
1489 @cindex marking groups
1491 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1492 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1493 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1494 bidding on those groups.
1496 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1497 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1498 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1506 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1507 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1513 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1514 Remove the mark from the current group
1515 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1519 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1520 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1524 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1525 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1529 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1530 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1534 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1535 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1536 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1539 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1541 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1542 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1543 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1544 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1545 the command to be executed.
1548 @node Foreign Groups
1549 @section Foreign Groups
1551 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1552 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1553 special-purpose groups:
1559 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1560 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1561 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1562 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1566 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1567 Rename the current group to something else
1568 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
1569 mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
1574 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1575 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1576 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1580 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1581 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1582 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1586 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1587 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1588 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1592 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1593 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1594 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1598 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1599 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1603 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1604 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1605 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1606 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1607 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1608 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1609 group will be created from from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1613 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1614 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1615 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1616 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1620 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1621 Read a random directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1622 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1626 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1627 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1628 Make a group based on some file or other
1629 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1630 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1631 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1632 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1633 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1634 guess at the file type.
1637 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1638 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1639 This function will delete the current group
1640 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1641 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1642 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1643 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1647 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1648 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1649 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1653 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1654 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1655 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1658 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1661 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1662 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1663 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1664 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1665 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1668 @node Group Parameters
1669 @section Group Parameters
1670 @cindex group parameters
1672 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1673 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1674 Here's an example info.
1677 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1678 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1681 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1682 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1683 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1684 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1685 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1686 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1687 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1689 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1690 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1691 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1693 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1698 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1699 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1700 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1701 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1702 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1703 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1704 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1705 copies of your followups.
1707 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1708 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1709 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1710 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1711 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1712 list address instead.
1716 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1717 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1718 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1719 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1720 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1722 @item broken-reply-to
1723 @cindex broken-reply-to
1724 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1725 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1726 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1727 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1728 broken behavior. So there!
1732 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1733 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1737 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1738 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1739 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1742 @cindex total-expire
1743 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1744 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1749 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1750 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1751 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1752 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1753 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1754 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1757 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1758 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1759 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1762 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1763 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1764 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1765 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1768 This parameter allows you to enter a random comment on the group.
1770 @item @var{(variable form)}
1771 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1772 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1773 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1774 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1775 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1776 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1778 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1779 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1780 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1781 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1782 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1783 form, but who cares?
1787 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1788 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1790 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1791 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1794 @node Listing Groups
1795 @section Listing Groups
1796 @cindex group listing
1798 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1806 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1807 List all groups that have unread articles
1808 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1809 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1810 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1816 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1817 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1818 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1819 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1820 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1821 unsubscribed groups).
1825 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1826 List all unread groups on a specific level
1827 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1828 with no unread articles.
1832 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1833 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1834 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1835 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1840 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1841 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1845 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1846 List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
1847 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1851 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1852 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1856 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1857 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1858 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1859 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1860 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1865 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1866 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1867 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1871 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1872 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1873 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1877 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1878 @cindex visible group parameter
1879 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1880 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1881 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1882 get the same effect.
1884 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1885 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1886 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1887 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1888 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1891 @node Sorting Groups
1892 @section Sorting Groups
1893 @cindex sorting groups
1895 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1896 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1897 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1898 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1899 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1900 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1905 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1906 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1907 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1909 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1910 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1911 Sort by group level.
1913 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1914 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1915 Sort by group score.
1917 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1918 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1919 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1920 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1922 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1923 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1924 Sort by number of unread articles.
1926 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1927 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1928 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1933 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1934 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1938 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1939 some sorting criteria:
1943 @kindex G S a (Group)
1944 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1945 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1946 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1949 @kindex G S u (Group)
1950 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1951 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1952 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1955 @kindex G S l (Group)
1956 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1957 Sort the group buffer by group level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1961 @kindex G S v (Group)
1962 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1963 Sort the group buffer by group score
1964 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1967 @kindex G S r (Group)
1968 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1969 Sort the group buffer by group level
1970 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1973 @kindex G S m (Group)
1974 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1975 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1976 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1980 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1983 @node Group Maintenance
1984 @section Group Maintenance
1985 @cindex bogus groups
1990 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1991 Find bogus groups and delete them
1992 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1996 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1997 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1998 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2002 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2003 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2004 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2005 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2008 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2009 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2010 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2011 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2016 @node Browse Foreign Server
2017 @section Browse Foreign Server
2018 @cindex foreign servers
2019 @cindex browsing servers
2024 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2025 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2026 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2027 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2030 @findex gnus-browse-server-mode
2031 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2032 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-server-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2033 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2034 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2035 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2036 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2037 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2038 as you would any other group.
2040 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2043 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2048 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2049 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2053 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2054 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2057 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2058 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2059 Enter the current group and display the first article
2060 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2063 @kindex RET (Browse)
2064 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2065 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2070 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2071 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2077 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2078 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2082 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2083 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2084 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2089 @section Exiting Gnus
2090 @cindex exiting Gnus
2092 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2097 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2098 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2099 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2100 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2104 @findex gnus-group-exit
2105 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2109 @findex gnus-group-quit
2110 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2113 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2114 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2115 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2116 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2117 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2122 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2123 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2124 trying to customize meta-variables.
2129 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2130 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2131 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2137 @section Group Topics
2140 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2141 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2142 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2143 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2144 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2145 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2147 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2149 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2150 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2151 is a toggling command.)
2153 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2154 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2155 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2156 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2159 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2160 the hook for the group mode:
2163 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2167 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2168 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2169 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2173 @node Topic Variables
2174 @subsection Topic Variables
2175 @cindex topic variables
2177 @vindex gnus-topic-unique
2178 If @code{gnus-topic-unique} is non-@code{nil}, each group will be member
2179 of (tops) one topic each. If this is @code{nil}, each group might end
2180 up being a member of several topics.
2182 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2183 really neat, I think.
2185 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2186 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2187 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2188 Elements allowed are:
2200 Number of groups in the topic.
2202 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2204 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2207 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2208 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2209 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2210 The default is @code{2}.
2212 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2213 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2216 @node Topic Commands
2217 @subsection Topic Commands
2218 @cindex topic commands
2220 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2221 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2222 definitions slightly.
2228 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2229 Create a new topic (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}). You will be
2230 prompted for a topic name and the name of the parent topic.
2234 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2235 Move the current group to some other topic
2236 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2237 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2241 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2242 Copy the current group to some other topic
2243 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2244 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2248 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2249 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2250 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2251 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2255 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2256 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2257 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2261 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2262 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2263 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2267 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2269 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2270 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2271 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2272 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2273 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2274 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2278 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2279 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2280 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2281 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2285 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2286 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2290 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2291 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2292 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2296 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2297 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2300 @kindex T DEL (Group)
2301 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2302 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2306 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2307 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2308 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2313 @node Topic Topology
2314 @subsection Topic Topology
2315 @cindex topic topology
2318 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2324 2: alt.religion.emacs
2327 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2329 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2330 13: comp.sources.unix
2333 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2334 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2335 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2339 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2340 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2344 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2345 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2346 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2347 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2348 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2349 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2351 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2352 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2353 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2356 @node Misc Group Stuff
2357 @section Misc Group Stuff
2360 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2361 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2362 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2369 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2370 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2375 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2376 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2377 group name will be used as the default.
2381 @findex gnus-group-mail
2382 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2386 Variables for the group buffer:
2390 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2391 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2392 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2395 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2396 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2397 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2398 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2404 @node Scanning New Messages
2405 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2406 @cindex new messages
2407 @cindex scanning new news
2413 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2414 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2415 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2416 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2417 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2422 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2423 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2424 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2425 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2426 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2427 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2430 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2431 @cindex activating groups
2433 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2434 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-restart
2440 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2444 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2445 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2447 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2448 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2452 @node Group Information
2453 @subsection Group Information
2454 @cindex group information
2455 @cindex information on groups
2461 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2464 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2465 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2466 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2467 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2471 @cindex describing groups
2472 @cindex group description
2473 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2474 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2475 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2479 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2480 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2481 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2486 @findex gnus-version
2487 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2492 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2495 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2498 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2499 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2504 @subsection File Commands
2505 @cindex file commands
2511 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2512 @vindex gnus-init-file
2513 @cindex reading init file
2514 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2515 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2520 @cindex saving .newsrc
2521 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2522 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2523 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2527 @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2528 Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2533 @node The Summary Buffer
2534 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2535 @cindex summary buffer
2537 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2538 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2541 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2542 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2543 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2544 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2545 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2546 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2547 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2548 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2549 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2550 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2551 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2552 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2553 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2554 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2555 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2556 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2557 * Summary Sorting:: You can sort the summary buffer four ways.
2558 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2559 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2560 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2561 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2562 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2563 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2567 @node Summary Buffer Format
2568 @section Summary Buffer Format
2569 @cindex summary buffer format
2572 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2573 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2574 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2577 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2578 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2579 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2580 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2581 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2582 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2583 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2584 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2585 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2588 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2589 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2590 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2591 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2594 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2595 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2597 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2598 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2599 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2600 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2602 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2604 The following format specification characters are understood:
2612 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2615 Full @code{From} line.
2617 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2619 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2620 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2621 slower, but may be more thorough.
2623 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2626 Number of lines in the article.
2628 Number of characters in the article.
2630 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2632 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2633 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2635 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2636 for adopted articles.
2638 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2639 for adopted articles.
2641 One space for each thread level.
2643 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2651 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2652 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2653 default level. If the difference between
2654 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2655 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2667 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2668 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2670 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2672 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2673 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2674 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2675 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2676 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2677 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2680 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2681 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2682 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2683 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2684 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2685 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2687 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2688 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2690 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2693 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2694 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2696 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2697 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2698 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2699 elements you can play with:
2705 Unprefixed group name.
2707 Current article number.
2711 Number of unread articles in this group.
2713 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2715 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2716 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2717 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2718 and no unselected ones.
2720 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2721 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2723 Subject of the current article.
2727 Name of the current score file.
2729 Number of dormant articles.
2731 Number of ticked articles.
2733 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2735 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2739 @node Summary Highlighting
2740 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2744 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2745 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2746 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2747 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2748 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2750 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2751 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2752 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2753 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2755 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2756 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2757 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2758 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2760 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2761 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2762 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2763 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2764 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2765 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2767 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2768 ((> score default) . bold))
2770 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2771 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2775 @node Summary Maneuvering
2776 @section Summary Maneuvering
2777 @cindex summary movement
2779 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2780 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2782 None of these commands select articles.
2787 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2788 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2789 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2790 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2791 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2795 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2796 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2797 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2798 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2799 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2804 @kindex G g (Summary)
2805 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2806 Ask for an article number and then go to this summary line
2807 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2810 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2811 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2812 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2813 to the group buffer.
2815 Variables related to summary movement:
2819 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2820 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2821 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2822 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2823 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2824 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2825 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2826 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2827 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2828 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2829 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2830 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2831 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2832 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2834 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2835 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2836 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2837 article with the same subject as the current. This variable is not
2838 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2840 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2841 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2842 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2843 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2844 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2846 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2847 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2848 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2849 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2850 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2851 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2852 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2853 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2859 @node Choosing Articles
2860 @section Choosing Articles
2861 @cindex selecting articles
2863 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2864 and they all select and display an article.
2868 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2869 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2870 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2871 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2876 @kindex G n (Summary)
2877 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2878 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2883 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2884 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2889 @kindex G N (Summary)
2890 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2891 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2896 @kindex G P (Summary)
2897 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2898 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2901 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2902 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2903 Go to the next article with the same subject
2904 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2907 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2908 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2909 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2910 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2914 @kindex G f (Summary)
2916 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2917 Go to the first unread article
2918 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2922 @kindex G b (Summary)
2924 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2925 Go to the article with the highest score
2926 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2931 @kindex G l (Summary)
2932 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2933 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2936 @kindex G p (Summary)
2937 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2938 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2939 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2940 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2941 history as you like.
2944 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2947 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2948 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2949 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2950 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2951 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2952 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2954 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2955 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2956 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2957 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2959 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2960 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2961 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
2962 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
2963 @findex gnus-unread-mark
2964 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2965 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
2966 @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-and-read-as-read}, and will change the
2967 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
2968 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
2969 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
2970 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
2971 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
2972 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
2977 @node Paging the Article
2978 @section Scrolling the Article
2979 @cindex article scrolling
2984 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2985 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2986 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
2987 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
2988 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2991 @kindex DEL (Summary)
2992 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
2993 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
2996 @kindex RET (Summary)
2997 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
2998 Scroll the current article one line forward
2999 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3004 @kindex A < (Summary)
3005 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3006 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3007 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3012 @kindex A > (Summary)
3013 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3014 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3017 @kindex A s (Summary)
3018 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3019 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3020 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3025 @node Reply Followup and Post
3026 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3029 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3030 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3031 * Summary Mail and Post Commands:: Sending both news and mail.
3035 @node Summary Mail Commands
3036 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3038 @cindex composing mail
3040 Commands for composing a mail message:
3046 @kindex S r (Summary)
3048 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3049 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3050 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3055 @kindex S R (Summary)
3056 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3057 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3058 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3059 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3062 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3063 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3064 Forward the current article to some other person
3065 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3068 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3069 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3070 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3071 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3076 @kindex S m (Summary)
3077 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3078 Send a mail to some other person
3079 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3082 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3083 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3084 @vindex gnus-bounced-headers-junk
3085 @cindex bouncing mail
3086 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3087 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3088 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3089 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3090 sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
3091 @code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
3092 automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3093 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3094 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3095 very well fail, though.
3098 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3099 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3100 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3101 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3102 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3103 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3104 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3105 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3106 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3107 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3109 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3110 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3111 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3112 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3113 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3116 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3117 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3118 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3119 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3120 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3123 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3124 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3125 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3126 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3130 @node Summary Post Commands
3131 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3133 @cindex composing news
3135 Commands for posting an article:
3141 @kindex S p (Summary)
3142 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3143 Post an article to the current group
3144 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3149 @kindex S f (Summary)
3150 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3151 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3155 @kindex S F (Summary)
3157 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3158 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3159 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3160 process/prefix convention.
3163 @kindex S u (Summary)
3164 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3165 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3166 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3170 @node Summary Mail and Post Commands
3171 @subsection Summary Mail and Post Commands
3172 @cindex mail and post
3173 @cindex post and mail
3175 Commands for sending mail and post at the same time:
3179 @kindex S b (Summary)
3180 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply
3181 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article
3182 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply}).
3185 @kindex S B (Summary)
3186 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original
3187 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article and include the
3188 original message (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original}).
3189 This command uses the process/prefix convention.
3193 @node Canceling and Superseding
3194 @section Canceling Articles
3195 @cindex canceling articles
3196 @cindex superseding articles
3198 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3199 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3201 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3203 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3205 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3206 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3207 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3208 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3210 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3211 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3214 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3215 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3216 your original article.
3218 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3220 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3221 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3222 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3225 @vindex gnus-delete-supersedes-headers
3226 You probably want to delete some of the old headers before sending the
3227 superseding article---@code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
3228 incorrect. Set @code{gnus-delete-supersedes-headers} to a regexp to
3229 match the lines you want removed. The default is
3230 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date}.
3232 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3233 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3234 have posted almost the same article twice.
3236 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3237 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3238 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3239 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3240 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3241 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3242 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3243 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3244 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3246 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3249 @node Marking Articles
3250 @section Marking Articles
3251 @cindex article marking
3252 @cindex article ticking
3255 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3257 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3258 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3259 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3261 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3264 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3265 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3266 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3270 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3274 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3275 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3279 @node Unread Articles
3280 @subsection Unread Articles
3282 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3284 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3285 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3288 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3289 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3290 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3291 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3292 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3293 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3296 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3297 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3298 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3299 if there are followups to it.
3302 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3303 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3304 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3310 @subsection Read Articles
3311 @cindex expirable mark
3313 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3318 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3319 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3320 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3321 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3324 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3325 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3326 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3329 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3330 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3331 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3334 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3335 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3338 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3339 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3342 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3343 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3346 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3347 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3350 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3351 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3354 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3355 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3358 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3359 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3362 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3363 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3366 One more special mark, though:
3370 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3371 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3372 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3373 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3374 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3375 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3376 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3381 @subsection Other Marks
3382 @cindex process mark
3385 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3391 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3392 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3393 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3394 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3395 encounters the article.
3398 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3399 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3400 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3401 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3404 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3405 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3406 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3409 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3410 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3411 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3412 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3415 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3416 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3417 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3418 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3419 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3422 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3423 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3424 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3425 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3426 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3427 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3431 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3432 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3433 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3435 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3436 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3437 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3441 @subsection Setting Marks
3442 @cindex setting marks
3444 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3450 @kindex M t (Summary)
3451 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3452 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3457 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3458 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3459 Mark the current article as dormant
3460 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3464 @kindex M d (Summary)
3466 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3467 Mark the current article as read
3468 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3473 @kindex M k (Summary)
3474 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3475 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3476 and then select the next unread article
3477 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3481 @kindex M K (Summary)
3482 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3483 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3484 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3485 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3488 @kindex M C (Summary)
3489 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3490 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3491 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3494 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3495 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3496 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3497 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3500 @kindex M H (Summary)
3501 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3502 Catchup the current group to point
3503 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3506 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3507 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3508 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3509 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3512 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3513 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3514 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3515 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3519 @kindex M c (Summary)
3520 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3521 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3522 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3523 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3527 @kindex M e (Summary)
3529 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3530 Mark the current article as expirable
3531 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3534 @kindex M b (Summary)
3535 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3536 Set a bookmark in the current article
3537 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3540 @kindex M B (Summary)
3541 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3542 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3543 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3546 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3547 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3548 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3549 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3552 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3553 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3554 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3555 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3558 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3559 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3560 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3561 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3562 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3565 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3566 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3567 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3568 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3569 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3570 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3571 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3572 The default is @code{t}.
3575 @node Setting Process Marks
3576 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3577 @cindex setting process marks
3584 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3585 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3586 Mark the current article with the process mark
3587 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3588 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3592 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3593 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3594 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3595 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3598 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3599 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3600 Remove the process mark from all articles
3601 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3604 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3605 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3606 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3609 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3610 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3611 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3614 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3615 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3616 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3617 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3620 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3621 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3622 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3623 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3626 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3627 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3628 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3629 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3632 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3634 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3637 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3639 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3640 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3643 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3644 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3645 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3648 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3649 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3650 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3651 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3659 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3660 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3661 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3668 @kindex / / (Summary)
3669 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3670 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3671 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3674 @kindex / a (Summary)
3675 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3676 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3677 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3681 @kindex / u (Summary)
3683 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3684 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3685 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3686 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3687 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3690 @kindex / m (Summary)
3691 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3692 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3693 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3696 @kindex / n (Summary)
3697 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3698 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3699 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3700 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3703 @kindex / w (Summary)
3704 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3705 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3706 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3710 @kindex / v (Summary)
3711 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3712 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3713 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3717 @kindex M S (Summary)
3718 @kindex / E (Summary)
3719 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3720 Display all expunged articles
3721 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3724 @kindex / D (Summary)
3725 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3726 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3729 @kindex / d (Summary)
3730 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3731 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3734 @kindex / c (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3736 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3737 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3740 @kindex / C (Summary)
3741 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3742 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3743 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3744 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3752 @cindex article threading
3754 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3755 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3759 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3760 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3764 @node Customizing Threading
3765 @subsection Customizing Threading
3766 @cindex customizing threading
3772 @item gnus-show-threads
3773 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3774 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3775 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3776 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3777 slower and more awkward.
3779 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3780 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3781 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3782 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3783 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3784 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3785 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3786 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3787 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3788 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3789 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3790 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3792 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3793 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3794 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3795 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3796 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3797 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3798 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3799 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3800 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3801 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3802 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3803 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3804 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3805 @code{nil} by default.
3807 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3808 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3809 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3810 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3811 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3812 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3813 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3814 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3815 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3816 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3817 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3819 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3820 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3821 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3823 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3824 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3825 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3826 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3827 simplification is used.
3829 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3830 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3831 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3832 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3834 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3836 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3839 (mapconcat 'identity
3841 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3842 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3843 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3844 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3849 (mapconcat 'identity
3850 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3852 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3855 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3858 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3859 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3860 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3861 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3862 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
3863 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3864 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3865 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
3867 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3868 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3869 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3870 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3871 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3872 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3873 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3874 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3875 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3879 @item gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-subject
3880 @findex gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-subject
3881 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3882 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3884 @item gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references
3885 @findex gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references
3886 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3889 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3893 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3894 'gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references)
3897 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3898 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3899 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3900 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3901 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3902 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3904 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3905 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3906 There are four possible values:
3908 @cindex adopting articles
3913 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3914 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3915 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3916 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3919 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3920 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3921 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3922 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3923 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3924 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3925 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3928 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3929 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3930 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3934 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3935 display them after one another.
3938 Don't gather loose threads.
3941 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3942 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3943 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3946 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3947 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3948 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3951 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3952 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3953 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3954 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3955 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3958 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3959 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3960 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3961 The default is @code{4}.
3965 @node Thread Commands
3966 @subsection Thread Commands
3967 @cindex thread commands
3973 @kindex T k (Summary)
3974 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3975 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3976 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
3977 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
3978 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
3983 @kindex T l (Summary)
3984 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
3985 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
3986 Lower the score of the current thread
3987 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
3990 @kindex T i (Summary)
3991 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
3992 Increase the score of the current thread
3993 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
3996 @kindex T # (Summary)
3997 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3998 Set the process mark on the current thread
3999 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4002 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4003 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4004 Remove the process mark from the current thread
4005 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4008 @kindex T T (Summary)
4009 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4010 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4013 @kindex T s (Summary)
4014 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4015 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
4016 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4019 @kindex T h (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4021 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4024 @kindex T S (Summary)
4025 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4026 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4029 @kindex T H (Summary)
4030 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4031 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4034 @kindex T t (Summary)
4035 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4036 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4037 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4038 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4041 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4042 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4043 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4044 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4048 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4049 understand the numeric prefix.
4054 @kindex T n (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4056 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4059 @kindex T p (Summary)
4060 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4061 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4064 @kindex T d (Summary)
4065 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4066 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4069 @kindex T u (Summary)
4070 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4071 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4074 @kindex T o (Summary)
4075 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4076 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4079 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4080 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4081 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4082 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4083 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4084 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4085 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4086 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4087 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4088 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4089 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4090 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4093 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4094 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4095 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4097 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4098 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4099 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4100 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4101 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4103 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4104 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4106 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4107 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4108 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4109 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4110 connection is blocked.
4112 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4113 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4114 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4115 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4117 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4118 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4119 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4120 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4123 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4126 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4127 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4128 happen automatically.
4130 @vindex nntp-async-number
4131 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4132 @code{nntp-async-number}. This is five by default, which means that when
4133 you read an article in the group, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch the next
4134 five articles. If this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch
4135 all the articles that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no
4136 pre-fetching will be made.
4138 @vindex gnus-asynchronous-article-function
4139 You may wish to create some sort of scheme for choosing which articles
4140 that @code{nntp} should consider as candidates for pre-fetching. For
4141 instance, you may wish to pre-fetch all articles with high scores, and
4142 not pre-fetch low-scored articles. You can do that by setting the
4143 @code{gnus-asynchronous-article-function}, which will be called with an
4144 alist where the keys are the article numbers. Your function should
4145 return an alist where the articles you are not interested in have been
4146 removed. You could also do sorting on article score and the like.
4149 @node Article Caching
4150 @section Article Caching
4151 @cindex article caching
4154 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4155 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4156 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4157 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4158 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4160 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4162 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4163 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4164 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4165 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4166 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4167 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4168 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4169 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4171 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4172 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4173 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4174 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4175 as dormant, and don't worry.
4177 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4179 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4180 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4181 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4182 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4183 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4184 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4185 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4186 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4187 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4188 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4190 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4191 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4192 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4193 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4194 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4195 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4196 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4198 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4199 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4200 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4201 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4202 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4203 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4204 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4207 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4208 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4209 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4210 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4211 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4212 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4213 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4214 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4215 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4219 @node Persistent Articles
4220 @section Persistent Articles
4221 @cindex persistent articles
4223 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4224 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4225 useful in my opinion.
4227 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4228 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4229 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4230 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4231 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4232 the expiry going on at the news server.
4234 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4235 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4236 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4242 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4243 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4246 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4247 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4248 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4249 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4253 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4255 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4256 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4257 interested in persistent articles:
4260 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4264 @node Article Backlog
4265 @section Article Backlog
4267 @cindex article backlog
4269 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4270 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4271 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4272 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4273 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4274 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4275 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4276 increase memory usage some.
4278 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4279 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4280 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4281 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4282 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will group without
4283 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4284 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4286 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4289 @node Saving Articles
4290 @section Saving Articles
4291 @cindex saving articles
4293 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4294 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4295 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4296 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4297 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4299 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4300 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4301 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4303 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4304 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4305 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4306 deleted before saving.
4312 @kindex O o (Summary)
4314 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4315 Save the current article using the default article saver
4316 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4319 @kindex O m (Summary)
4320 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4321 Save the current article in mail format
4322 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4325 @kindex O r (Summary)
4326 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4327 Save the current article in rmail format
4328 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4331 @kindex O f (Summary)
4332 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4333 Save the current article in plain file format
4334 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4337 @kindex O b (Summary)
4338 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4339 Save the current article body in plain file format
4340 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4343 @kindex O h (Summary)
4344 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4345 Save the current article in mh folder format
4346 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4349 @kindex O p (Summary)
4350 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4351 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4352 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4355 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4356 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4357 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4358 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4359 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4360 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4361 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4362 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4363 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4364 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4365 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4366 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4370 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4371 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4372 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4373 functions below, or you can create your own.
4377 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4378 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4379 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4380 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4381 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4382 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4383 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4385 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4386 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4387 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4388 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4389 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4390 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4392 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4393 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4394 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4395 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4396 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4397 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4398 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4400 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4401 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4402 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4403 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4404 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4406 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4407 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4408 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4409 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4410 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4413 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4414 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4415 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4416 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4417 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4418 the latter does not.
4420 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4421 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4422 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4423 reader to use this setting.
4426 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4427 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4428 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4429 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4432 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4433 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4434 available functions that generate names:
4438 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4439 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4440 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4442 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4443 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4444 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4446 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4447 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4448 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4450 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4451 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4452 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4455 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4456 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
4457 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4458 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4459 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4463 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4464 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4465 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4466 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4469 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4470 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4471 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4472 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function); or it
4473 can be a list (which will be @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions
4474 have a non-@code{nil} result, the @dfn{file} will be used as a default
4475 prompt. In addition, the result of the operation itself will be used if
4476 the function or form called returns a string or a list of strings.
4478 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4479 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4480 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4481 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4483 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4484 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4485 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4488 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4489 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4490 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4491 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4492 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4493 all the files in the toplevel directory
4494 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4495 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4496 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4497 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4499 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4500 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4501 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4502 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4503 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4506 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4510 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4511 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4514 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4515 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4516 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4517 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4520 @node Decoding Articles
4521 @section Decoding Articles
4522 @cindex decoding articles
4524 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4525 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4528 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4529 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4530 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4531 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4532 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4535 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4536 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4537 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4538 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4539 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4541 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4542 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4543 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4545 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4546 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4547 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4549 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4550 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4551 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4554 @node Uuencoded Articles
4555 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4557 @cindex uuencoded articles
4562 @kindex X u (Summary)
4563 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4564 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4567 @kindex X U (Summary)
4568 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4569 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4570 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4573 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4574 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4575 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4578 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4579 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4580 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4581 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4584 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4585 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
4586 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4587 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4588 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4590 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4591 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4592 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4593 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4596 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4597 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4598 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4599 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4600 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4601 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4605 @node Shared Articles
4606 @subsection Shared Articles
4608 @cindex shared articles
4613 @kindex X s (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4615 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4618 @kindex X S (Summary)
4619 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4620 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4623 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4624 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4625 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4628 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4629 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4630 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4631 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4635 @node PostScript Files
4636 @subsection PostScript Files
4642 @kindex X p (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4644 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4647 @kindex X P (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4649 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4650 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4653 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4655 View the current PostScript series
4656 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4659 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4660 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4661 View and save the current PostScript series
4662 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4666 @node Decoding Variables
4667 @subsection Decoding Variables
4669 Adjective, not verb.
4672 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4673 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4674 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4678 @node Rule Variables
4679 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4680 @cindex rule variables
4682 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4683 variables are on the form
4686 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4693 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4694 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4696 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4697 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4700 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4701 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4704 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4705 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4706 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4707 user and default view rules.
4709 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4710 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4711 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
4716 @node Other Decode Variables
4717 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
4720 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4722 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4723 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
4724 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
4725 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
4726 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
4730 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
4731 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
4734 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
4735 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
4736 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
4739 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4740 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4741 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
4743 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4744 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4745 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
4746 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
4747 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
4750 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4751 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4752 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
4754 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4755 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4756 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
4757 looking for files to display.
4759 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
4760 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
4761 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
4764 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4765 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4766 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
4769 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4770 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4771 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
4774 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4775 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4776 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
4779 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4780 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4781 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
4782 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
4784 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4785 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4786 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
4787 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
4789 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4790 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4792 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
4793 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
4794 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
4795 @code{metamail} for viewing.
4797 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4798 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4799 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
4800 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
4801 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
4802 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
4803 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
4804 simply dropped them.
4809 @node Uuencoding and Posting
4810 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
4814 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4815 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4816 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
4817 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
4818 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
4819 for you when you post the article.
4821 @item gnus-uu-post-length
4822 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
4823 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
4824 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
4826 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
4827 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
4828 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
4829 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
4830 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
4831 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
4832 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
4834 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4835 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4836 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
4837 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
4838 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
4839 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
4840 Default is @code{t}.
4846 @subsection Viewing Files
4847 @cindex viewing files
4848 @cindex pseudo-articles
4850 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
4851 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
4852 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
4853 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
4854 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
4855 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
4856 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
4858 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
4859 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
4860 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
4861 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
4863 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
4864 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
4865 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
4867 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
4868 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
4869 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
4870 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
4871 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
4873 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
4874 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
4875 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
4876 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
4877 a list of parameters to that command.
4879 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
4880 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
4881 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
4883 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
4884 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
4885 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
4888 @node Article Treatment
4889 @section Article Treatment
4891 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
4892 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
4893 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
4894 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
4895 these articles easier.
4898 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
4899 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
4900 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
4901 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
4902 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
4906 @node Article Highlighting
4907 @subsection Article Highlighting
4910 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
4911 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
4916 @kindex W H a (Summary)
4917 @findex gnus-article-highlight
4918 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
4921 @kindex W H h (Summary)
4922 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
4923 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
4924 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
4925 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
4926 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
4927 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
4928 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
4929 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
4930 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
4931 prepended---Gnus will add one.
4934 @kindex W H c (Summary)
4935 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
4936 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
4938 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
4941 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4943 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4944 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
4945 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
4947 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4948 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4949 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
4951 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
4952 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
4953 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
4955 @item gnus-cite-face-list
4956 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
4957 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
4958 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
4959 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
4962 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
4963 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
4964 Regexp matching normal SuperCite attribution lines.
4966 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4967 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4968 Regexp matching mangled SuperCite attribution lines.
4970 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4971 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4972 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
4973 that it's a citation.
4975 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4976 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4977 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
4979 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4980 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4981 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
4983 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
4984 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
4985 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
4986 cited text belonging to the attribution.
4992 @kindex W H s (Summary)
4993 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
4994 @vindex gnus-signature-face
4995 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
4996 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
4997 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} in an article will be
4998 considered a signature and will be highlighted with
4999 @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by default.
5004 @node Article Hiding
5005 @subsection Article Hiding
5006 @cindex article hiding
5008 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5009 too much cruft in most articles.
5014 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5015 @findex gnus-article-hide
5016 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5019 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5021 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5025 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5027 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5028 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5031 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5033 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
5036 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5038 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5041 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5042 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5043 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5044 customizing the hiding:
5048 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5049 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5050 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5051 50), hide the cited text.
5053 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5054 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5055 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5058 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5059 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5060 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5061 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5062 by this format-like variable. These specs are legal:
5066 Start point of the hidden text.
5068 End point of the hidden text.
5070 Length of the hidden text.
5073 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5074 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5075 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5080 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5082 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5083 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5084 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5085 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5089 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5090 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5091 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5093 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5094 citation customization.
5096 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5097 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5098 signature. If it is a number, no signature may not be longer (in
5099 characters) than that number. If it is a function, the function will be
5100 called without any parameters, and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no
5101 signature in the buffer. If it is a string, it will be used as a
5102 regexp. If it matches, the text in question is not a signature.
5105 @node Article Washing
5106 @subsection Article Washing
5108 @cindex article washing
5110 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5111 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5113 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5114 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5120 @kindex W l (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5122 Remove page breaks from the current article
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5126 @kindex W r (Summary)
5127 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5128 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5129 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5132 @kindex A g (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5134 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5135 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5136 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5137 the way it came from the server.
5140 @kindex W t (Summary)
5141 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5142 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5143 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5146 @kindex W v (Summary)
5147 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5148 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5149 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5152 @kindex W m (Summary)
5153 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5154 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5158 @kindex W o (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5160 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5163 @kindex W w (Summary)
5164 @findex gnus-article-word-wrap
5165 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-word-wrap}).
5168 @kindex W c (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5170 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5173 @kindex W L (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5175 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5176 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5179 @kindex W q (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5181 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5184 @kindex W f (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5187 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5188 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5189 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5190 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5191 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5192 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If
5193 this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell.
5194 If it is a function, this function will be called with the face as the
5195 argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp)
5196 matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5199 @kindex W b (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5201 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5204 @kindex W B (Summary)
5205 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5206 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5207 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5212 @node Article Buttons
5213 @subsection Article Buttons
5216 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5217 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5218 with the minimum of fuzz.
5220 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5221 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5222 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5227 @item gnus-button-alist
5228 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5229 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5232 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5238 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5239 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5240 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5243 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5244 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5245 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5248 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5249 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5250 avoid false matches.
5253 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5256 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5257 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5261 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5264 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5267 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5268 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5269 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5270 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5271 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5274 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5277 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5279 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5280 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5281 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5282 default values of the variables above.
5284 @item gnus-article-button-face
5285 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5286 Face used on bottons.
5288 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5289 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5290 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5296 @subsection Article Date
5298 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5299 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5300 when the article was sent.
5305 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5306 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5307 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5308 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5311 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5313 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5316 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5318 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5319 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5322 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5324 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5325 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5326 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5327 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5328 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5333 @node Summary Sorting
5334 @section Summary Sorting
5335 @cindex summary sorting
5337 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5338 can't really see why you'd want that.
5343 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5344 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5345 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5348 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5350 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5353 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5355 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5358 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5359 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5360 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5363 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5364 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5365 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5368 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5369 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5370 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5371 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5372 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5376 @node Finding the Parent
5377 @section Finding the Parent
5378 @cindex parent articles
5379 @cindex referring articles
5381 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5383 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5384 displayed in the article buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5385 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5386 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5387 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5388 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5389 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5390 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5392 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5393 @kindex A R (Summary)
5394 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5395 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5396 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5398 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5399 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5400 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5401 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5402 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5403 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5404 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5405 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5407 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5408 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5409 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5410 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5411 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5412 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5413 not really necessary.
5415 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5416 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5417 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5418 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5419 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5420 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5423 @node Alternative Approaches
5424 @section Alternative Approaches
5426 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5427 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5430 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5431 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5436 @subsection Pick and Read
5437 @cindex pick and read
5439 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5440 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5441 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5442 an article buffer displayed.
5444 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5445 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5446 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5447 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5448 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5449 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5452 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5456 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5458 Pick the article (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5462 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5463 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5467 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5468 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5472 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5473 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5477 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5478 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5482 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5483 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5487 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5488 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5492 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5493 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5497 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5498 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5502 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5503 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5507 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5508 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5512 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5513 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5514 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5515 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5516 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5517 will still be visible when you are reading.
5521 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5524 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5527 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5528 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5532 @subsection Binary Groups
5533 @cindex binary groups
5535 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5536 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5537 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5538 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5539 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5540 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5541 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5544 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5545 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5546 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5548 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5549 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5553 @section Tree Display
5556 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5557 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5558 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5559 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5562 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5565 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5566 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5567 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5569 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5570 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5571 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5572 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5575 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5576 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5577 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5578 default is @code{modeline}.
5580 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5581 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5582 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5583 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5584 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
5585 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5586 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5592 The name of the poster.
5594 The @code{From} header.
5596 The number of the article.
5598 The opening bracket.
5600 The closing bracket.
5605 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5607 Variables related to the display are:
5610 @item gnus-tree-brackets
5611 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
5612 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
5613 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
5614 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
5615 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
5617 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5618 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5619 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
5620 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
5624 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
5625 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
5626 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
5627 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
5628 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
5629 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
5631 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
5632 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
5633 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
5634 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
5635 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
5636 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
5637 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
5641 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
5644 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
5654 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
5658 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
5659 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
5661 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
5663 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
5669 @node Mail Group Commands
5670 @section Mail Group Commands
5671 @cindex mail group commands
5673 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
5674 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
5676 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
5677 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5682 @kindex B e (Summary)
5683 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
5684 Expire all expirable articles in the group
5685 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
5688 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
5689 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
5690 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
5691 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
5692 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
5693 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
5696 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
5697 @findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
5698 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
5699 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
5700 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
5703 @kindex B m (Summary)
5705 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
5706 Move the article from one mail group to another
5707 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5710 @kindex B c (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
5713 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
5714 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
5717 @kindex B C (Summary)
5718 @cindex crosspost mail
5719 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
5720 Crosspost the current article to some other group
5721 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
5722 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
5723 be properly updated.
5726 @kindex B i (Summary)
5727 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
5728 Import a random file into the current mail newsgroup
5729 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
5730 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
5732 Something similar can be done by just starting to compose a mail
5733 message. Instead of typing @kbd{C-c C-c} to mail it off, you can type
5734 @kbd{C-c M-C-p} instead. This will put the message you have just created
5735 into the current mail group.
5738 @kindex B r (Summary)
5739 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
5740 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5744 @kindex B w (Summary)
5746 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
5747 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
5748 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
5749 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
5750 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
5753 @kindex B q (Summary)
5754 @findex gnus-summary-fancy-query
5755 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
5756 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
5757 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-fancy-query}).
5760 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
5761 @cindex moving articles
5762 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
5763 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
5764 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
5765 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
5766 suggestions you find reasonable.
5769 @node Various Summary Stuff
5770 @section Various Summary Stuff
5773 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
5774 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
5775 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
5779 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
5780 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
5781 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
5783 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
5784 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
5785 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
5786 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
5787 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
5788 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
5791 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5792 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5793 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
5794 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
5795 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
5800 @node Summary Group Information
5801 @subsection Summary Group Information
5806 @kindex H f (Summary)
5807 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
5808 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5809 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
5810 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
5811 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
5812 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5813 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5814 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
5818 @kindex H d (Summary)
5819 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
5820 Give a brief description of the current group
5821 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
5822 rereading the description from the server.
5825 @kindex H h (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
5827 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
5828 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
5831 @kindex H i (Summary)
5832 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5833 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5837 @node Searching for Articles
5838 @subsection Searching for Articles
5843 @kindex M-s (Summary)
5844 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
5845 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
5846 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
5849 @kindex M-r (Summary)
5850 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
5851 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
5852 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
5856 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
5857 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
5858 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
5859 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
5862 @kindex M-& (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
5864 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
5865 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
5869 @node Really Various Summary Commands
5870 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
5875 @kindex A D (Summary)
5876 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
5877 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
5878 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
5879 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
5880 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
5881 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
5882 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
5883 some format, you @kbd{A D} and read these messages in a more convenient
5887 @kindex C-t (Summary)
5888 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
5889 Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
5893 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
5894 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
5895 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
5899 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
5900 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
5901 @cindex summary exit
5902 @cindex exiting groups
5904 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
5905 group and return you to the group buffer.
5911 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
5913 @findex gnus-summary-exit
5914 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
5915 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
5916 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
5917 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
5918 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
5919 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
5920 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
5925 @kindex Z E (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
5928 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
5929 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
5933 @kindex Z c (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
5936 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
5940 @kindex Z C (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
5942 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
5946 @kindex Z n (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
5948 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
5949 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
5952 @kindex Z R (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
5954 Exit this group, and then enter it again
5955 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
5956 all articles, both read and unread.
5960 @kindex Z G (Summary)
5961 @kindex M-g (Summary)
5962 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
5963 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
5964 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
5965 articles, both read and unread.
5968 @kindex Z N (Summary)
5969 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
5970 Exit the group and go to the next group
5971 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
5974 @kindex Z P (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
5976 Exit the group and go to the previous group
5977 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
5980 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
5981 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
5984 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
5985 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
5986 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
5987 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
5988 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
5989 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
5990 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
5991 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
5992 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
5993 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
5994 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
5995 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
5997 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
5999 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6000 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6001 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6002 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6003 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6004 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6005 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6006 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6007 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
6011 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6012 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6013 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6014 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6015 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6018 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6019 separately to several groups is not.
6021 @cindex cross-posting
6024 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6025 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6026 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6027 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6028 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6029 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6030 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6031 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6032 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6033 the cross reference mechanism.
6035 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6036 @cindex overview.fmt
6037 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6038 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp} and then
6039 say @samp{LIST overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and
6040 the last line you get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should
6041 shout and whine at your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref}
6042 header in the overview files.
6044 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6045 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6046 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6052 @node The Article Buffer
6053 @chapter The Article Buffer
6054 @cindex article buffer
6056 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6057 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6058 tell Gnus otherwise.
6061 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6062 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6063 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6064 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6065 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6069 @node Hiding Headers
6070 @section Hiding Headers
6071 @cindex hiding headers
6072 @cindex deleting headers
6074 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6075 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6077 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6078 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6079 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6080 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6081 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6082 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6083 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6084 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6085 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6087 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6091 @item gnus-visible-headers
6092 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6093 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6094 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6095 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6097 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6098 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6101 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6104 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6107 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6108 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6109 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6110 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6111 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6112 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6114 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6115 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6118 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6121 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6124 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6125 variable will have no effect.
6129 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6130 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6131 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6132 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6133 the headers are to be displayed.
6135 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6136 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6139 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6142 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6143 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6144 are listed in this variable.
6146 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6147 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6148 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6149 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6150 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6151 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6152 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6153 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6154 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6156 These conditions are:
6159 Remove all empty headers.
6161 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6164 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6165 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6167 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6170 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6174 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6177 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6178 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6181 This is also the default value for this variable.
6185 @section Using @sc{mime}
6188 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6189 while people stand around yawning.
6191 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6192 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6194 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6195 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6196 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6198 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6199 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6200 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6201 @findex metamail-buffer
6202 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6203 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6204 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6205 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6206 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6207 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6209 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6210 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6211 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6212 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6213 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6214 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6215 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6216 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6217 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6219 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6222 @node Customizing Articles
6223 @section Customizing Articles
6224 @cindex article customization
6226 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6227 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6228 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6229 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6231 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6232 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6233 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6234 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6235 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6236 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6237 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6240 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6241 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6242 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6243 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6244 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6247 @node Article Keymap
6248 @section Article Keymap
6250 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6251 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6252 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6253 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6256 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6261 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6262 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6263 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6266 @kindex DEL (Article)
6267 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6268 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6271 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6272 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6273 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6274 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6275 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6278 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6279 @findex gnus-article-mail
6280 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6281 given a prefix, include the mail.
6285 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6286 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6287 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6291 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6292 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6293 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6296 @kindex TAB (Article)
6297 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6298 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6299 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6302 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6303 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6304 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6310 @section Misc Article
6314 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6315 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6316 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6317 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6320 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6321 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6322 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6323 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6324 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6325 the contents of the article buffer.
6327 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6328 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6329 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6330 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6331 hiding headers, and the like.
6333 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6334 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6335 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6337 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6338 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6339 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6340 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
6341 format specifications as that variable.
6342 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6344 @item gnus-break-pages
6345 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6346 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6347 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6348 paging will not be done.
6350 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6351 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6352 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6357 @node Composing Messages
6358 @chapter Composing Messages
6363 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
6364 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a post or mail
6365 buffer where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
6366 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. If you are in a foreign news group,
6367 and you wish to post the article using the foreign server, you can give
6368 a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c} to make Gnus try to post using the foreign
6372 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
6373 * Post:: Posting and following up.
6374 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
6375 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
6376 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
6377 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
6378 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
6379 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
6382 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
6383 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
6389 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
6392 @item gnus-reply-to-function
6393 @vindex gnus-reply-to-function
6394 Gnus uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go, but
6395 you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with this
6398 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
6399 @code{From} in the group @samp{mail.stupid-list}, you could do something
6403 (setq gnus-reply-to-function
6405 (cond ((string= group "mail.stupid-list")
6406 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
6411 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
6414 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
6415 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
6416 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
6417 header will be used.
6419 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
6420 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
6421 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
6422 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
6423 the head of the outgoing mail.
6425 @item gnus-mail-send-method
6426 @vindex gnus-mail-send-method
6427 @vindex send-mail-function
6428 @findex sendmail-send-it
6429 This variable says how a mail should be mailed. It uses the function in
6430 the @code{send-mail-function} variable as the default, which usually is
6431 @code{sendmail-send-it}.
6433 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
6434 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
6435 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
6436 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
6438 @item gnus-mail-hook
6439 @vindex gnus-mail-hook
6440 Hook called as the last thing after setting up a mail buffer.
6442 @item gnus-required-mail-headers
6443 @vindex gnus-required-mail-headers
6445 Gnus will generate headers in all outgoing mail instead of letting
6446 @code{sendmail} do it for us. This makes it possible to do more neat
6447 stuff, like putting mail without sending it, do hairy @code{Fcc}
6448 handling, and much more. This variable controls what headers Gnus will
6449 generate, and is of the exact same form as @code{gnus-required-headers},
6450 which does the same for news articles (@pxref{Post}).
6453 The @code{Newsgroups} header is illegal in this list, while @code{To} is
6454 required, and @code{X-Mailer} can be added if you so should want.
6456 @vindex gnus-forward-start-separator
6457 @item gnus-forward-start-separator
6458 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages.
6460 @vindex gnus-forward-end-separator
6461 @item gnus-forward-end-separator
6462 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages.
6464 @vindex gnus-signature-before-forwarded-message
6465 @item gnus-signature-before-forwarded-message
6466 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
6467 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
6468 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
6470 @item gnus-forward-included-headers
6471 @vindex gnus-forward-included-headers
6472 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages. It
6473 uses the same regexp as @code{gnus-visible-headers} by default.
6477 @kindex C-c M-C-c (Mail)
6478 @kindex C-c M-C-p (Mail)
6479 @findex gnus-put-message
6480 You normally send a mail message by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. However,
6481 you may wish to just put the mail message you have just written in your
6482 own local mail group instead of sending it. Sounds quite unlikely, but
6483 I found that useful, so you can now also press @kbd{C-c M-C-p} to
6484 @dfn{put} the article in the current mail group, or, if there is no such
6485 thing, you will be prompted for a mail group, and then the article will
6486 be put there. This means that the article is @dfn{not} mailed.
6488 @findex gnus-kill-message-buffer
6489 @cindex kill mail buffer
6490 @kindex C-x k (Mail)
6491 @kindex C-x k (Post)
6492 If enter a mail (or post) buffer and then decide not to compose a
6493 message after all, you'd normally just kill the buffer with @kbd{C-x k}.
6494 However, since the mail and post buffers are associated with articles in
6495 the draft group, this will leave lots of rubbish articles in the draft
6496 group. To avoid that problem, kill mail and post buffer with @kbd{C-c
6497 C-k} (@code{gnus-kill-message-buffer}) instead. This will make sure
6498 that everything is properly cleaned up before the buffer is killed.
6500 @vindex gnus-mail-method
6501 There are three ``methods'' for handling all mail. The default is
6502 @code{sendmail}. Some people like what @code{mh} does better, and some
6503 people prefer @code{vm}. Set @code{gnus-mail-method} to the one you
6504 think is way koolest.
6506 Three variables for customizing what to use when:
6510 @vindex gnus-mail-reply-method
6511 @item gnus-mail-reply-method
6512 This function is used to compose replies. The three functions available
6515 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-vm
6516 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-mhe
6517 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-mail
6520 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-mail} (sendmail)
6522 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-mhe} (mh)
6524 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-vm} (vm)
6527 @vindex gnus-mail-forward-method
6528 @item gnus-mail-forward-method
6529 This function is used to forward messages. The three functions available
6532 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-vm
6533 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-mhe
6534 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-mail
6537 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-mail} (sendmail)
6539 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-mhe} (mh)
6541 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-vm} (vm)
6544 @vindex gnus-mail-other-window-method
6545 @item gnus-mail-other-window-method
6546 This function is used to send mails. The three functions available are:
6548 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-vm
6549 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-mhe
6550 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-mail
6553 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-mail} (sendmail)
6555 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-mhe} (mh)
6557 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-vm} (vm)
6566 Variables for composing news articles:
6568 @vindex gnus-required-headers
6569 @code{gnus-required-headers} a list of header symbols. These headers
6570 will either be automatically generated, or, if that's impossible, they
6571 will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
6577 @findex gnus-inews-user-name
6578 @vindex gnus-user-from-line
6579 @vindex gnus-user-login-name
6580 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6581 @vindex user-mail-address
6582 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
6583 @code{gnus-inews-user-name} function, which depends on the
6584 @code{gnus-user-from-line}, @code{gnus-user-login-name},
6585 @code{gnus-local-domain} and @code{user-mail-address} variables.
6589 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
6593 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
6594 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
6597 @cindex organization
6598 @vindex gnus-local-organization
6599 @vindex gnus-organization-file
6600 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
6601 @code{gnus-local-organization} variable. @code{gnus-organization-file}
6602 will be used if that variable is nil.
6606 This optional header will be computed by Gnus.
6610 This required header will be generated by Gnus. A unique ID will be
6611 created based on date, time, user name and system name.
6614 @cindex X-Newsreader
6615 This optional header will be filled out with the Gnus version numbers.
6618 @vindex gnus-article-expires
6620 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
6621 @code{gnus-article-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and
6622 shouldn't be used unless you know what you're doing.
6625 @cindex Distribution
6626 @findex gnus-distribution-function
6627 This optional header is filled out according to the
6628 @code{gnus-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and much
6629 misunderstood header.
6633 @vindex gnus-use-generic-path
6634 This extremely optional header should probably not ever be used.
6635 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
6636 present. @code{gnus-use-generic-path} further controls how this
6637 @code{Path} header is to look. If is is @code{nil}, the the server name
6638 as the leaf node. If is is a string, use the string. If it is neither
6639 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
6640 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
6644 @cindex Mime-Version
6645 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
6646 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
6647 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
6648 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
6649 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
6650 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
6651 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
6652 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
6653 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
6655 The list contains a cons where the car of the cons is @code{optional},
6656 the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is non-@code{nil}.
6658 Other variables for customizing outgoing articles:
6661 @item nntp-news-default-headers
6662 @vindex nntp-news-default-headers
6663 If non-@code{nil}, this variable will override
6664 @code{mail-default-headers} when posting. This variable should then be
6665 a string. This string will be inserted, as is, in the head of all
6668 @item gnus-use-followup-to
6669 @vindex gnus-use-followup-to
6670 If @code{nil}, always ignore the Followup-To header. If it is @code{t},
6671 use its value, but ignore the special value @samp{poster}, which will
6672 send the followup as a reply mail to the person you are responding to.
6673 If it is the symbol @code{ask}, query the user before posting.
6674 If it is the symbol @code{use}, always use the value.
6676 @item gnus-followup-to-function
6677 @vindex gnus-followup-to-function
6678 This variable is most useful in mail groups, where ``following up''
6679 really means sending a mail to a list address. Gnus uses the normal
6680 methods to determine where follow-ups are to go, but you can change the
6681 behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with this variable.
6683 If you want the followups to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
6684 @code{From} in the group @samp{mail.stupid-list}, you could do something
6688 (setq gnus-followup-to-function
6690 (cond ((string= group "mail.stupid-list")
6691 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
6696 This function will be called narrowed to header of the article that is
6699 @item gnus-removable-headers
6700 @vindex gnus-removable-headers
6701 @cindex NNTP-Posting-Host
6702 Some headers that are generated are toxic to the @sc{nntp} server.
6703 These include the @code{NNTP-Posting-Host}, @code{Bcc} and @code{Xref},
6704 so these headers are deleted if they are present in this list of
6707 @item gnus-deletable-headers
6708 @vindex gnus-deletable-headers
6709 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Gnus will be
6710 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
6711 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
6712 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
6713 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
6714 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
6715 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
6716 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
6719 @item gnus-signature-function
6720 @vindex gnus-signature-function
6721 If non-@code{nil}, this variable should be a function that returns a
6722 signature file name. The function will be called with the name of the
6723 group being posted to. If the function returns a string that doesn't
6724 correspond to a file, the string itself is inserted. If the function
6725 returns @code{nil}, the @code{gnus-signature-file} variable will be used
6728 @item gnus-post-prepare-function
6729 @vindex gnus-post-prepare-function
6730 This function is called with the name of the current group after the
6731 post buffer has been initialized, and can be used for inserting a
6732 signature. Nice if you use different signatures in different groups.
6734 @item gnus-post-prepare-hook
6735 @vindex gnus-post-prepare-hook
6736 @findex gnus-inews-insert-signature
6737 This hook is called after a post buffer has been prepared. If you want
6738 to insert a signature at this point, you could put
6739 @code{gnus-inews-insert-signature} into this hook.
6741 @item news-reply-header-hook
6742 @vindex news-reply-header-hook
6743 A related variable when following up and replying is this variable,
6744 which inserts the @dfn{quote line}. The default value is:
6747 (defvar news-reply-header-hook
6749 (insert "In article " news-reply-yank-message-id
6750 " " news-reply-yank-from " writes:\n\n")))
6753 This will create lines like:
6756 In article <zngay8jrql@@eyesore.no> Lars Mars <lars@@eyesore.no> writes:
6759 Having the @code{Message-ID} in this line is probably overkill, so I
6760 would suggest this hook instead:
6763 (setq news-reply-header-hook
6764 (lambda () (insert news-reply-yank-from " writes:\n\n")))
6767 @item gnus-prepare-article-hook
6768 @vindex gnus-prepare-article-hook
6769 This hook is called before the headers have been prepared.
6771 @item gnus-inews-article-function
6772 @vindex gnus-inews-article-function
6773 This function is used to do the actual article processing and header
6774 checking/generation.
6776 @item gnus-inews-article-hook
6777 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
6778 This hook is called right before the article is posted. By default it
6779 handles FCC processing (i.e., saving the article to a file.) You can
6780 also have this hook add a score to all followups to the article you've
6781 written (@pxref{Followups To Yourself}).
6783 @item gnus-inews-article-header-hook
6784 @vindex gnus-inews-article-header-hook
6786 This hook is called after inserting the required headers in an article
6787 to be posted. The hook is called from the @code{*post-news*} buffer,
6788 narrowed to the head, and is intended for people who would like to
6789 insert additional headers, or just change headers in some way or other.
6791 @item gnus-check-before-posting
6792 @vindex gnus-check-before-posting
6793 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to check the legality of the
6794 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
6795 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
6796 list. Legal elements are:
6800 Check the subject for commands.
6803 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
6804 @item multiple-headers
6805 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
6808 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
6810 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
6812 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
6815 Check for too long lines.
6817 Check for illegal characters.
6819 Check for excessive size.
6821 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
6823 Check the length of the signature.
6826 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
6827 something only moderators should include.
6829 Check whether the article is empty.
6831 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
6834 All these conditions are checked by default.
6839 @node Posting Server
6840 @section Posting Server
6842 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
6843 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
6845 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
6847 @vindex gnus-post-method
6849 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
6850 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
6851 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
6852 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
6853 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
6856 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
6859 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
6860 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
6861 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
6862 the ``current'' server for posting.
6864 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
6865 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
6867 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
6868 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
6873 @section Mail and Post
6875 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
6879 @item gnus-signature-file
6880 @itemx mail-signature
6881 @vindex mail-signature
6882 @vindex gnus-signature-file
6883 @cindex double signature
6885 If @code{gnus-signature-file} is non-@code{nil}, it should be the name
6886 of a file containing a signature (@file{~/.signature} by default). This
6887 signature will be appended to all outgoing post. Most people find it
6888 more convenient to use @code{mail-signature}, which (sort of) does the
6889 same, but inserts the signature into the buffer before you start editing
6890 the post (or mail). So---if you have both of these variables set, you
6891 will get two signatures. Note that @code{mail-signature} does not work
6892 the same way as @code{gnus-signature-file}, which is a bit confusing.
6893 If @code{mail-signature} is @code{t}, it will insert
6894 @file{~/.signature}. If it is a string, this string will be inserted.
6896 Note that RFC1036 says that a signature should be preceded by the three
6897 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
6898 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
6899 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
6900 that they ruin you beautiful design, like, totally.
6902 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
6903 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
6904 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
6906 @item mail-yank-prefix
6907 @vindex mail-yank-prefix
6910 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
6911 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
6912 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
6913 @code{mail-yank-prefix} prepended to it. This is @code{nil} by default,
6914 which isn't very pretty---the prefix will just be some spaces. Most
6915 everybody prefers that lines are prepended with @samp{> }, so
6916 @code{(setq mail-yank-prefix "> ")} in your @file{.emacs} file.
6918 @item mail-yank-ignored-headers
6919 @vindex mail-yank-ignored-headers
6920 When you yank a message, you do not want to quote any headers, so
6921 @code{(setq mail-yank-ignored-headers "^")}.
6923 @item user-mail-address
6924 @vindex user-mail-address
6925 @vindex gnus-user-login-name
6926 @vindex gnus-use-generic-from
6927 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6928 If all of @code{gnus-user-login-name}, @code{gnus-use-generic-from} and
6929 @code{gnus-local-domain} are @code{nil}, Gnus will use
6930 @code{user-mail-address} as the address part of the @code{From} header.
6932 @item gnus-local-domain
6933 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6935 The local domain name excluding the host name. If your host is called
6936 @samp{narfi.ifi.uio.no}, then this variable should be
6939 @item gnus-local-domain
6940 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6942 The local domain name excluding the host name. If your host is called
6943 @samp{narfi.ifi.uio.no}, then this variable should be
6946 @item gnus-user-from-line
6947 @vindex gnus-user-from-line
6948 Your full, complete e-mail address with name. This variable overrides
6949 the other Gnus variables if it is non-@code{nil}.
6951 Here are two example values of this variable: @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no
6952 (Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen)} and @samp{Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
6953 <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>}. The latter version is recommended in news (and is
6954 probably illegal in mail), but the name has to be quoted if it contains
6955 non-alpha-numerical characters---@samp{\"Lars M. Ingebrigtsen\"
6956 <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>}.
6958 @item mail-default-headers
6959 @vindex mail-default-headers
6960 This is a string that will be inserted into the header of all outgoing
6961 mail messages and news articles. Convenient to use to insert standard
6962 headers. If @code{nntp-news-default-headers} is non-@code{nil}, that
6963 variable will override this one when posting articles.
6965 @item gnus-auto-mail-to-author
6966 @vindex gnus-auto-mail-to-author
6967 If @code{ask}, you will be prompted for whether you want to send a mail
6968 copy to the author of the article you are following up. If
6969 non-@code{nil} and not @code{ask}, Gnus will send a mail with a copy of
6970 all follow-ups to the authors of the articles you follow up. It's nice
6971 in one way---you make sure that the person you are responding to gets
6972 your response. Other people loathe this method and will hate you dearly
6973 for it, because it means that they will first get a mail, and then have
6974 to read the same article later when they read the news. It is
6975 @code{nil} by default.
6977 @item gnus-mail-courtesy-message
6978 @vindex gnus-mail-courtesy-message
6979 This is a string that will be prepended to all mails that are the result
6980 of using the variable described above.
6982 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
6983 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
6984 @cindex mailing lists
6986 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
6987 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
6988 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
6989 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
6990 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
6991 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
6992 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
6993 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
6994 still a pain, though.
6996 @item mail-citation-hook
6997 @vindex mail-citation-hook
6998 This hook is run after yanking a message, both in mail and post
6999 buffers. Point will be at the beginning of the yanked message and mark
7000 will be at the end. If this hook is non-@code{nil} the yanked text
7001 won't be indented automatically---you have to do that explicitly.
7003 For instance, if you want to remove signatures automatically, you could
7007 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'gnus-inews-remove-signature)
7010 This function indents the cited message and then removes the
7011 signature. If you decide you want to include the signature after all,
7012 you can just press the @code{undo} key.
7016 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7017 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7018 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7020 @vindex news-inews-hook
7022 @findex ispell-message
7024 (add-hook 'news-inews-hook 'ispell-message) ;For news posts
7025 (add-hook 'mail-send-hook 'ispell-message) ;for mail posts via sendmail
7028 @findex gnus-inews-insert-mime-headers
7029 If you want to insert some @sc{mime} headers into the articles you post,
7030 without doing any actual encoding, you could add
7031 @code{gnus-inews-insert-mime-headers} to @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
7034 @node Archived Messages
7035 @section Archived Messages
7036 @cindex archived messages
7037 @cindex sent messages
7039 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7040 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7043 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7044 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7045 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
7046 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
7047 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
7048 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
7049 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
7053 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7054 '((nnfolder "archive"
7055 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7056 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/sent-mail/active")
7057 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/"))))
7060 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7062 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7063 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7064 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7066 This variable can be:
7070 Messages will be saved in that group.
7071 @item a list of strings
7072 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7073 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7074 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7079 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7081 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7084 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7086 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7089 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7091 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7092 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7093 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7094 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7099 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7100 '((if (eq major-mode news-reply-mode)
7105 This is the default.
7107 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7108 messages in one file per month:
7111 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7112 '((if (eq major-mode news-reply-mode)
7114 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7115 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7118 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7119 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7120 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7121 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7122 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7123 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7124 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7125 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something nice --
7126 @samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7127 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7129 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
7130 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
7131 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
7132 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
7135 @item gnus-author-copy
7136 @vindex gnus-author-copy
7138 This is a file name, and all outgoing articles will be saved in that
7139 file. Initialized from the @code{AUTHORCOPY} environment variable.
7141 If this variable begins with the character @samp{|}, outgoing articles
7142 will be piped to the named program. It is possible to save an article in
7143 an MH folder as follows:
7146 (setq gnus-author-copy
7147 "|/usr/local/lib/mh/rcvstore +Article")
7150 If the first character is not a pipe, articles are saved using the
7151 function specified by the @code{gnus-author-copy-saver} variable.
7153 @item gnus-author-copy-saver
7154 @vindex gnus-author-copy-saver
7155 @findex rmail-output
7156 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
7157 called with the same of the file to store the article in. The default
7158 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in the Unix mailbox format.
7160 @item gnus-mail-self-blind
7161 @vindex gnus-mail-self-blind
7162 Non-@code{nil} means insert a BCC header in all outgoing articles
7163 pointing to yourself. This will result you receiving a copy of the
7164 article mailed to yourself. The BCC header is inserted when the post
7165 buffer is initialized, so you can remove or alter the BCC header to
7166 override the default.
7168 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7169 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7170 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7171 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7172 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7175 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7176 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7177 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7182 @node Posting Styles
7183 @section Posting Styles
7184 @cindex posting styles
7187 All them variables, they make my head swim.
7189 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7190 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7191 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7194 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7195 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7196 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7197 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7198 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7203 (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7204 (organization . "What me?"))
7206 (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7207 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7208 (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7211 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7212 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7213 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7214 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7215 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7216 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7217 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7218 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7220 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7221 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7222 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7223 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7224 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7225 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7228 Each style may contain a random amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7229 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7230 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}.
7231 The attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be
7232 used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of
7235 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7236 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7237 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7239 So here's a new example:
7242 (setq gnus-posting-styles
7244 (signature . "~/.signature")
7245 (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7246 ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7247 (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7249 (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7250 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7251 (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7252 (posting-from-work-p
7253 (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7254 (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7255 (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7257 (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7265 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7266 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7267 craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7268 message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7269 day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7271 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7272 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7273 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7274 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7275 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7279 @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7280 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7281 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7282 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7283 controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7284 in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7285 group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7286 articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7288 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7291 @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7292 @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7293 @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7294 @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7295 @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7296 @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7297 If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7298 encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7299 (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7300 interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7301 and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7302 (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7303 If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7304 @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7306 @vindex gnus-use-draft
7307 To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7308 @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7310 @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7311 @kindex S D c (Summary)
7312 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7313 draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7314 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7316 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7319 @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7320 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7321 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7322 (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7323 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7326 @node Rejected Articles
7327 @section Rejected Articles
7328 @cindex rejected articles
7330 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7331 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7332 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7333 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7335 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7336 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7337 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7338 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7339 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7341 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7342 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7343 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7346 @node Select Methods
7347 @chapter Select Methods
7348 @cindex foreign groups
7349 @cindex select methods
7351 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7352 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7353 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7354 personal mail group.
7356 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7357 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7358 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
7359 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7360 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7361 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7363 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7364 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7366 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7369 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7370 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7371 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
7372 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
7373 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7375 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7378 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7379 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7380 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7381 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7382 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7386 @node The Server Buffer
7387 @section The Server Buffer
7389 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7390 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7391 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7392 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7393 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7394 backend represents a virtual server.
7396 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7397 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7398 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7399 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7401 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7402 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7403 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
7404 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7405 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7406 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7407 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7409 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7410 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7413 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7414 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7415 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7416 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7417 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7418 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7421 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7422 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7425 @node Server Buffer Format
7426 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7427 @cindex server buffer format
7429 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7430 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7431 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7432 variable, with some simple extensions:
7437 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7440 The name of this server.
7443 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7446 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7449 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7450 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7451 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7462 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7465 @node Server Commands
7466 @subsection Server Commands
7467 @cindex server commands
7473 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7474 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7478 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7479 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7482 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7483 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7484 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7488 @findex gnus-server-exit
7489 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7493 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7494 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7498 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7499 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7503 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7504 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7508 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7509 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7514 @node Example Methods
7515 @subsection Example Methods
7517 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7520 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7523 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7529 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7530 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7533 After these two elements, there may be a random number of @var{(variable
7536 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7537 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7541 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7544 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7545 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7547 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7548 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7549 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7553 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7556 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7559 Here's the method for a public spool:
7563 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7564 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7568 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7569 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7571 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7572 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7574 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7575 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7576 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7578 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7580 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7581 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7582 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7583 will contain the following:
7593 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7594 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7595 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7598 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7599 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7600 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7603 @node Servers and Methods
7604 @subsection Servers and Methods
7606 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7607 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7608 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7609 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7613 @node Unavailable Servers
7614 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7616 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7617 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7618 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7619 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7620 actually the case or not.
7622 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7623 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7624 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7625 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7626 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7627 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7628 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7629 regard that server as ``down''.
7631 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7632 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7634 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7635 with the following commands:
7641 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7642 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7643 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7647 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7648 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7649 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7653 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7654 Mark the current server as unreachable
7655 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7659 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7660 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7661 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7667 @section Getting News
7668 @cindex reading news
7669 @cindex news backends
7671 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7672 only two methods of getting news -- it can read from an @sc{nntp}
7673 server, or it can read from a local spool.
7676 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7677 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7682 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7685 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7686 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7687 server as the, uhm, address.
7689 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7690 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7691 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7692 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7694 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7695 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7696 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7698 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7703 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7704 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7705 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7707 @cindex authentification
7708 @cindex nntp authentification
7709 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7710 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7711 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7712 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7713 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7714 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. Another
7715 popular function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which will prompt you for
7716 an @sc{nntp} password and stuff.
7718 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7719 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7720 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7721 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7722 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7725 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7729 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7731 The default value is
7734 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7735 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
7738 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
7739 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
7741 @item nntp-maximum-request
7742 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
7743 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
7744 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
7745 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
7746 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
7747 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
7748 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
7750 @item nntp-connection-timeout
7751 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
7752 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
7753 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
7754 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
7755 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
7756 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
7757 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
7758 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
7759 no timeouts are done.
7761 @item nntp-command-timeout
7762 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
7763 @cindex PPP connections
7764 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
7765 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
7766 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
7767 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
7768 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
7769 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
7770 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
7771 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
7772 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
7773 likely number is 30 seconds.
7775 @item nntp-retry-on-break
7776 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
7777 If this variable is non-@code{nilp, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
7778 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
7781 @item nntp-server-hook
7782 @vindex nntp-server-hook
7783 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
7786 @c @findex nntp-open-rlogin
7787 @c @findex nntp-open-network-stream
7788 @c @item nntp-open-server-function
7789 @c @vindex nntp-open-server-function
7790 @c This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
7791 @c functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
7792 @c simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
7793 @c is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
7794 @c and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
7796 @c @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
7797 @c @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
7798 @c If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
7799 @c @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
7800 @c parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
7802 @c @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
7803 @c @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
7804 @c User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
7808 @vindex nntp-address
7809 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
7811 @item nntp-port-number
7812 @vindex nntp-port-number
7813 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
7816 @item nntp-buggy-select
7817 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
7818 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
7820 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
7821 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
7822 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
7823 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
7824 can be used automatically.
7826 @item nntp-xover-commands
7827 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
7830 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
7831 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
7835 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
7836 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
7837 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
7838 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
7839 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
7840 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
7841 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
7842 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
7843 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
7844 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
7845 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
7847 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
7848 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
7849 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
7851 @item nntp-async-number
7852 @vindex nntp-async-number
7853 How many articles should be pre-fetched when in asynchronous mode. If
7854 this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch all the articles
7855 that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
7858 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7859 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7860 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
7861 server closes connection.
7867 @subsection News Spool
7871 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
7872 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
7873 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
7875 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
7876 anything else) as the address.
7878 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
7879 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
7880 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
7881 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
7885 @item nnspool-inews-program
7886 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
7887 Program used to post an article.
7889 @item nnspool-inews-switches
7890 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
7891 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
7893 @item nnspool-spool-directory
7894 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
7895 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
7896 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
7898 @item nnspool-nov-directory
7899 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
7900 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
7901 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
7903 @item nnspool-lib-dir
7904 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
7905 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
7907 @item nnspool-active-file
7908 @vindex nnspool-active-file
7909 The path of the active file.
7911 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
7912 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
7913 The path of the group descriptions file.
7915 @item nnspool-history-file
7916 @vindex nnspool-history-file
7917 The path of the news history file.
7919 @item nnspool-active-times-file
7920 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
7921 The path of the active date file.
7923 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
7924 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
7925 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
7928 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7929 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7931 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
7932 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
7933 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
7939 @section Getting Mail
7940 @cindex reading mail
7943 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
7947 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
7948 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
7949 * Mail Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
7950 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
7951 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
7952 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
7953 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
7954 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
7955 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
7956 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
7960 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
7961 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
7963 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
7964 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
7965 and things will happen automatically.
7967 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
7968 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
7971 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
7972 '((nnml "private")))
7975 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
7976 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
7977 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
7978 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
7979 like any other group.
7981 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
7984 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7985 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7986 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7990 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
7991 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
7992 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
7995 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
7996 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
7997 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8000 @node Splitting Mail
8001 @subsection Splitting Mail
8002 @cindex splitting mail
8003 @cindex mail splitting
8005 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8006 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8007 to be split into groups.
8010 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8011 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8012 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8016 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8017 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8018 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8019 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8020 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8022 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8023 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8024 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8025 mail belongs in that group.
8027 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8028 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
8029 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
8031 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8032 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8033 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8034 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8035 thinks should carry this mail message.
8037 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8038 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8039 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8040 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8042 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8043 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8044 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8045 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8046 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8048 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8051 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8052 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8053 links. If that's the case for you, set
8054 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8055 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8057 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8058 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8059 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8060 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8061 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8062 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8063 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8064 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8068 @node Mail Variables
8069 @subsection Mail Variables
8071 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8075 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8076 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8077 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8078 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8080 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8081 @item nnmail-spool-file
8085 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8086 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8087 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8088 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8089 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8090 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8091 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8092 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8093 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8094 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
8096 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8097 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8098 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8099 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8100 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8101 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8103 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8104 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8105 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8106 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8107 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8108 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8109 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8112 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8113 @item nnmail-crash-box
8114 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8115 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8116 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8119 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8120 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8121 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8122 used for, well, anything, really.
8124 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8125 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8126 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8127 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8128 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8129 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8130 starting to handle the new mail) and
8131 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8132 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8133 default file modes the new mail files get:
8136 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8137 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8139 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8140 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8143 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8144 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8145 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8146 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8147 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8148 it will be used instead.
8150 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8151 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8152 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8153 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8155 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8156 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8157 @cindex incoming mail files
8158 @cindex deleting incoming files
8159 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8160 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8161 default for reasons of security.
8163 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8164 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8165 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8166 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8167 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8170 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8171 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8173 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8178 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8179 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8180 @cindex mail splitting
8181 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8183 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8184 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8185 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8186 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8187 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8188 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8190 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8193 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8194 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8195 ;; from real errors.
8196 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8198 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8199 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8200 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8201 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8202 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8203 ;; Other mailing lists...
8204 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8205 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8207 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8208 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8212 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8213 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8214 the four possible split syntaxes:
8219 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8221 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
8222 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
8223 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
8224 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
8227 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
8228 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
8229 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
8233 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
8234 all SPLITs in the list.
8237 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
8238 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
8239 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
8242 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8243 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
8244 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
8245 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
8246 the cdr contains a string.
8249 @node Mail and Procmail
8250 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8255 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8256 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8257 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8258 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8259 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8261 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8262 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8265 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8266 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8267 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8268 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8269 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8270 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8272 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8275 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8277 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8278 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8280 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8281 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8282 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8283 to include all your mail groups.
8285 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8286 method will be created automatically.
8288 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8289 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8290 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8291 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8292 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8293 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8294 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8295 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8297 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8298 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8299 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8300 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8301 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8303 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8304 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8305 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8306 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8307 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8311 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8312 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8314 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8315 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8316 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8319 Doing so can be quite easy.
8321 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8322 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8323 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8324 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8325 your @code{nnml} groups.
8331 Go to the group buffer.
8334 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8335 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8338 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8341 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8345 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8346 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8349 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8350 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8351 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8352 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8353 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8355 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8356 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8357 using the new mail backend.
8361 @subsection Expiring Mail
8362 @cindex article expiry
8364 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8365 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8366 different approach to mail reading.
8368 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8369 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8370 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8371 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8372 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8373 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8376 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8377 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8378 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8379 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8380 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8381 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8382 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8383 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8385 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8386 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8387 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8388 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8389 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8390 column in the summary buffer.
8392 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8393 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8396 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8397 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8400 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8401 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8403 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8404 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8405 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8407 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8408 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8409 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8410 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8413 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8415 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8417 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8419 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8421 ((string= group "important")
8427 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8428 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
8430 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8431 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8432 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8435 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8436 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8438 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8439 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8440 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8441 easier for procmail users.
8443 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8444 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8445 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8446 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8447 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8448 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8449 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8450 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8451 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8452 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8453 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8454 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8455 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8460 @subsection Duplicates
8462 @vindex nnmail-delete-duplicates
8463 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8464 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8465 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8466 @cindex duplicate mails
8467 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8468 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8469 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8470 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
8471 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8472 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8473 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8474 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8475 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8476 @code{nnmail-delete-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8477 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8478 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8479 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8480 duplicate of a different message.
8482 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8483 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8484 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8485 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8487 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8490 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8491 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8495 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8496 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8497 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8498 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8499 (any mail "mail.misc")
8506 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8507 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8512 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8513 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8514 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8515 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8516 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8519 @node Not Reading Mail
8520 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8522 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8523 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8524 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8526 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8527 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8529 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8530 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8531 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8532 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8533 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8534 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8535 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8536 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8537 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8538 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8539 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8541 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8542 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8546 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8547 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8549 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8550 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8551 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8554 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8555 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8556 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8557 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8558 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8563 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8565 @cindex unix mail box
8567 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8568 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8569 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8570 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8571 which group it belongs in.
8573 Virtual server settings:
8576 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8577 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8578 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8580 @item nnmbox-active-file
8581 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8582 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8584 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8585 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8586 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8592 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8596 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8597 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8598 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8599 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8600 article to say which group it belongs in.
8602 Virtual server settings:
8605 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8606 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8607 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8609 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8610 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8611 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8613 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8614 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8615 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8620 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8622 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8624 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8625 format. It should be used with some caution.
8627 @vindex nnml-directory
8628 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8629 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8630 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8631 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8633 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8636 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8637 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8638 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8639 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8640 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8641 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8642 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8643 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8645 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8646 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8647 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8648 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8650 Virtual server settings:
8653 @item nnml-directory
8654 @vindex nnml-directory
8655 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8657 @item nnml-active-file
8658 @vindex nnml-active-file
8659 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8661 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8662 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8663 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8666 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8667 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8668 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8670 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8671 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8672 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8674 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8675 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8676 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8678 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8679 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8680 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8684 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8685 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8686 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8687 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8688 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8689 might take a while to complete.
8693 @subsubsection MH Spool
8695 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8697 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8698 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8699 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8700 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8702 Virtual server settings:
8705 @item nnmh-directory
8706 @vindex nnmh-directory
8707 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
8709 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
8710 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8711 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
8714 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
8715 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
8716 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
8717 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
8718 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
8719 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
8720 to set this variable to @code{t}.
8725 @subsubsection Mail Folders
8727 @cindex mbox folders
8728 @cindex mail folders
8730 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
8731 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
8732 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
8735 Virtual server settings:
8738 @item nnfolder-directory
8739 @vindex nnfolder-directory
8740 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
8742 @item nnfolder-active-file
8743 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
8744 The name of the active file.
8746 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8747 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8748 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
8750 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
8751 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8752 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
8755 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
8756 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
8757 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
8758 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
8759 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
8760 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
8764 @section Other Sources
8766 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
8767 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
8771 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
8772 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
8773 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
8774 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
8778 @node Directory Groups
8779 @subsection Directory Groups
8781 @cindex directory groups
8783 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
8784 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
8787 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
8788 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
8789 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
8791 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
8792 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
8793 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
8794 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
8796 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
8798 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
8799 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
8800 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
8801 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
8804 @node Anything Groups
8805 @subsection Anything Groups
8808 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
8809 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
8810 pretends that any random directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but true.
8812 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
8813 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
8814 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
8815 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
8816 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
8817 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
8818 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
8819 If this is just some random file without a head (eg. a C source file),
8820 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
8821 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
8824 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
8825 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
8826 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
8827 in the article buffer, just as usual.
8829 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
8830 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
8831 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
8832 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
8834 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
8835 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
8836 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
8837 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
8838 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
8839 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
8840 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
8841 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
8846 @item nneething-map-file-directory
8847 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
8848 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
8849 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
8851 @item nneething-exclude-files
8852 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
8853 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
8854 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
8856 @item nneething-map-file
8857 @vindex nneething-map-file
8858 Name of the map files.
8862 @node Document Groups
8863 @subsection Document Groups
8865 @cindex documentation group
8868 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
8869 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
8876 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
8881 The standard Unix mbox file.
8883 @cindex MMDF mail box
8885 The MMDF mail box format.
8888 Several news articles appended into a file.
8891 @cindex rnews batch files
8892 The rnews batch transport format.
8893 @cindex forwarded messages
8902 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
8903 @cindex RFC 341 digest
8904 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
8906 @item standard-digest
8907 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
8910 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
8913 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
8914 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
8915 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
8918 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
8919 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
8920 group. And that's it.
8922 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
8923 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
8924 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
8925 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
8926 @code{nndoc}, set the process mark on all the articles in the buffer
8927 (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r}) using
8928 @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL} file is
8929 now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can delete
8930 that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
8932 Virtual server variables:
8935 @item nndoc-article-type
8936 @vindex nndoc-article-type
8937 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
8938 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
8939 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
8941 @item nndoc-post-type
8942 @vindex nndoc-post-type
8943 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
8944 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
8954 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
8955 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
8956 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
8958 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
8959 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
8960 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
8963 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
8964 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
8965 that interested in doing things properly.
8967 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
8968 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
8974 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
8975 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
8976 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
8979 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
8982 You put the packet in your home directory.
8985 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
8988 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
8992 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
8996 You transfer this packet to the server.
8999 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
9002 You then repeat until you die.
9006 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
9007 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
9010 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
9011 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
9012 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
9017 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
9021 @kindex G s b (Group)
9022 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
9023 Pack all unread articles in the current group
9024 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
9025 process/prefix convention.
9028 @kindex G s w (Group)
9029 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
9030 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
9033 @kindex G s s (Group)
9034 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
9035 Send all replies from the replies packet
9036 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
9039 @kindex G s p (Group)
9040 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
9041 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
9044 @kindex G s r (Group)
9045 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
9046 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9049 @kindex O s (Summary)
9050 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9051 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9052 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9058 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9063 @item gnus-soup-directory
9064 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9065 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9066 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9068 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9069 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9070 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9071 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
9073 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
9074 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
9075 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
9078 @item gnus-soup-packer
9079 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
9080 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9081 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
9083 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
9084 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
9085 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9086 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9088 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
9089 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
9090 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
9092 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9093 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9094 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
9095 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
9101 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
9104 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
9105 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
9106 you can read them at leisure.
9108 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
9112 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
9113 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
9114 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
9115 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
9117 @item nnsoup-directory
9118 @vindex nnsoup-directory
9119 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
9120 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
9122 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
9123 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
9124 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
9125 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
9127 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
9128 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
9129 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
9130 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
9131 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
9133 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
9134 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
9135 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
9136 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
9138 @item nnsoup-active-file
9139 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
9140 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
9141 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
9142 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
9143 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
9146 @vindex nnsoup-packer
9147 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
9148 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
9150 @item nnsoup-unpacker
9151 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
9152 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
9153 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9155 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
9156 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
9157 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
9160 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
9161 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
9162 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
9169 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
9171 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
9172 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
9173 more for that to happen.
9175 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
9176 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
9177 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
9180 In specific, this is what it does:
9183 (setq gnus-inews-article-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
9184 (setq send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
9187 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
9188 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9189 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9192 @node Combined Groups
9193 @section Combined Groups
9195 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9199 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9200 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9204 @node Virtual Groups
9205 @subsection Virtual Groups
9207 @cindex virtual groups
9209 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9212 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9213 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9214 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9216 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9217 regexp to match component groups.
9219 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9220 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9221 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9222 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9225 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9226 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9229 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9232 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9233 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9235 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9236 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9237 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9238 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9241 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9244 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9245 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9246 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9247 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9248 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9250 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9251 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9252 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9254 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9255 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9256 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9257 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9258 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9259 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9260 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9261 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9262 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9263 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9264 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9267 @node Kibozed Groups
9268 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9272 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9273 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9274 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9275 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9277 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9278 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9279 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9280 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9282 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9283 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9284 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9286 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9287 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9288 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9289 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9290 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9291 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9292 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9293 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9295 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9296 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9297 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9298 Stranger things have happened.
9300 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9301 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9303 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9304 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9305 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9306 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9307 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9308 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9311 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9312 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
9319 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
9320 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
9321 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
9324 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
9325 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
9326 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
9327 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
9328 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
9330 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
9331 before generating the summary buffer.
9333 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
9334 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
9335 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
9337 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
9338 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
9339 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
9340 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
9343 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
9344 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
9345 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
9346 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
9347 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
9348 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
9349 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
9350 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
9351 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
9352 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
9353 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
9357 @node Summary Score Commands
9358 @section Summary Score Commands
9359 @cindex score commands
9361 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
9362 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
9363 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
9364 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
9365 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
9367 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
9368 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
9369 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
9370 score file the current one.
9372 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
9377 @kindex V s (Summary)
9378 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
9379 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
9382 @kindex V S (Summary)
9383 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
9384 Display the score of the current article
9385 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
9388 @kindex V t (Summary)
9389 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
9390 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
9391 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
9394 @cindex V R (Summary)
9395 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
9396 Run the current summary through the scoring process
9397 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
9398 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
9399 effect you're having.
9402 @kindex V a (Summary)
9403 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
9404 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
9405 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
9408 @kindex V c (Summary)
9409 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
9410 Make a different score file the current
9411 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
9414 @kindex V e (Summary)
9415 @findex gnus-score-edit-alist
9416 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-alist}). You will be
9417 popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File
9421 @kindex V f (Summary)
9422 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
9423 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
9424 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
9427 @kindex V C (Summary)
9428 @findex gnus-score-customize
9429 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
9430 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
9433 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
9434 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
9435 Increase the score of the current article
9436 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
9439 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
9440 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
9441 Lower the score of the current article
9442 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
9445 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
9450 @kindex V m (Summary)
9451 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
9452 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
9453 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
9456 @kindex V E (Summary)
9457 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
9458 Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
9459 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
9462 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
9463 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
9468 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
9469 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
9471 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
9476 Score on the author name.
9479 Score on the subject line.
9482 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
9485 Score on thread---the References line.
9491 Score on the number of lines.
9494 Score on the Message-ID.
9507 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
9508 what headers you are scoring on.
9552 Greater than number.
9557 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9558 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9559 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9563 Temporary score entry.
9566 Permanent score entry.
9569 Immediately scoring.
9574 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9575 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9576 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9577 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9579 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9580 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9581 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9582 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9583 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9585 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9586 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9587 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9590 @node Group Score Commands
9591 @section Group Score Commands
9592 @cindex group score commands
9594 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9600 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9601 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9602 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9603 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9608 @node Score Variables
9609 @section Score Variables
9610 @cindex score variables
9614 @item gnus-use-scoring
9615 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9616 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9617 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9619 @item gnus-kill-killed
9620 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9621 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9622 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9623 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9624 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9625 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9626 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9628 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9629 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9630 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9631 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9632 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9634 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9635 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9636 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9637 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9639 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9640 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9642 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9643 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9644 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9645 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9646 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9647 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9648 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9651 @item gnus-save-score
9652 @vindex gnus-save-score
9653 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9654 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9655 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9657 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9658 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9659 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9660 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9661 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9662 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9663 manually entered data.
9665 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9666 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9667 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9669 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9670 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9671 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9672 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9674 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9675 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9676 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9677 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9679 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9680 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9681 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9682 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9684 Predefined functions available are:
9687 @item gnus-score-find-single
9688 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9689 Only apply the group's own score file.
9691 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9692 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
9693 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
9694 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
9695 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
9696 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
9697 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
9698 then a regexp match is done.
9700 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
9701 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
9703 If @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, this won't work
9704 very will. It will find stuff like @file{gnu/all/SCORE}, but will not
9705 find files like @file{not/gnu/all/SCORE}.
9707 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9708 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9709 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
9710 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
9711 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
9712 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
9715 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
9716 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
9717 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
9718 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
9719 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
9720 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
9723 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
9724 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
9725 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
9726 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
9727 are expired. It's 7 by default.
9729 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9730 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9731 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
9732 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
9733 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
9734 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
9735 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
9738 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9739 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9740 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
9745 @node Score File Format
9746 @section Score File Format
9747 @cindex score file format
9749 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
9750 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
9751 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
9753 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
9757 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
9759 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
9761 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
9763 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
9768 (mark-and-expunge -10)
9772 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
9773 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
9774 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
9775 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
9779 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
9781 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
9782 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
9783 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
9785 Six keys are supported by this alist:
9790 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
9791 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
9792 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
9793 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
9794 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
9795 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
9796 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
9797 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
9798 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
9799 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
9800 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
9801 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
9802 to articles that matches these score entries.
9804 Following this key is a random number of score entries, where each score
9805 entry has one to four elements.
9809 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
9810 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
9814 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
9815 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
9816 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
9817 is successful. If this element is not present, the
9818 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
9819 instead. This is 1000 by default.
9822 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
9823 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
9824 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
9825 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
9826 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
9829 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
9830 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
9831 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
9832 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
9835 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
9836 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
9837 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
9838 @code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
9839 assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
9840 differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
9841 case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
9842 abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
9843 types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
9846 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
9847 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
9850 For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
9851 and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
9852 like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
9853 case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
9854 Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
9856 @item Head, Body, All
9857 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
9861 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
9862 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
9865 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
9866 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
9872 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9873 lower than this number will be marked as read.
9876 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9877 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
9879 @item mark-and-expunge
9880 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9881 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
9884 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
9885 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
9886 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
9887 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
9888 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
9891 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
9892 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
9896 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
9897 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
9901 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
9902 ignored when handling global score files.
9905 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
9906 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
9909 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
9910 parents will get this number added to their scores.
9913 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
9914 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
9915 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
9916 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
9917 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
9918 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
9919 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9920 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
9921 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
9922 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
9923 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
9927 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
9928 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
9929 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
9930 file for a number of groups.
9933 @cindex local variables
9934 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
9935 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
9936 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
9937 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
9942 @node Score File Editing
9943 @section Score File Editing
9945 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
9946 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
9947 with a mode for that.
9949 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
9950 additional commands:
9955 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
9956 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
9957 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
9958 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
9961 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
9962 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
9963 Insert the current date in numerical format
9964 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
9968 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
9969 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
9970 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
9971 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
9972 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
9977 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
9978 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
9981 @node Adaptive Scoring
9982 @section Adaptive Scoring
9983 @cindex adaptive scoring
9985 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
9986 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
9987 stupidity, to be precise.
9989 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
9990 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
9991 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
9992 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
9993 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9996 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9997 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
9998 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. By default, it
9999 looks something like this:
10002 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10003 '((gnus-unread-mark)
10004 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
10005 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
10006 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
10007 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
10008 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
10009 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
10010 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
10011 (gnus-ancient-mark)
10012 (gnus-low-score-mark)
10013 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
10016 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
10017 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
10018 a random number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
10019 pairs following the key, not adaptive scoring will be done on articles
10020 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
10021 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
10024 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
10025 will be applied to each article.
10027 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
10028 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
10029 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
10030 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
10032 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
10033 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
10034 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
10035 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
10037 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
10038 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
10039 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
10040 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
10041 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
10042 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
10044 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
10045 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
10046 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
10047 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
10048 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
10049 aspirins afterwards.)
10051 If you use this scheme, you should set @code{mark-below} to something
10052 small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random changes result
10053 in articles getting marked as read.
10055 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
10056 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
10057 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
10059 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
10060 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
10061 let you use different rules in different groups.
10063 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
10064 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
10065 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
10068 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
10069 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
10070 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
10071 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
10072 the length of the match is less than
10073 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
10074 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
10078 @node Followups To Yourself
10079 @section Followups To Yourself
10081 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
10082 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
10083 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
10084 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
10085 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
10086 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
10090 @item gnus-score-followup-article
10091 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
10092 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
10095 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
10096 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
10097 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
10101 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
10102 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
10103 @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
10107 @section Scoring Tips
10108 @cindex scoring tips
10114 @cindex scoring crossposts
10115 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
10116 the @code{Xref} header.
10118 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
10121 @item Multiple crossposts
10122 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
10123 more than, say, 3 groups:
10125 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
10128 @item Matching on the body
10129 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
10130 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
10131 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
10132 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
10133 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
10134 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
10135 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
10138 @item Marking as read
10139 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
10140 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
10141 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
10145 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
10147 @item Negated character classes
10148 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
10149 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
10150 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
10154 @node Reverse Scoring
10155 @section Reverse Scoring
10156 @cindex reverse scoring
10158 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
10159 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
10160 like this in your score file:
10164 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
10169 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
10170 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
10173 @node Global Score Files
10174 @section Global Score Files
10175 @cindex global score files
10177 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
10178 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
10179 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
10181 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
10182 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
10183 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
10185 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
10186 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
10187 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
10188 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
10189 files are applicable to which group.
10191 Say you want to use all score files in the
10192 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
10193 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
10196 (setq gnus-global-score-files
10197 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
10198 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
10201 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
10202 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
10203 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
10204 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
10205 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
10207 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
10208 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
10210 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
10211 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
10212 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
10213 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
10214 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
10215 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
10217 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
10223 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
10225 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
10227 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
10229 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
10230 lowered out of existence.
10232 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
10233 articles completely.
10236 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
10237 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
10238 old articles for a long time.
10241 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
10242 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
10243 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
10244 holding our breath yet?
10248 @section Kill Files
10251 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
10252 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
10253 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
10255 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
10256 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
10257 files into score files.
10259 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
10260 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
10261 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
10262 that isn't a very good idea.
10264 XCNormal kill files look like this:
10267 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10268 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
10272 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
10273 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
10275 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
10276 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
10279 Two functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
10284 @kindex M-k (Summary)
10285 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
10286 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
10289 @kindex M-K (Summary)
10290 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
10291 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
10294 Kill file variables:
10297 @item gnus-kill-file-name
10298 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
10299 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
10300 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
10301 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
10302 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
10303 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
10305 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10306 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10307 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
10308 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
10311 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
10312 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
10313 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
10314 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you don't want kill files
10315 to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
10317 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10318 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10319 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
10328 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
10329 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
10330 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
10331 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
10332 * Compilation and Init File:: How to speed Gnus up.
10333 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
10334 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
10335 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
10336 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
10337 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
10338 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
10342 @node Process/Prefix
10343 @section Process/Prefix
10344 @cindex process/prefix convention
10346 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
10347 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
10349 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
10350 command to be performed on.
10354 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
10355 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
10356 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
10357 with the current one.
10359 @vindex transient-mark-mode
10360 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
10361 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
10363 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
10364 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
10367 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
10368 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
10370 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
10373 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
10374 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
10375 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
10376 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
10377 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
10378 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
10379 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
10380 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
10384 @section Interactive
10385 @cindex interaction
10389 @item gnus-novice-user
10390 @vindex gnus-novice-user
10391 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
10392 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
10393 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
10394 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
10397 @item gnus-expert-user
10398 @vindex gnus-expert-user
10399 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
10400 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
10401 matter how strange.
10403 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
10404 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
10405 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
10406 is @code{t} by default.
10408 @item gnus-interactive-post
10409 @vindex gnus-interactive-post
10410 If non-@code{nil}, the user will be prompted for a group name when
10411 posting an article. It is @code{t} by default.
10413 @item gnus-interactive-exit
10414 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
10415 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
10420 @node Formatting Variables
10421 @section Formatting Variables
10422 @cindex formatting variables
10424 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
10425 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
10426 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
10427 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
10428 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
10431 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
10432 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
10433 lots of percentages everywhere.
10435 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
10436 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
10437 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''. Just like a
10438 normal format spec, almost.
10440 You can also say @samp{%6,4y}, which means that the field will never be
10441 more than 6 characters wide and never less than 4 characters wide.
10443 There are also specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the
10444 format variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers
10445 will get the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it
10446 will be highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse
10449 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
10450 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
10451 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
10452 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
10453 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
10454 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
10456 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
10459 ;; Create three face types.
10460 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
10461 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
10463 ;; We want the article count to be in
10464 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
10465 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
10466 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
10468 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
10469 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
10471 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
10472 (setq gnus-group-line-format
10473 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
10476 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
10477 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
10479 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
10480 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
10481 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
10482 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
10483 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
10484 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
10485 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}.
10487 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
10488 mode-line variables.
10490 All these format variables can also be random elisp forms. In that
10491 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
10493 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
10494 @findex gnus-update-format
10495 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
10496 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
10497 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
10498 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
10501 @node Windows Configuration
10502 @section Windows Configuration
10503 @cindex windows configuration
10505 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
10507 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
10508 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
10509 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
10510 @code{t} by default.
10512 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
10513 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
10514 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
10517 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
10518 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
10519 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10523 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
10524 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
10525 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
10526 possible names is listed below.
10528 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
10529 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
10532 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10536 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
10537 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
10538 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
10539 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
10540 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
10541 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
10542 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
10543 size spec per split.
10545 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
10548 Here's a more complicated example:
10551 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
10552 (summary 0.25 point)
10553 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
10557 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
10558 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
10559 occupy, not a percentage.
10561 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
10562 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
10563 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
10564 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
10565 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
10568 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
10571 (article (horizontal 1.0
10576 (summary 0.25 point)
10581 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
10582 @code{horizontal} thingie?
10584 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
10585 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
10586 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
10587 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
10588 the screen is to be given to this strip.
10590 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
10591 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
10592 lines from the splits.
10594 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
10598 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
10599 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
10600 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
10601 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
10602 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
10603 size = number | frame-params
10604 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
10607 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
10608 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
10609 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
10610 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
10612 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
10613 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
10614 @cindex window height
10615 @cindex window width
10616 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
10617 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 2) characters high, and all
10618 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
10619 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
10620 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
10621 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
10623 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
10624 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
10625 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
10626 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
10628 @findex gnus-configure-frame
10629 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
10630 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
10631 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
10632 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
10633 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
10634 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
10635 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
10636 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
10637 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
10638 configuration list.
10641 (gnus-configure-frame
10645 (article 0.3 point))
10653 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
10654 @code{frame} split:
10657 (gnus-configure-frame
10660 (summary 0.25 point)
10662 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
10663 (user-position . t)
10664 (left . -1) (top . 1))
10669 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
10670 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
10671 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
10672 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
10673 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
10674 @xref{(elisp)Frame Parameters}.
10676 Here's a list of all possible keys for
10677 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
10679 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
10680 @code{browse}, @code{group-mail}, @code{summary-mail},
10681 @code{summary-reply}, @code{info}, @code{summary-faq},
10682 @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server}, @code{reply}, @code{reply-yank},
10683 @code{followup}, @code{followup-yank}, @code{edit-score}.
10685 @findex gnus-add-configuration
10686 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
10687 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
10688 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
10689 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
10692 (gnus-add-configuration
10693 '(article (vertical 1.0
10695 (summary .25 point)
10699 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
10700 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook -- they should be run after
10701 Gnus has been loaded.
10704 @node Compilation and Init File
10705 @section Compilation and Init File
10706 @cindex compilation
10708 @cindex byte-compilation
10710 @vindex gnus-init-file
10711 @findex gnus-compile
10712 When Gnus starts up, it will read the Gnus init file
10713 @code{gnus-init-file}, which is @file{.gnus} by default. It is
10714 recommended that you keep any Gnus-related functions that you have
10715 written in that file. If you want to byte-compile the file, Gnus offers
10716 the handy @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} function that will do that for you.
10718 That's not really why that function was written, though.
10720 Remember all those line format specification variables?
10721 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
10722 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
10723 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
10724 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
10725 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
10728 To help with this, you can run @code{gnus-compile} after you've fiddled
10729 around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of) satisfied.
10730 This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and you'll get
10733 The result of these byte-compilations will be written to
10734 @file{.gnus.elc} by default.
10736 Note that Gnus will read @file{.gnus.elc} instead of @file{.gnus} if
10737 @file{.gnus.elc} exists, so if you change @file{.gnus}, you should
10738 remove @file{.gnus.elc}.
10742 @section Mode Lines
10745 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
10746 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
10747 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
10748 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
10749 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
10750 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
10751 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
10754 @cindex display-time
10756 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
10757 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
10758 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
10759 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
10760 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
10761 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
10762 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
10763 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
10766 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
10768 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
10769 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
10771 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
10772 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
10773 (length display-time-string)))))
10776 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
10777 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
10780 @node Highlighting and Menus
10781 @section Highlighting and Menus
10783 @cindex highlighting
10786 @vindex gnus-visual
10787 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
10788 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
10789 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
10792 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
10793 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
10796 @item group-highlight
10797 Do highlights in the group buffer.
10798 @item summary-highlight
10799 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
10800 @item article-highlight
10801 Do highlights in the article buffer.
10803 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
10805 Create menus in the group buffer.
10807 Create menus in the summary buffers.
10809 Create menus in the article buffer.
10811 Create menus in the browse buffer.
10813 Create menus in the server buffer.
10815 Create menus in the score buffers.
10817 Create menus in all buffers.
10820 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
10821 buffers, you could say something like:
10824 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
10827 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
10830 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
10833 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
10834 in all Gnus buffers.
10836 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
10839 @item gnus-mouse-face
10840 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
10841 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
10842 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
10844 @item gnus-display-type
10845 @vindex gnus-display-type
10846 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
10847 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
10848 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
10849 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
10850 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10852 @item gnus-background-mode
10853 @vindex gnus-background-mode
10854 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
10855 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
10856 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
10857 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10858 `gnus-display-type'.
10861 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
10865 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
10866 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
10867 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
10869 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
10870 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
10871 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
10873 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
10874 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
10875 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
10877 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
10878 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
10879 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
10881 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
10882 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
10883 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
10885 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
10886 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
10887 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
10898 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
10899 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
10900 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
10901 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
10902 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
10906 @vindex gnus-carpal
10907 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
10908 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
10909 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
10914 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10915 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10916 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
10918 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
10919 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
10920 Face used on buttons.
10922 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
10923 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
10924 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
10926 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10927 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10928 Buttons in the group buffer.
10930 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10931 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10932 Buttons in the summary buffer.
10934 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10935 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10936 Buttons in the server buffer.
10938 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10939 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10940 Buttons in the browse buffer.
10943 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
10944 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
10945 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
10953 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
10954 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
10955 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
10956 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
10957 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
10959 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
10960 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
10961 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
10963 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
10964 been idle for thirty minutes:
10967 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
10970 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
10974 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
10977 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
10978 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
10979 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10981 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
10982 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
10983 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
10984 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10986 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
10987 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
10988 @var{idle} minutes.
10990 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
10991 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
10994 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
10995 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
10996 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
10998 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
10999 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
11000 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
11001 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
11003 @vindex gnus-use-demon
11004 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
11005 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
11007 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
11008 your @file{.gnus} file:
11010 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
11012 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
11015 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
11016 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
11017 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
11018 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
11019 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
11020 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
11021 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
11023 @findex gnus-demon-init
11024 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
11025 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
11026 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
11027 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
11028 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
11030 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
11031 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
11032 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
11041 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
11042 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
11044 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
11045 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
11046 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
11047 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
11050 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
11051 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
11052 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
11053 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
11055 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
11056 this will make spam disappear.
11058 There are some variables to customize, of course:
11061 @item gnus-use-nocem
11062 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
11063 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
11066 @item gnus-nocem-groups
11067 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
11068 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
11069 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
11071 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
11072 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
11073 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
11074 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
11075 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
11076 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
11078 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
11081 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
11082 @cindex Chris Lewis
11083 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
11084 usenet abuse than anybody else.
11087 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
11088 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
11089 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
11091 @item jem@@xpat.com;
11093 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
11095 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
11096 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
11097 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
11100 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
11101 ones you want to listen to.
11103 @item gnus-nocem-directory
11104 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
11105 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
11106 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
11108 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11109 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11110 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
11111 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
11112 might then see old spam.
11117 @node Various Various
11118 @section Various Various
11125 @vindex gnus-verbose
11126 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
11127 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
11128 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
11129 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
11130 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
11132 @item gnus-verbose-backends
11133 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
11134 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
11135 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
11137 @item nnheader-max-head-length
11138 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
11139 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
11140 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
11141 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
11142 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
11143 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
11144 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
11145 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
11148 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11149 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11151 @cindex illegal characters in file names
11152 @cindex characters in file names
11153 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
11154 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
11155 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
11158 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11162 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
11163 Windows (phooey) systems.
11165 @item gnus-hidden-properties
11166 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
11167 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
11168 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
11169 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
11171 @item gnus-parse-header-hook
11172 @vindex gnus-parse-header-hook
11173 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
11174 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
11175 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
11183 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
11184 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
11186 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
11188 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
11193 Not because of victories @*
11196 but for the common sunshine,@*
11198 the largess of the spring.
11201 but for the day's work done@*
11202 as well as I was able;@*
11203 not for a seat upon the dais@*
11204 but at the common table.@*
11209 @chapter Appendices
11212 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
11213 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
11214 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
11215 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
11216 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
11217 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
11218 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
11226 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
11227 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
11229 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
11230 can point your (feh!) web browser to
11231 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
11232 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
11233 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
11235 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
11236 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
11237 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
11238 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
11239 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
11240 appropriate name, don't you think?)
11242 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
11243 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
11244 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
11245 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
11247 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
11248 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
11250 Incidentally, the next Gnus generation will be called ``September
11251 Gnus'', and won't be released until April 1996. Confused? You will be.
11254 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
11255 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
11256 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
11257 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
11258 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
11259 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
11260 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
11261 * Censorship:: This manual has been censored.
11268 What's the point of Gnus?
11270 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
11271 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
11272 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
11273 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
11274 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
11275 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
11276 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
11277 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
11278 keep track of millions of people who post?
11280 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
11281 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
11282 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
11283 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
11284 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
11285 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
11286 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
11287 of you to explore and invent.
11289 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
11292 @node Compatibility
11293 @subsection Compatibility
11295 @cindex compatibility
11296 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
11297 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
11298 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
11303 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
11307 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
11310 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
11313 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
11314 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
11315 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
11316 important variables have their values copied into their global
11317 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
11318 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
11320 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
11321 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
11322 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
11323 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
11324 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
11328 @cindex highlighting
11329 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
11330 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
11331 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
11332 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
11333 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
11334 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
11337 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
11338 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
11339 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
11340 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
11342 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
11343 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
11344 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
11345 to stop doing it the old way.
11347 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
11349 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11351 @cindex reporting bugs
11353 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
11354 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
11355 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
11359 @subsection Conformity
11361 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
11362 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
11369 There are no known breaches of this standard.
11373 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
11375 @item Usenet Seal of Approval
11376 @cindex Usenet Seal of Approval
11377 Gnus hasn't been formally through the Seal process, but I have read
11378 through the Seal text and I think Gnus would pass.
11380 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
11381 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
11382 We do have some breaches to this one.
11387 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
11388 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
11391 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
11392 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
11393 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
11394 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
11395 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
11398 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
11399 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
11400 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
11401 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
11402 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
11403 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
11408 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
11409 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
11414 @subsection Emacsen
11420 Gnus should work on :
11425 Emacs 19.30 and up.
11428 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
11431 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
11435 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
11436 reliably, at least.
11438 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
11443 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
11444 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
11448 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
11449 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
11452 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
11455 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
11458 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
11465 @subsection Contributors
11466 @cindex contributors
11468 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
11469 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
11470 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
11471 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
11472 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
11473 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
11474 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
11475 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
11476 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
11477 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
11479 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
11484 Of course, @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}.
11486 Many excellent functions, especially dealing with scoring and
11487 highlighting (as well as the @sc{soup} support) was written
11490 Design and graphics were done by Luis Fernandes.
11492 Innumerable bug fixes were written by Sudish Joseph.
11494 @code{gnus-topic} was written by Ilja Weis.
11496 Lots and lots of bugs were found and fixed by Steven L. Baur.
11498 The refcard was written by Vladimir Alexiev.
11500 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
11502 @code{nnfolder} has been much enhanced by Scott Byer.
11504 The orphan scoring was written by Peter Mutsaers.
11506 GNU XEmacs support has been added by Fabrice Popineau.
11508 POP mail support was written by Ken Raeburn.
11510 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files, were
11511 suggested and added by Hallvard B Furuseth.
11513 Brian Edmonds has written @code{gnus-bbdb}.
11515 Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges did the proff-reading (sic).
11517 Kevin Davidson came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
11519 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
11520 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, and Andrew Eskilsson have
11521 all contributed code and suggestions.
11526 @subsection New Features
11527 @cindex new features
11532 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
11533 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
11536 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
11537 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
11540 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
11543 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
11544 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
11545 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11548 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
11549 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
11550 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
11551 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
11554 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
11555 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11558 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
11559 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
11560 (@pxref{The Active File}).
11563 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
11564 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
11567 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
11568 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
11569 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
11572 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
11573 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
11574 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
11577 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
11578 the @file{.emacs} file.
11581 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
11582 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11585 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
11586 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
11589 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
11590 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11593 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
11594 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
11597 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
11598 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
11601 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
11604 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
11605 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
11608 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
11609 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
11612 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
11613 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
11616 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
11619 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
11620 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
11623 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
11627 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
11631 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
11632 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
11635 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
11639 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
11643 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
11644 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
11645 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
11649 @node Newest Features
11650 @subsection Newest Features
11653 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
11656 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
11660 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
11662 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
11664 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
11666 Really do unbinhexing.
11669 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
11670 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
11672 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
11673 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
11674 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
11678 @subsection Censorship
11681 This version of the Gnus manual (as well as Gnus itself) has been
11682 censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act. This law was
11683 described by its proponents as a ban on pornography---which was a
11684 deception, since it prohibits far more than that. This manual did not
11685 contain pornography, but part of it was prohibited nonetheless.
11687 For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and
11688 what you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web
11689 site @samp{http://www.vtw.org/}.
11693 @section Terminology
11695 @cindex terminology
11700 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
11701 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
11702 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
11703 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
11704 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
11708 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
11709 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
11710 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
11711 not posting, and replying is not following up.
11715 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
11719 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
11724 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
11725 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
11726 is all done by the backends.
11730 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
11731 default, way of getting news.
11735 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
11736 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
11740 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
11741 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
11745 A nessage that has been posted as news.
11748 @cindex mail message
11749 A message that has been mailed.
11753 A mail message or news article
11757 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
11762 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
11767 A line from the head of an article.
11771 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
11772 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
11776 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
11777 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
11778 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
11779 normal @sc{head} format.
11783 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
11784 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
11785 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
11786 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
11787 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
11788 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
11790 @item killed groups
11791 @cindex killed groups
11792 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
11793 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
11795 @item zombie groups
11796 @cindex zombie groups
11797 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
11800 @cindex active file
11801 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
11802 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
11803 is rather large, as you might surmise.
11806 @cindex bogus groups
11807 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
11808 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
11809 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
11813 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
11815 @item select method
11816 @cindex select method
11817 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
11820 @item virtual server
11821 @cindex virtual server
11822 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
11823 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
11824 whole is a virtual server.
11829 @node Customization
11830 @section Customization
11831 @cindex general customization
11833 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
11834 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
11835 for some quite common situations.
11838 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
11839 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
11840 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
11841 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
11845 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
11846 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
11848 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
11849 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
11850 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
11854 @item gnus-read-active-file
11855 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
11856 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
11857 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
11858 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
11859 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
11861 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
11862 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
11863 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
11864 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
11868 @node Slow Terminal Connection
11869 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
11871 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
11872 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
11873 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
11877 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
11878 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
11879 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
11880 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
11881 horizontal and vertical recentering.
11883 @item gnus-visible-headers
11884 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
11885 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
11886 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
11887 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
11889 @item gnus-article-display-hook
11890 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
11892 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
11893 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
11894 gnus-article-hide-citation))
11897 @item gnus-use-full-window
11898 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
11899 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
11900 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
11901 want to read them anyway.
11903 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
11904 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
11907 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
11908 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
11909 lines, which might save some time.
11913 @node Little Disk Space
11914 @subsection Little Disk Space
11917 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
11918 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
11922 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
11923 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
11924 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
11925 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
11928 @item gnus-save-killed-list
11929 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
11930 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
11931 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
11932 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
11938 @subsection Slow Machine
11939 @cindex slow machine
11941 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
11942 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
11944 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
11945 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
11947 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
11948 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
11949 summary buffer faster.
11951 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
11952 processing a bit faster.
11955 @node Troubleshooting
11956 @section Troubleshooting
11957 @cindex troubleshooting
11959 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
11967 Make sure your computer is switched on.
11970 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
11971 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
11975 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
11976 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
11977 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
11978 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
11981 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
11985 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
11988 @cindex reporting bugs
11990 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11992 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
11993 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
11994 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
11995 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
11997 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
11998 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
11999 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
12000 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
12003 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
12004 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
12005 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
12006 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
12007 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
12008 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
12010 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
12011 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
12013 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
12014 @cindex ding mailing list
12015 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
12016 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
12019 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
12020 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
12022 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
12023 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
12024 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
12025 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
12028 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
12029 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
12030 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
12031 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
12032 and general method of operations.
12035 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
12036 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
12037 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
12038 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
12039 * Group Info:: The group info format.
12040 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
12044 @node Backend Interface
12045 @subsection Backend Interface
12047 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
12048 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
12049 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
12050 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
12051 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
12052 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
12054 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
12055 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
12056 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
12057 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
12058 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
12059 been opened, the function should fail.
12061 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
12062 name. Take this example:
12066 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
12067 (nntp-port-number 4324))
12070 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
12071 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
12073 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
12074 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
12075 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
12077 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
12078 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
12079 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
12081 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
12082 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
12083 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
12084 ``resulting data'', I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
12085 talk about ``return value'', I talk about the function value returned by
12088 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
12089 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
12090 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
12091 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
12094 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
12097 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
12100 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
12101 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
12105 @node Required Backend Functions
12106 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
12110 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
12112 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
12113 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
12114 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
12115 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
12117 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
12118 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
12119 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
12120 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
12122 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
12123 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
12124 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
12125 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
12126 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
12127 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
12128 number, do maximum fetches.
12130 Here's an example HEAD:
12133 221 1056 Article retrieved.
12134 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
12135 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
12136 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
12137 Subject: Re: Something very droll
12138 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
12139 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
12141 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
12142 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
12143 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
12147 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
12148 these in the data buffer.
12150 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
12154 head = error / valid-head
12155 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
12156 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
12157 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
12158 header = <text> eol
12161 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
12162 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
12166 nov-buffer = *nov-line
12167 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
12168 field = <text except TAB>
12171 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
12175 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
12177 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
12178 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
12180 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
12181 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
12182 server. In fact, it should do so.
12184 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
12185 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
12188 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
12190 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
12193 There should be no data returned.
12196 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
12198 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
12199 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
12200 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.)
12202 There should be no data returned.
12205 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
12207 This function should return whether @var{server} is opened, and that the
12208 connection to it is still alive. This function should under no
12209 circumstances attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost
12212 There should be no data returned.
12215 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
12217 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
12219 There should be no data returned.
12222 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
12224 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
12225 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
12226 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
12227 it would be nice if that were possible.
12229 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
12230 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
12231 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
12232 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
12233 its article buffer.
12236 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12238 Make @var{group} the current group.
12240 There should be no data returned by this function.
12243 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12245 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
12246 making @var{group} the current group.
12248 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
12251 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
12254 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
12255 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
12256 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
12257 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
12258 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
12259 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
12260 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
12261 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
12264 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
12265 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
12266 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
12270 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12272 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
12273 a no-op on most backends.
12275 There should be no data returned.
12278 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
12280 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
12283 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
12286 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
12287 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
12290 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
12291 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
12294 active-file = *active-line
12295 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
12297 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
12300 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
12301 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
12302 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
12305 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
12307 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
12308 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
12309 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
12310 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
12311 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
12312 clear if the posting could not be completed.
12314 There should be no result data from this function.
12317 @item (nnchoke-request-post-buffer POST GROUP SUBJECT HEADER ARTICLE-BUFFER INFO FOLLOW-TO RESPECT-POSTER)
12319 This function should return a buffer suitable for composing an article
12320 to be posted by @code{nnchoke-request-post}. If @var{post} is
12321 non-@code{nil}, this is not a followup, but a totally new article.
12322 @var{group} is the name of the group to be posted to. @var{subject} is
12323 the subject of the message. @var{article-buffer} is the buffer being
12324 followed up, if that is the case. @var{info} is the group info.
12325 @var{follow-to} is the group that one is supposed to re-direct the
12326 article ot. If @var{respect-poster} is non-@code{nil}, the special
12327 @samp{poster} value of a @code{Followup-To} header is to be respected.
12329 There should be no result data returned.
12334 @node Optional Backend Functions
12335 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
12339 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
12341 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
12342 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
12343 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
12345 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
12346 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
12347 former is in the same format as the data from
12348 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
12349 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
12352 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
12356 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
12358 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
12359 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
12360 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
12361 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
12362 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
12363 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
12365 There should be no result data from this function.
12368 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
12370 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
12371 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
12372 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
12373 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
12374 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
12375 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
12376 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.)
12378 There should be no result data from this function.
12381 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
12383 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
12384 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
12385 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
12386 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
12387 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
12389 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
12390 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
12391 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
12394 There should be no result data from this function.
12397 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
12399 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
12400 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
12401 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
12402 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
12403 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
12404 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
12405 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
12407 There should be no result data from this function.
12410 @item (nnchoke-request-asynchronous GROUP &optional SERVER ARTICLES)
12412 This is a request to fetch articles asynchronously later.
12413 @var{articles} is an alist of @var{(article-number line-number)}. One
12414 would generally expect that if one later fetches article number 4, for
12415 instance, some sort of asynchronous fetching of the articles after 4
12416 (which might be 5, 6, 7 or 11, 3, 909 depending on the order in that
12417 alist) would be fetched asynchronously, but that is left up to the
12418 backend. Gnus doesn't care.
12420 There should be no result data from this function.
12423 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
12425 The result data from this function should be a description of
12429 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
12431 description = <text>
12434 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
12436 The result data from this function should be the description of all
12437 groups available on the server.
12440 description-buffer = *description-line
12444 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
12446 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
12447 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
12448 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
12451 @item (nnchoke-request-create-groups GROUP &optional SERVER)
12453 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
12455 There should be no return data.
12458 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
12460 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
12461 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
12462 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
12463 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
12464 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
12467 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
12470 There should be no result data returned.
12473 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
12476 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
12477 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
12479 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
12480 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
12481 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
12482 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
12483 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
12484 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
12486 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
12487 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
12490 There should be no data returned.
12493 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional LAST)
12495 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
12496 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
12497 this function in short order.
12499 There should be no data returned.
12502 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
12504 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
12505 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
12507 There should be no data returned.
12510 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
12512 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
12513 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
12514 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
12516 There should be no data returned.
12519 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
12521 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
12522 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
12524 There should be no data returned.
12529 @node Score File Syntax
12530 @subsection Score File Syntax
12532 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
12533 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
12534 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
12536 Here's a typical score file:
12540 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
12547 BNF definition of a score file:
12550 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
12551 element = rule / atom
12552 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
12553 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
12554 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
12555 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
12557 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
12558 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
12559 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
12560 date-header = "date"
12561 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12562 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12563 score = "nil" / <integer>
12564 date = "nil" / <natural number>
12565 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
12566 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
12567 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
12568 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
12569 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12570 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12571 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
12572 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12573 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
12574 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
12575 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
12576 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
12577 exclude-files / read-only / touched
12578 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
12579 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
12580 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
12581 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
12582 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
12583 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
12584 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
12585 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
12586 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
12587 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
12588 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
12589 eval = "eval" space <form>
12590 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
12593 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
12596 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
12597 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
12598 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
12599 one looong line, then that's ok.
12601 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
12606 @subsection Headers
12608 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
12609 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
12610 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
12611 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
12613 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
12614 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
12615 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
12616 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
12617 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
12618 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
12619 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
12621 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
12622 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
12623 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these slots --
12624 they all have predictable names beginning with @code{mail-header-} and
12625 @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
12627 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
12634 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
12635 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
12637 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
12638 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
12639 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
12640 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
12642 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
12646 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
12649 is transformed into
12652 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
12655 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
12656 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
12659 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
12662 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
12663 is slightly tricky:
12666 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
12672 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
12675 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
12681 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
12688 and is equal to the previous range.
12690 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
12691 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
12692 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
12696 range = simple-range / normal-range
12697 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
12698 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
12699 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
12700 number *[ " " contents ]
12703 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
12704 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
12705 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
12706 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
12707 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
12712 @subsection Group Info
12714 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
12715 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
12716 describes the group.
12718 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
12719 second is a more complex one:
12722 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
12724 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
12725 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
12727 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
12730 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
12731 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
12732 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
12733 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
12735 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
12738 info = "(" group space level space read
12739 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
12740 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12741 group = quote <string> quote
12742 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
12744 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
12745 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
12746 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
12747 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
12750 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
12751 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
12755 @node Various File Formats
12756 @subsection Various File Formats
12759 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
12760 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
12764 @node Active File Format
12765 @subsubsection Active File Format
12767 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
12768 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
12771 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
12774 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
12775 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
12776 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
12777 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
12778 no.general 1000 900 y
12781 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
12784 active = *group-line
12785 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
12786 group = <non-white-space string>
12788 high-number = <non-negative integer>
12789 low-number = <positive integer>
12790 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
12794 @node Newsgroups File Format
12795 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
12797 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
12798 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
12799 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
12802 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
12803 Here's the definition:
12807 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
12808 group = <non-white-space string>
12810 description = <string>
12814 @node Emacs for Heathens
12815 @section Emacs for Heathens
12817 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
12818 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
12819 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
12820 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
12821 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
12822 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
12823 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
12827 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
12828 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
12833 @subsection Keystrokes
12837 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
12840 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
12843 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
12844 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
12845 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
12846 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
12847 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
12848 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
12850 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
12851 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
12852 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
12853 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
12854 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
12855 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
12856 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
12858 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
12859 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
12860 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
12861 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
12862 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
12863 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
12864 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
12866 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
12867 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
12868 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
12869 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
12870 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
12876 @subsection Emacs Lisp
12878 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
12879 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
12880 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
12881 any key to run any random code. You just, like, do it.
12883 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
12884 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
12885 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
12886 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
12887 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
12888 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
12889 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
12892 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
12893 write the following:
12896 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
12899 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
12900 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
12901 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
12904 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
12905 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
12906 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
12907 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
12908 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
12910 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
12911 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
12912 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
12916 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
12920 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
12923 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
12924 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
12927 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
12930 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
12931 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
12934 @include gnus-faq.texi