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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.6.
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
378 can even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
390 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
391 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
392 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
393 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
394 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
395 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
396 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
397 * Various:: General purpose settings.
398 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
399 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
400 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
401 * Key Index:: Key Index.
404 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
408 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
409 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
410 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
411 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
412 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
413 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
414 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
415 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
416 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
417 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
418 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
422 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
423 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
424 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
428 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
429 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
430 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
431 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
432 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
433 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
434 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
435 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
436 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
437 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
438 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
439 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
440 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
441 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
442 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
443 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
444 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
448 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
449 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
450 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
454 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
455 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
456 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
457 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
458 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
462 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
463 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
464 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
465 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
469 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
470 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
471 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
472 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
473 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
474 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
475 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
476 * Threading:: How threads are made.
477 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
478 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
479 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
480 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
481 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
482 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
483 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
484 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
485 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
486 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
487 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
488 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
489 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
490 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
491 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
492 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
493 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
494 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
495 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
496 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
498 Summary Buffer Format
500 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
501 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
502 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
503 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
507 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
508 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
510 Reply, Followup and Post
512 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
513 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
514 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
515 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
519 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
520 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
521 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
525 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
526 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
527 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
531 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
532 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
534 Customizing Threading
536 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
537 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
538 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
539 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
543 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
544 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
545 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
546 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
547 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
548 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
552 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
553 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
554 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
558 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
559 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
560 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
561 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
562 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
563 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
564 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
565 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
567 Alternative Approaches
569 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
570 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
572 Various Summary Stuff
574 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
575 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
576 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
577 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
581 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
582 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
583 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
584 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
585 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
589 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
590 * Post:: Posting and following up.
591 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
592 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
593 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
594 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
595 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
596 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
600 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
601 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
602 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
603 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
604 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
605 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
606 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
610 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
611 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
612 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
613 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
614 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
615 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
616 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
620 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
621 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
625 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
626 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
627 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
628 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
629 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
630 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
631 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
632 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
633 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
634 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
635 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
636 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
637 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
641 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
642 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
643 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
645 Choosing a Mail Backend
647 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
648 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
649 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
650 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
651 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
652 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
656 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
657 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
658 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
659 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
663 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
664 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
665 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
666 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
667 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
668 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
672 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
676 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
677 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
678 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
682 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
683 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
684 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
688 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
689 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
693 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
694 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
695 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
696 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
697 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
698 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
699 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
700 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
701 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
705 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
706 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
707 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
711 * Group Agent Commands::
712 * Summary Agent Commands::
713 * Server Agent Commands::
717 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
718 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
719 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
720 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
721 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
722 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
723 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
724 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
725 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
726 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
727 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
728 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
729 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
730 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
731 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
732 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
736 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
737 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
738 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
739 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
743 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
744 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
745 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
749 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
750 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
751 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
752 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
753 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
754 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
755 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
756 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
757 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
758 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
759 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
760 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
761 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
762 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
763 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
764 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
765 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
766 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
770 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
771 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
772 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
773 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
774 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
778 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
779 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
780 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
781 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
785 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
786 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
787 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
788 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
789 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
793 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
794 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
795 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
796 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
797 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
798 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
799 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
800 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
804 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
805 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
806 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
807 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
808 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
809 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
810 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
811 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
812 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
813 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
817 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
818 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
819 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
820 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
824 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
825 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
826 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
827 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
831 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
832 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
833 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
834 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
835 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
836 * Group Info:: The group info format.
837 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
838 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
839 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
843 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
844 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
845 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
846 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
847 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
848 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
852 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
853 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
857 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
858 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
864 @chapter Starting Gnus
869 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
870 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
873 @findex gnus-other-frame
874 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
875 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
876 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
878 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
879 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
880 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
882 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
883 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
886 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
887 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
888 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
889 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
890 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
891 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
892 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
893 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
894 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
895 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
896 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
900 @node Finding the News
901 @section Finding the News
904 @vindex gnus-select-method
906 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
907 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
908 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
909 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
912 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
913 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
916 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
919 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
922 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
925 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
926 certainly be much faster.
928 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
930 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
931 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
932 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
933 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
934 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
935 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
937 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
938 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
939 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
940 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
942 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
943 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
944 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
945 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
946 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
947 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
948 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
949 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
950 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
953 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
955 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
956 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
957 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
958 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
959 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
960 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
962 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
964 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
965 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
966 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
967 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
968 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
969 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
972 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
973 would typically set this variable to
976 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
981 @section The First Time
982 @cindex first time usage
984 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
985 be subscribed by default.
987 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
988 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
989 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
990 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
993 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
994 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
995 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
997 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
998 help you with most common problems.
1000 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1001 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1005 @node The Server is Down
1006 @section The Server is Down
1007 @cindex server errors
1009 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1010 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1011 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1013 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1014 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1015 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1016 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1017 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1018 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1019 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1021 @findex gnus-no-server
1022 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1024 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1025 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1026 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1027 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1028 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1029 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1034 @section Slave Gnusae
1037 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1038 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1039 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1040 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1042 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1043 @code{.newsrc} file.
1045 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1046 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1047 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1048 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1049 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1050 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1051 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1053 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1054 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1055 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1056 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1057 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1058 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1059 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1060 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1062 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1063 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1066 @node Fetching a Group
1067 @section Fetching a Group
1068 @cindex fetching a group
1070 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1071 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1072 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1073 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1074 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1075 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1081 @cindex subscription
1083 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1084 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1085 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1086 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1087 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1088 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1089 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1090 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1091 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1094 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1095 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1096 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1100 @node Checking New Groups
1101 @subsection Checking New Groups
1103 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1104 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1105 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1106 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1107 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1108 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1109 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1110 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1111 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1112 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1114 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1115 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1116 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1117 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1118 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1119 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1120 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1121 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1122 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1123 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1124 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1126 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1127 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1128 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1129 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1130 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1131 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1134 @node Subscription Methods
1135 @subsection Subscription Methods
1137 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1138 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1139 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1141 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1142 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1144 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1148 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1149 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1150 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1151 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1152 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1154 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1155 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1156 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1157 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1159 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1160 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1161 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1163 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1164 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1165 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1166 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1167 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1168 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1169 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1170 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1171 up. Or something like that.
1173 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1174 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1175 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1176 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1177 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1179 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1180 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1181 Kill all new groups.
1183 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1184 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1185 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1186 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1187 topic parameter that looks like
1193 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1196 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1201 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1202 A closely related variable is
1203 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1204 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1205 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1206 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1209 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1210 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1211 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1212 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1215 @node Filtering New Groups
1216 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1218 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1219 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1220 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1223 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1227 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1228 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1229 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1230 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1231 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1232 subscribing these groups.
1233 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1234 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1236 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1237 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1238 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1239 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1240 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1241 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1242 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1243 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1245 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1246 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1247 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1248 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1249 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1250 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1251 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1252 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1253 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1254 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1256 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1257 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1260 @node Changing Servers
1261 @section Changing Servers
1262 @cindex changing servers
1264 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1265 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1266 very flaky and you want to use another.
1268 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1269 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1273 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1274 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1275 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1276 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1279 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1280 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1281 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1282 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1284 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1285 @findex gnus-change-server
1286 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1287 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1288 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1289 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1290 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1292 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1293 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1294 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1295 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1296 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1298 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1299 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1300 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1301 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1303 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1305 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1306 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1307 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1311 @section Startup Files
1312 @cindex startup files
1317 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1318 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1320 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1321 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1322 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1323 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1324 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1325 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1326 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1328 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1329 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1330 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1331 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1332 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1333 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1335 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1336 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1337 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1338 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1339 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1340 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1341 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1342 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1343 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1344 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1346 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1347 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1348 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1349 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1350 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1351 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1352 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1353 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1354 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1355 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1356 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1357 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1359 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1360 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1361 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1362 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1364 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1365 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1366 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1367 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1368 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1369 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1370 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1371 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1372 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1373 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1376 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1377 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1379 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1380 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1383 @vindex gnus-init-file
1384 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1385 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1386 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1387 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1388 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1389 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1390 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1391 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1392 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1398 @cindex dribble file
1401 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1402 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1403 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1404 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1405 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1408 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1409 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1412 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1413 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1414 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1416 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1417 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1418 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1419 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1420 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1421 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1423 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1424 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1425 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1428 @node The Active File
1429 @section The Active File
1431 @cindex ignored groups
1433 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1434 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1435 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1437 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1438 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1439 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1440 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1441 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1442 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1443 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1446 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1447 @c if you set it to anything else.
1449 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1451 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1452 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1453 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1455 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1456 you actually subscribe to.
1458 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1459 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1460 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1461 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1463 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1464 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1465 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1466 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1467 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1468 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1470 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1471 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1472 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1474 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1475 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1476 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1477 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1478 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1479 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1481 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1482 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1484 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1485 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1487 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1488 secondary select methods.
1491 @node Startup Variables
1492 @section Startup Variables
1496 @item gnus-load-hook
1497 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1498 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1499 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1500 times you start Gnus.
1502 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1503 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1504 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1506 @item gnus-startup-hook
1507 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1508 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1510 @item gnus-started-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1512 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1515 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1516 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1517 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1518 generating the group buffer.
1520 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1521 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1522 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1523 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1524 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1525 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1526 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1527 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1529 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1530 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1531 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1532 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1533 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1534 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1536 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1537 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1538 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1540 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1541 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1542 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1544 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1545 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1546 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1547 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1552 @node The Group Buffer
1553 @chapter The Group Buffer
1554 @cindex group buffer
1556 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1557 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1558 long as Gnus is active.
1562 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1563 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1564 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1565 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1566 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1567 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1568 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1569 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1575 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1576 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1577 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1578 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1579 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1580 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1581 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1582 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1583 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1584 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1585 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1586 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1587 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1588 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1589 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1590 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1591 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1595 @node Group Buffer Format
1596 @section Group Buffer Format
1599 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1600 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1601 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1605 @node Group Line Specification
1606 @subsection Group Line Specification
1607 @cindex group buffer format
1609 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1610 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1612 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1615 25: news.announce.newusers
1616 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1621 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1622 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1623 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1624 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1626 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1627 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1628 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1629 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1630 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1631 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1633 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1635 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1636 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1637 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1638 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1641 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1642 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1643 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1645 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1650 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1653 Whether the group is subscribed.
1656 Level of subscribedness.
1659 Number of unread articles.
1662 Number of dormant articles.
1665 Number of ticked articles.
1668 Number of read articles.
1671 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1672 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1675 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1678 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1687 Newsgroup description.
1690 @samp{m} if moderated.
1693 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1702 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1706 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1709 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1710 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1711 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1712 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1713 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1716 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1718 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1722 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1726 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1727 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1728 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1729 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1730 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1731 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1736 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1737 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1738 group, or a bogus native group.
1741 @node Group Modeline Specification
1742 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1743 @cindex group modeline
1745 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1746 The mode line can be changed by setting
1747 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1748 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1752 The native news server.
1754 The native select method.
1758 @node Group Highlighting
1759 @subsection Group Highlighting
1760 @cindex highlighting
1761 @cindex group highlighting
1763 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1764 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1765 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1766 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1767 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1769 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1773 (cond (window-system
1774 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1775 (defface my-group-face-1
1776 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1777 (defface my-group-face-2
1778 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1779 (defface my-group-face-3
1780 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1781 (defface my-group-face-4
1782 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1783 (defface my-group-face-5
1784 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1786 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1787 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1788 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1789 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1790 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1791 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1794 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1796 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1803 The number of unread articles in the group.
1807 Whether the group is a mail group.
1809 The level of the group.
1811 The score of the group.
1813 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1815 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1816 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1818 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1819 topic being inserted.
1822 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1823 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1824 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1826 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1827 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1828 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1829 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1830 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1833 @node Group Maneuvering
1834 @section Group Maneuvering
1835 @cindex group movement
1837 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1838 expected, hopefully.
1844 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1845 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1846 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1852 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1853 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1854 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1858 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1859 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1863 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1864 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1868 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1869 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1870 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1874 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1875 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1876 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1879 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1885 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1886 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1887 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1892 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1893 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1894 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1898 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1899 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1900 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1903 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1904 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1905 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1906 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1910 @node Selecting a Group
1911 @section Selecting a Group
1912 @cindex group selection
1917 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1918 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1919 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1920 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1921 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1922 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1923 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1924 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1925 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1926 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1930 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1931 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1932 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1933 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1934 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1938 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1939 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1940 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1941 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1942 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1943 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1944 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1945 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1946 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1947 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1950 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1951 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1952 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1953 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1954 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1957 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1958 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1959 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1960 doing any processing of its contents
1961 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1962 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1963 manner will have no permanent effects.
1967 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1968 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1969 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1970 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1971 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1972 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1973 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1974 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1977 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1978 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1979 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1980 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1985 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1986 full summary buffer.
1989 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1992 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1997 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1998 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1999 Useful functions include:
2002 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2003 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2004 don't select the article.
2006 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2007 Select the first unread article.
2009 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2010 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2014 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2015 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2016 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2020 @node Subscription Commands
2021 @section Subscription Commands
2022 @cindex subscription
2030 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2031 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2032 Toggle subscription to the current group
2033 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2040 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2041 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2042 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2048 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2049 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2050 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2056 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2057 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2060 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2061 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2062 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2063 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2064 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2070 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2071 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2075 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2076 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2079 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2080 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2081 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2082 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2083 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2084 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2085 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2086 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2087 @file{.newsrc} file.
2091 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2101 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2102 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2103 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2104 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2105 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2106 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2111 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2112 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2113 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2117 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2118 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2119 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2121 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2122 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2123 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2124 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2125 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2126 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2133 @section Group Levels
2137 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2138 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2139 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2140 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2141 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2143 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2149 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2150 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2151 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2152 prompted for a level.
2155 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2156 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2157 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2158 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2159 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2160 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2161 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2162 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2163 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2164 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2165 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2166 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2167 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2168 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2169 reasons of efficiency.
2171 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2172 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2174 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2175 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2176 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2178 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2179 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2180 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2181 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2182 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2183 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2184 relevant valid ranges.
2186 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2187 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2188 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2189 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2190 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2191 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2194 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2195 one with the best level.
2197 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2198 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2199 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2202 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2203 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2204 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2205 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2208 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2209 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2210 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2211 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2213 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2214 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2215 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2216 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2217 to 5. The default is 6.
2221 @section Group Score
2226 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2227 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2228 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2231 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2232 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2233 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2234 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2235 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2236 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2237 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2238 least significant part.))
2240 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2241 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2242 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2243 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2244 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2245 action after each summary exit, you can add
2246 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2247 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2248 slow things down somewhat.
2251 @node Marking Groups
2252 @section Marking Groups
2253 @cindex marking groups
2255 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2256 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2257 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2258 bidding on those groups.
2260 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2261 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2262 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2270 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2271 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2277 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2278 Remove the mark from the current group
2279 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2283 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2284 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2288 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2289 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2293 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2294 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2298 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2299 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2300 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2303 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2305 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2306 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2307 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2308 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2309 the command to be executed.
2312 @node Foreign Groups
2313 @section Foreign Groups
2314 @cindex foreign groups
2316 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2317 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2318 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2319 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2326 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2327 @cindex making groups
2328 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2329 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2330 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2334 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2335 @cindex renaming groups
2336 Rename the current group to something else
2337 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2338 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2344 @findex gnus-group-customize
2345 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2349 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2350 @cindex renaming groups
2351 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2352 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2356 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2357 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2358 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2362 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2363 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2364 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2368 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2370 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2371 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2376 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2377 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2381 @cindex (ding) archive
2382 @cindex archive group
2383 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2384 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2385 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2386 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2387 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2388 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2389 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2393 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2395 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2396 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2397 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2398 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2402 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2404 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2405 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2406 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2410 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2411 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2413 Make a group based on some file or other
2414 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2415 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2416 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2417 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2418 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2419 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2420 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2424 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2425 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2426 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2427 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2431 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2436 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2437 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2438 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2439 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2440 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2441 @xref{Web Searches}.
2443 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2444 to a particular group by using a match string like
2445 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2448 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2449 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2450 This function will delete the current group
2451 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2452 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2453 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2454 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2455 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2459 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2460 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2461 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2465 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2466 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2467 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2470 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2473 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2474 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2475 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2476 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2477 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2478 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2482 @node Group Parameters
2483 @section Group Parameters
2484 @cindex group parameters
2486 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2487 Here's an example group parameter list:
2490 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2494 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2495 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2496 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2497 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2499 The following group parameters can be used:
2504 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2507 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2510 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2511 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2512 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2513 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2514 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2516 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2517 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2518 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2519 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2520 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2521 list address instead.
2525 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2528 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2531 It is totally ignored
2532 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2533 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2535 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2536 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2537 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2538 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2539 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2541 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2542 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2543 sending the message.
2547 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2548 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2549 of whether it has any unread articles.
2551 @item broken-reply-to
2552 @cindex broken-reply-to
2553 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2554 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2555 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2556 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2557 broken behavior. So there!
2561 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2562 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2566 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2567 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2568 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2573 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2574 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2575 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2576 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2577 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2578 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2579 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2583 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2584 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2585 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2588 @cindex total-expire
2589 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2590 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2591 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2592 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2597 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2598 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2599 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2600 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2601 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2602 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2605 @cindex score file group parameter
2606 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2607 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2608 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2611 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2612 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2613 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2614 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2617 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2618 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2619 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2620 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2623 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2624 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2628 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2631 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2636 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2637 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2638 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2642 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2643 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2644 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2646 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2647 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2648 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2649 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2650 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2651 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2652 @code{eval}ed there.
2654 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2655 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2656 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2657 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2658 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2661 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2662 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2663 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2664 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2665 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2667 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2668 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2669 like this in the group parameters:
2674 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2679 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2680 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2684 @node Listing Groups
2685 @section Listing Groups
2686 @cindex group listing
2688 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2696 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2697 List all groups that have unread articles
2698 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2699 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2700 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2701 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2708 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2709 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2710 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2711 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2712 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2713 unsubscribed groups).
2717 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2718 List all unread groups on a specific level
2719 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2720 with no unread articles.
2724 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2725 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2726 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2727 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2732 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2733 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2737 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2738 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2739 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2743 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2744 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2748 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2749 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2750 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2751 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2752 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2753 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2754 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2755 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2759 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2760 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2761 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2765 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2766 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2767 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2771 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2772 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2776 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2777 @cindex visible group parameter
2778 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2779 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2780 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2781 get the same effect.
2783 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2784 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2785 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2786 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2787 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2790 @node Sorting Groups
2791 @section Sorting Groups
2792 @cindex sorting groups
2794 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2795 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2796 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2797 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2798 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2799 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2804 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2805 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2806 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2808 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2809 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2810 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2812 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2813 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2814 Sort by group level.
2816 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2817 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2818 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2820 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2821 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2822 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2823 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2825 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2826 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2827 Sort by number of unread articles.
2829 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2830 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2831 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2836 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2837 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2841 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2842 some sorting criteria:
2846 @kindex G S a (Group)
2847 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2848 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2849 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2852 @kindex G S u (Group)
2853 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2854 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2855 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2858 @kindex G S l (Group)
2859 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2860 Sort the group buffer by group level
2861 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2864 @kindex G S v (Group)
2865 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2866 Sort the group buffer by group score
2867 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2870 @kindex G S r (Group)
2871 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2872 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2873 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2876 @kindex G S m (Group)
2877 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2878 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2879 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2883 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2884 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2886 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2887 commands will sort in reverse order.
2889 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2893 @kindex G P a (Group)
2894 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2895 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2896 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2899 @kindex G P u (Group)
2900 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2901 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2902 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2905 @kindex G P l (Group)
2906 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2907 Sort the groups by group level
2908 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2911 @kindex G P v (Group)
2912 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2913 Sort the groups by group score
2914 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2917 @kindex G P r (Group)
2918 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2919 Sort the groups by group rank
2920 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2923 @kindex G P m (Group)
2924 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2925 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2926 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2932 @node Group Maintenance
2933 @section Group Maintenance
2934 @cindex bogus groups
2939 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2940 Find bogus groups and delete them
2941 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2945 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2946 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2947 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2948 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2949 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2953 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2954 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2955 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2956 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2959 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2960 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2961 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2962 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2967 @node Browse Foreign Server
2968 @section Browse Foreign Server
2969 @cindex foreign servers
2970 @cindex browsing servers
2975 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2976 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2977 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2978 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2981 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2982 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2983 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2984 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2986 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2991 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2992 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2996 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2997 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3000 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3001 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3002 Enter the current group and display the first article
3003 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3006 @kindex RET (Browse)
3007 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3008 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3012 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3013 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3014 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3020 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3021 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3025 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3026 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3027 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3032 @section Exiting Gnus
3033 @cindex exiting Gnus
3035 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3040 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3041 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3042 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3043 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3047 @findex gnus-group-exit
3048 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3049 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3053 @findex gnus-group-quit
3054 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3055 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3058 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3059 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3060 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3061 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3062 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3067 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3068 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3069 trying to customize meta-variables.
3074 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3075 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3076 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3082 @section Group Topics
3085 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3086 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3087 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3088 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3089 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3090 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3094 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3095 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3106 2: alt.religion.emacs
3109 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3111 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3112 13: comp.sources.unix
3115 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3117 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3118 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3119 is a toggling command.)
3121 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3122 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3123 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3124 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3127 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3128 the hook for the group mode:
3131 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3135 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3136 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3137 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3138 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3139 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3143 @node Topic Variables
3144 @subsection Topic Variables
3145 @cindex topic variables
3147 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3148 really neat, I think.
3150 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3151 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3152 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3165 Number of groups in the topic.
3167 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3169 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3172 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3173 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3174 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3177 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3178 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3180 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3181 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3182 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3185 @node Topic Commands
3186 @subsection Topic Commands
3187 @cindex topic commands
3189 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3190 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3191 definitions slightly.
3197 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3198 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3199 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3203 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3204 Move the current group to some other topic
3205 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3206 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3210 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3211 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3215 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3216 Copy the current group to some other topic
3217 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3218 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3222 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3223 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3224 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3225 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3226 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3227 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3228 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3231 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3232 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3236 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3237 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3238 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3242 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3243 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3244 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3248 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3249 Toggle hiding empty topics
3250 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3254 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3255 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3256 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3259 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3260 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3261 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3262 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3266 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3268 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3269 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3270 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3271 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3274 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3275 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3276 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3277 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3281 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3283 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3284 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3285 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3286 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3287 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3288 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3291 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3292 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3293 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3294 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3298 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3299 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3300 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3304 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3305 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3306 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3311 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3312 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3315 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3316 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3317 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3321 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3322 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3323 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3327 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3328 @cindex group parameters
3329 @cindex topic parameters
3331 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3332 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3338 @subsection Topic Sorting
3339 @cindex topic sorting
3341 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3347 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3348 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3349 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3350 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3353 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3354 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3355 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3356 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3359 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3360 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3361 Sort the current topic by group level
3362 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3365 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3366 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3367 Sort the current topic by group score
3368 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3371 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3372 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3373 Sort the current topic by group rank
3374 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3377 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3378 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3379 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3380 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3384 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3387 @node Topic Topology
3388 @subsection Topic Topology
3389 @cindex topic topology
3392 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3398 2: alt.religion.emacs
3401 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3403 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3404 13: comp.sources.unix
3407 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3408 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3409 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3414 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3415 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3419 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3420 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3421 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3422 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3423 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3424 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3426 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3427 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3428 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3431 @node Topic Parameters
3432 @subsection Topic Parameters
3433 @cindex topic parameters
3435 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3436 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3437 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3439 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3444 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3445 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3446 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3451 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3452 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3453 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3454 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3460 2: alt.religion.emacs
3464 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3466 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3467 13: comp.sources.unix
3471 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3472 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3473 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3474 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3475 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3476 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3478 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3479 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3480 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3481 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3482 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3484 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3485 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3486 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3487 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3488 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3489 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3490 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3491 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3494 @node Misc Group Stuff
3495 @section Misc Group Stuff
3498 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3499 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3500 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3501 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3508 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3509 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3510 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3514 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3515 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3516 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3520 @findex gnus-group-mail
3521 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3525 Variables for the group buffer:
3529 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3530 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3531 is called after the group buffer has been
3534 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3535 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3536 is called after the group buffer is
3537 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3540 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3541 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3542 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3543 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3545 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3546 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3547 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3548 whether they are empty or not.
3553 @node Scanning New Messages
3554 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3555 @cindex new messages
3556 @cindex scanning new news
3562 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3563 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3564 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3565 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3566 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3567 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3572 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3573 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3574 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3575 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3576 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3577 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3578 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3580 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3581 @cindex activating groups
3583 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3584 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3589 @findex gnus-group-restart
3590 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3591 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3592 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3596 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3597 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3599 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3600 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3604 @node Group Information
3605 @subsection Group Information
3606 @cindex group information
3607 @cindex information on groups
3614 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3615 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3618 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3619 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3620 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3621 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3622 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3623 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3624 for fetching the file.
3626 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3627 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3631 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3633 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3634 @cindex describing groups
3635 @cindex group description
3636 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3637 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3638 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3642 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3643 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3644 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3651 @findex gnus-version
3652 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3656 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3657 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3660 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3663 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3664 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3668 @node Group Timestamp
3669 @subsection Group Timestamp
3671 @cindex group timestamps
3673 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3674 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3675 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3678 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3681 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3683 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3684 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3687 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3688 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3691 This will result in lines looking like:
3694 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3695 0: custom 19961002T012713
3698 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3699 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3703 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3704 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3709 @subsection File Commands
3710 @cindex file commands
3716 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3717 @vindex gnus-init-file
3718 @cindex reading init file
3719 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3720 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3724 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3725 @cindex saving .newsrc
3726 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3727 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3728 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3731 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3732 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3733 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3738 @node The Summary Buffer
3739 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3740 @cindex summary buffer
3742 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3743 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3745 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3746 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3748 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3751 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3752 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3753 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3754 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3755 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3756 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3757 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3758 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3759 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3760 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3761 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3762 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3763 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3764 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3765 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3766 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3767 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3768 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3769 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3770 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3771 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3772 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3773 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3774 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3775 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3776 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3777 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3778 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3782 @node Summary Buffer Format
3783 @section Summary Buffer Format
3784 @cindex summary buffer format
3788 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3789 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3790 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3796 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3797 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3798 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3799 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3802 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3803 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3804 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3805 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3806 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3807 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3808 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3809 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3810 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3811 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3812 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3815 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3816 'mail-extract-address-components)
3819 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3820 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3821 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3822 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3825 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3826 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3828 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3829 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3830 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3831 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3832 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3834 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3836 The following format specification characters are understood:
3842 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3843 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3845 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3846 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3847 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3849 Full @code{From} header.
3851 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3853 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3854 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3856 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3857 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3858 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3859 may be more thorough.
3861 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3864 Number of lines in the article.
3866 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3867 methods (like nnfolder).
3869 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3871 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3872 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3874 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3875 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3877 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3878 for adopted articles.
3880 One space for each thread level.
3882 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3887 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3888 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3892 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3894 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3895 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3896 default level. If the difference between
3897 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3898 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3906 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3908 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3914 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3915 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3917 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3918 article has any children.
3924 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3925 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3926 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3927 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3928 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3929 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3932 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3933 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3934 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3935 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3936 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3937 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3939 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3940 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3942 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3945 @node To From Newsgroups
3946 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3950 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3951 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3952 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3953 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3954 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3958 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3959 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3960 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3964 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3965 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3968 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3969 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3972 @findex gnus-extra-header
3973 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3974 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3975 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3978 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3982 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3983 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3984 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3985 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3986 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3987 headers are used instead.
3991 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3992 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3993 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3994 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3997 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3998 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3999 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4000 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4002 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4005 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4007 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4008 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4009 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4010 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4014 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4015 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4022 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4023 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4026 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4027 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4029 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4030 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4031 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4032 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4034 Here are the elements you can play with:
4040 Unprefixed group name.
4042 Current article number.
4044 Current article score.
4048 Number of unread articles in this group.
4050 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4053 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4054 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4055 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4056 and no unselected ones.
4058 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4059 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4061 Subject of the current article.
4063 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4065 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4067 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4069 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4071 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4073 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4077 @node Summary Highlighting
4078 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4082 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4083 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4084 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4085 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4086 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4088 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4089 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4090 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4091 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4093 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4094 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4095 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4096 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4098 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4099 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4100 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4101 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4102 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4103 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4106 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4107 ((> score default) . bold))
4109 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4110 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4114 @node Summary Maneuvering
4115 @section Summary Maneuvering
4116 @cindex summary movement
4118 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4119 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4121 None of these commands select articles.
4126 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4127 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4128 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4129 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4130 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4134 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4135 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4136 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4137 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4138 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4143 @kindex G j (Summary)
4144 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4145 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4146 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4149 @kindex G g (Summary)
4150 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4151 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4152 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4155 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4156 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4157 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4158 to the group buffer.
4160 Variables related to summary movement:
4164 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4165 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4166 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4167 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4168 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4169 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4170 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4171 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4172 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4173 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4174 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4175 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4176 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4177 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4179 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4180 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4181 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4182 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4183 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4184 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4185 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4187 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4189 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4190 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4191 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4192 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4193 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4195 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4196 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4197 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4198 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4199 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4200 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4201 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4202 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4205 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4206 the given number of lines from the top.
4211 @node Choosing Articles
4212 @section Choosing Articles
4213 @cindex selecting articles
4216 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4217 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4221 @node Choosing Commands
4222 @subsection Choosing Commands
4224 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4225 and they all select and display an article.
4229 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4230 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4231 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4232 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4237 @kindex G n (Summary)
4238 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4239 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4240 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4245 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4246 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4247 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4252 @kindex G N (Summary)
4253 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4254 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4259 @kindex G P (Summary)
4260 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4261 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4264 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4265 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4266 Go to the next article with the same subject
4267 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4270 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4271 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4272 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4273 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4277 @kindex G f (Summary)
4279 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4280 Go to the first unread article
4281 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4285 @kindex G b (Summary)
4287 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4288 Go to the article with the highest score
4289 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4294 @kindex G l (Summary)
4295 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4296 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4299 @kindex G o (Summary)
4300 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4302 @cindex article history
4303 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4304 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4305 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4306 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4307 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4308 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4312 @node Choosing Variables
4313 @subsection Choosing Variables
4315 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4318 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4319 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4320 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4321 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4322 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4323 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4325 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4326 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4327 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4328 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4330 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4331 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4332 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4333 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4334 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4335 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4336 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4337 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4338 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4339 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4340 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4341 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4342 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4343 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4348 @node Paging the Article
4349 @section Scrolling the Article
4350 @cindex article scrolling
4355 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4356 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4357 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4358 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4359 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4362 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4363 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4364 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4367 @kindex RET (Summary)
4368 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4369 Scroll the current article one line forward
4370 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4373 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4374 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4375 Scroll the current article one line backward
4376 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4380 @kindex A g (Summary)
4382 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4383 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4384 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4385 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4386 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4387 the way it came from the server.
4389 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4390 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4391 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4394 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4399 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4404 @kindex A < (Summary)
4405 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4406 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4407 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4412 @kindex A > (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4414 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4418 @kindex A s (Summary)
4420 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4421 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4422 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4426 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4427 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4432 @node Reply Followup and Post
4433 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4436 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4437 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4438 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4439 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4443 @node Summary Mail Commands
4444 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4446 @cindex composing mail
4448 Commands for composing a mail message:
4454 @kindex S r (Summary)
4456 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4457 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4458 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4459 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4465 @kindex S R (Summary)
4466 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4467 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4468 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4469 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4470 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4473 @kindex S w (Summary)
4474 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4475 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4476 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4477 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4478 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4481 @kindex S W (Summary)
4482 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4483 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4484 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4485 the process/prefix convention.
4489 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4490 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4491 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4492 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4493 Forward the current article to some other person
4494 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4495 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4496 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4497 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4498 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4499 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4500 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4501 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4502 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4507 @kindex S m (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4509 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4510 Send a mail to some other person
4511 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4514 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4515 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4516 @cindex bouncing mail
4517 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4518 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4519 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4520 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4521 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4522 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4523 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4524 very well fail, though.
4527 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4528 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4529 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4530 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4531 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4532 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4533 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4534 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4535 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4536 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4538 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4539 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4540 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4541 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4542 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4544 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4545 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4548 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4550 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4551 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4552 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4555 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4557 @cindex crossposting
4558 @cindex excessive crossposting
4559 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4560 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4562 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4563 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4564 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4565 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4566 command understands the process/prefix convention
4567 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4571 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4574 @node Summary Post Commands
4575 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4577 @cindex composing news
4579 Commands for posting a news article:
4585 @kindex S p (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4588 Post an article to the current group
4589 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4594 @kindex S f (Summary)
4595 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4596 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4597 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4601 @kindex S F (Summary)
4603 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4604 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4605 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4606 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4607 process/prefix convention.
4610 @kindex S n (Summary)
4611 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4612 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4613 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4616 @kindex S N (Summary)
4617 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4618 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4619 message through mail and include the original message
4620 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4621 the process/prefix convention.
4624 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4625 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4626 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4627 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4628 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4629 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4630 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4631 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4632 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4633 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4634 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4635 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4636 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4639 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4640 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4642 @cindex making digests
4643 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4644 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4645 process/prefix convention.
4648 @kindex S u (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4650 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4651 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4652 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4655 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4658 @node Summary Message Commands
4659 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4663 @kindex S y (Summary)
4664 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4665 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4666 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4667 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4668 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4673 @node Canceling and Superseding
4674 @subsection Canceling Articles
4675 @cindex canceling articles
4676 @cindex superseding articles
4678 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4679 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4681 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4683 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4685 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4686 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4687 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4688 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4689 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4690 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4692 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4693 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4696 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4697 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4698 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4700 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4701 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4702 your original article.
4704 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4706 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4707 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4708 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4711 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4712 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4713 have posted almost the same article twice.
4715 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4716 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4717 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4718 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4719 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4720 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4721 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4722 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4723 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4724 canceled/superseded.
4726 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4729 @node Marking Articles
4730 @section Marking Articles
4731 @cindex article marking
4732 @cindex article ticking
4735 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4737 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4738 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4739 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4741 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4744 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4745 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4746 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4750 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4754 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4755 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4756 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4760 @node Unread Articles
4761 @subsection Unread Articles
4763 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4768 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4769 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4771 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4772 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4773 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4774 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4775 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4779 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4780 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4782 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4783 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4784 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4787 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4788 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4790 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4795 @subsection Read Articles
4796 @cindex expirable mark
4798 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4803 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4804 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4805 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4808 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4809 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4812 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4813 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4814 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4817 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4818 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4821 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4822 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4825 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4826 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4829 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4830 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4833 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4834 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4837 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4838 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4841 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4842 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4846 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4847 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4848 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4852 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4853 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4855 One more special mark, though:
4859 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4860 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4862 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4863 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4864 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4865 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4871 @subsection Other Marks
4872 @cindex process mark
4875 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4881 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4882 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4883 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4884 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4885 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4888 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4889 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4890 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4891 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4894 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4895 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4896 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4899 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4900 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4901 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4902 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4905 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4906 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4907 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4908 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4909 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4912 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4913 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4914 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4915 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4916 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4917 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4921 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4922 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4923 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4925 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4926 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4927 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4931 @subsection Setting Marks
4932 @cindex setting marks
4934 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4939 @kindex M c (Summary)
4940 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4941 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4942 @cindex mark as unread
4943 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4944 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4950 @kindex M t (Summary)
4951 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4952 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4953 @xref{Article Caching}.
4958 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4960 Mark the current article as dormant
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4965 @kindex M d (Summary)
4967 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4968 Mark the current article as read
4969 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4973 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4974 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4975 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4980 @kindex M k (Summary)
4981 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4982 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4983 and then select the next unread article
4984 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4988 @kindex M K (Summary)
4989 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4990 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4991 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4992 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4995 @kindex M C (Summary)
4996 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4997 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4998 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5001 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5002 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5003 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5004 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5007 @kindex M H (Summary)
5008 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5009 Catchup the current group to point
5010 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5013 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5015 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5016 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5019 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5021 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5022 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5026 @kindex M e (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5029 Mark the current article as expirable
5030 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5033 @kindex M b (Summary)
5034 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5035 Set a bookmark in the current article
5036 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5039 @kindex M B (Summary)
5040 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5041 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5042 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5045 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5046 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5047 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5048 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5051 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5053 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5054 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5057 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5059 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5060 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5061 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5064 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5065 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5066 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5067 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5068 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5069 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5070 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5071 The default is @code{t}.
5074 @node Generic Marking Commands
5075 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5077 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5078 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5079 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5080 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5081 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5084 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5085 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5088 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5089 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5090 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5091 to list in this manual.
5093 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5094 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5095 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5096 article, you could say something like:
5099 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5100 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5101 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5107 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5108 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5112 @node Setting Process Marks
5113 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5114 @cindex setting process marks
5121 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5122 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5123 Mark the current article with the process mark
5124 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5125 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5129 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5130 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5131 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5132 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5135 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5137 Remove the process mark from all articles
5138 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5141 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5142 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5143 Invert the list of process marked articles
5144 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5147 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5148 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5149 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5150 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5153 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5155 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5156 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5159 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5160 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5161 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5164 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5166 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5167 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5170 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5171 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5172 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5173 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5176 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5177 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5178 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5179 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5182 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5183 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5184 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5187 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5189 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5190 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5193 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5195 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5198 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5200 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5201 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5204 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5205 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5206 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5207 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5210 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5212 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5216 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5218 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5228 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5229 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5230 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5233 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5234 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5235 additional articles.
5241 @kindex / / (Summary)
5242 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5243 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5244 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5247 @kindex / a (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5249 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5250 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5253 @kindex / x (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5255 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5256 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5257 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5261 @kindex / u (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5264 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5265 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5266 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5267 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5270 @kindex / m (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5272 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5273 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5276 @kindex / t (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5278 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5280 articles younger than that number of days.
5283 @kindex / n (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5285 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5287 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5290 @kindex / w (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5292 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5293 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5297 @kindex / v (Summary)
5298 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5299 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5300 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5304 @kindex M S (Summary)
5305 @kindex / E (Summary)
5306 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5307 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5308 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5311 @kindex / D (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5313 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5314 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5317 @kindex / * (Summary)
5318 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5319 Include all cached articles in the limit
5320 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5323 @kindex / d (Summary)
5324 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5325 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5326 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5329 @kindex / M (Summary)
5330 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5331 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5334 @kindex / T (Summary)
5335 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5336 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5339 @kindex / c (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5341 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5342 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5345 @kindex / C (Summary)
5346 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5347 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5348 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5349 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5357 @cindex article threading
5359 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5360 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5361 hierarchical fashion.
5363 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5364 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5365 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5366 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5367 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5368 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5369 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5371 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5375 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5378 A tree-like article structure.
5381 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5384 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5385 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5386 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5387 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5388 called loose threads.
5390 @item thread gathering
5391 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5393 @item sparse threads
5394 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5395 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5401 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5402 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5406 @node Customizing Threading
5407 @subsection Customizing Threading
5408 @cindex customizing threading
5411 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5412 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5413 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5414 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5419 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5422 @cindex loose threads
5425 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5426 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5427 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5428 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5429 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5430 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5432 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5433 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5434 There are four possible values:
5438 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5439 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5440 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5441 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5442 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5447 @cindex adopting articles
5452 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5453 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5454 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5455 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5458 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5459 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5460 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5461 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5462 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5463 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5464 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5467 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5468 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5469 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5473 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5474 display them after one another.
5477 Don't gather loose threads.
5480 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5481 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5482 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5483 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5484 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5485 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5486 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5487 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5488 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5489 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5490 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5492 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5493 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5494 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5497 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5498 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5499 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5500 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5501 simplification is used.
5503 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5504 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5505 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5506 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5508 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5510 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5516 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5517 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5518 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5519 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5524 (mapconcat 'identity
5525 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5527 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5530 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5533 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5534 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5535 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5536 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5537 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5538 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5540 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5543 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5544 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5545 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5547 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5548 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5551 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5552 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5553 Remove excessive whitespace.
5556 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5559 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5560 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5561 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5562 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5563 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5564 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5565 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5566 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5568 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5569 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5570 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5571 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5572 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5573 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5574 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5575 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5576 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5580 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5581 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5582 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5583 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5585 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5586 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5587 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5590 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5594 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5595 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5601 @node Filling In Threads
5602 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5605 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5606 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5607 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5608 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5609 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5610 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5611 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5612 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5613 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5614 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5615 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5616 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5618 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5619 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5620 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5622 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5623 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5624 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5625 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5626 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5627 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5628 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5629 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5630 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5631 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5632 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5633 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5634 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5635 @code{nil} by default.
5640 @node More Threading
5641 @subsubsection More Threading
5644 @item gnus-show-threads
5645 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5646 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5647 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5648 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5649 slower and more awkward.
5651 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5652 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5653 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5656 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5657 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5658 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5659 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5660 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5661 threads are expunged.
5663 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5664 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5665 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5668 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5669 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5670 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5671 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5672 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5675 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5676 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5677 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5680 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5681 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5682 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5683 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5684 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5685 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5686 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5687 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5688 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5689 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5690 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5695 @node Low-Level Threading
5696 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5700 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5701 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5702 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5704 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5705 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5706 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5707 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5708 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5709 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5710 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5711 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5712 meaningful. Here's one example:
5715 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5717 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5718 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5720 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5722 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5729 @node Thread Commands
5730 @subsection Thread Commands
5731 @cindex thread commands
5737 @kindex T k (Summary)
5738 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5739 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5740 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5741 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5742 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5747 @kindex T l (Summary)
5748 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5749 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5750 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5751 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5754 @kindex T i (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5756 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5757 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5760 @kindex T # (Summary)
5761 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5762 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5763 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5766 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5767 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5768 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5769 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5772 @kindex T T (Summary)
5773 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5774 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5777 @kindex T s (Summary)
5778 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5779 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5780 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5783 @kindex T h (Summary)
5784 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5785 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5788 @kindex T S (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5790 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5793 @kindex T H (Summary)
5794 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5795 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5798 @kindex T t (Summary)
5799 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5800 Re-thread the current article's thread
5801 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5802 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5805 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5806 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5807 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5808 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5812 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5813 understand the numeric prefix.
5818 @kindex T n (Summary)
5820 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5822 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5824 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5827 @kindex T p (Summary)
5829 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5831 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5832 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5833 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5836 @kindex T d (Summary)
5837 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5838 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5841 @kindex T u (Summary)
5842 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5843 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5846 @kindex T o (Summary)
5847 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5848 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5851 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5852 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5853 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5854 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5855 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5856 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5857 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5858 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5859 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5860 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5861 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5862 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5869 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5870 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5871 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5872 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5873 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5874 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5875 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5876 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5877 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5878 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5879 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5881 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5882 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5883 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5884 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5885 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5887 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5888 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5889 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5891 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5892 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5893 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5894 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5895 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5896 ascending article order.
5898 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5899 by number, you could do something like:
5902 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5903 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5904 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5905 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5908 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5909 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5910 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5911 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5912 which the articles arrived.
5914 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5918 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5920 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5921 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5924 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5925 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5926 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5927 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5930 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5931 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5932 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5933 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5934 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5935 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5936 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5937 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5938 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5939 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5940 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5941 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5942 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5944 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5948 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5949 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5950 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5955 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5956 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5957 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5958 @cindex article pre-fetch
5961 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5962 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5963 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5964 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5965 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5967 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5968 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5970 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5971 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5972 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5973 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5974 connection is blocked.
5976 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5977 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5978 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5979 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5981 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5982 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5983 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5984 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5987 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5990 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5991 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5992 happen automatically.
5994 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5995 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5996 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5997 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5998 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5999 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6000 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6002 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6003 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6004 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6005 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6006 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6007 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6008 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6009 data structure as the only parameter.
6011 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6014 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6015 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6016 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6017 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6020 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6023 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6024 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6025 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6027 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6028 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6029 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6030 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6034 Remove articles when they are read.
6037 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6040 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6042 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6043 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6044 @c from the next group.
6047 @node Article Caching
6048 @section Article Caching
6049 @cindex article caching
6052 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6053 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6054 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6055 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6056 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6058 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6060 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6061 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6062 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6063 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6064 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6065 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6066 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6067 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6069 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6070 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6071 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6072 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6073 as dormant, and don't worry.
6075 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6077 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6078 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6079 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6080 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6081 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6082 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6083 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6084 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6085 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6086 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6088 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6089 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6090 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6091 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6092 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6093 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6094 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6095 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6096 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6097 not then be downloaded by this command.
6099 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6100 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6101 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6102 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6103 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6104 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6106 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6107 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6108 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6109 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6110 variables, the group is not cached.
6112 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6113 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6114 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6115 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6116 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6117 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6118 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6119 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6120 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6124 @node Persistent Articles
6125 @section Persistent Articles
6126 @cindex persistent articles
6128 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6129 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6130 useful in my opinion.
6132 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6133 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6134 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6135 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6136 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6137 the expiry going on at the news server.
6139 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6140 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6141 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6147 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6148 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6151 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6152 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6153 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6154 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6158 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6160 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6161 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6162 interested in persistent articles:
6165 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6169 @node Article Backlog
6170 @section Article Backlog
6172 @cindex article backlog
6174 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6175 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6176 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6177 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6178 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6179 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6180 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6181 increase memory usage some.
6183 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6184 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6185 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6186 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6187 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6188 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6189 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6191 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6194 @node Saving Articles
6195 @section Saving Articles
6196 @cindex saving articles
6198 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6199 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6200 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6201 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6202 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6204 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6205 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6206 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6208 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6209 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6210 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6211 deleted before saving.
6217 @kindex O o (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6220 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6221 Save the current article using the default article saver
6222 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6225 @kindex O m (Summary)
6226 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6227 Save the current article in mail format
6228 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6231 @kindex O r (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6233 Save the current article in rmail format
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6237 @kindex O f (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6239 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6240 Save the current article in plain file format
6241 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6244 @kindex O F (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6246 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6247 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6250 @kindex O b (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6252 Save the current article body in plain file format
6253 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6256 @kindex O h (Summary)
6257 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6258 Save the current article in mh folder format
6259 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6262 @kindex O v (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6264 Save the current article in a VM folder
6265 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6268 @kindex O p (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6270 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6271 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6274 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6275 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6276 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6277 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6278 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6279 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6280 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6281 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6282 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6283 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6284 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6285 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6289 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6290 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6291 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6292 functions below, or you can create your own.
6296 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6297 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6298 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6299 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6300 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6301 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6302 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6304 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6305 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6306 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6307 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6308 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6309 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6311 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6312 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6313 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6314 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6315 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6316 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6317 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6319 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6320 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6321 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6322 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6323 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6325 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6326 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6327 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6328 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6329 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6332 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6333 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6334 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6335 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6336 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6338 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6339 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6340 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6341 reader to use this setting.
6344 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6345 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6346 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6347 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6350 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6351 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6352 available functions that generate names:
6356 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6357 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6358 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6360 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6361 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6362 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6364 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6365 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6366 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6368 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6369 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6370 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6373 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6374 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6375 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6376 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6377 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6381 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6382 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6383 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6384 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6387 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6388 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6389 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6390 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6391 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6392 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6393 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6394 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6395 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6397 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6398 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6399 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6400 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6402 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6403 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6404 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6407 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6408 lots of mail groups called things like
6409 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6410 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6411 following will do just that:
6414 (defun my-save-name (group)
6415 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6416 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6418 (setq gnus-split-methods
6419 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6424 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6425 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6426 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6427 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6428 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6429 all the files in the top level directory
6430 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6431 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6432 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6433 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6435 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6436 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6437 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6438 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6439 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6442 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6446 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6447 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6450 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6451 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6452 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6453 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6456 @node Decoding Articles
6457 @section Decoding Articles
6458 @cindex decoding articles
6460 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6461 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6464 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6465 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6466 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6467 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6468 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6469 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6473 @cindex article series
6474 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6475 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6476 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6477 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6478 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6480 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6481 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6482 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6484 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6485 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6486 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6488 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6489 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6490 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6493 @node Uuencoded Articles
6494 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6496 @cindex uuencoded articles
6501 @kindex X u (Summary)
6502 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6503 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6504 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6507 @kindex X U (Summary)
6508 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6509 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6510 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6513 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6514 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6515 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6518 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6519 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6520 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6521 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6525 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6526 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6527 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6528 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6529 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6531 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6532 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6533 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6534 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6537 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6538 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6539 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6540 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6541 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6542 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6546 @node Shell Archives
6547 @subsection Shell Archives
6549 @cindex shell archives
6550 @cindex shared articles
6552 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6553 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6554 some commands to deal with these:
6559 @kindex X s (Summary)
6560 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6561 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6564 @kindex X S (Summary)
6565 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6566 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6569 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6570 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6571 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6574 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6575 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6576 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6577 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6581 @node PostScript Files
6582 @subsection PostScript Files
6588 @kindex X p (Summary)
6589 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6590 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6593 @kindex X P (Summary)
6594 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6595 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6596 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6599 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6600 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6601 View the current PostScript series
6602 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6605 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6606 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6607 View and save the current PostScript series
6608 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6613 @subsection Other Files
6617 @kindex X o (Summary)
6618 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6619 Save the current series
6620 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6623 @kindex X b (Summary)
6624 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6625 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6626 doesn't really work yet.
6630 @node Decoding Variables
6631 @subsection Decoding Variables
6633 Adjective, not verb.
6636 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6637 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6638 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6642 @node Rule Variables
6643 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6644 @cindex rule variables
6646 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6647 variables are of the form
6650 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6657 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6658 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6660 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6661 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6664 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6665 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6668 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6669 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6670 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6671 user and default view rules.
6673 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6674 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6675 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6680 @node Other Decode Variables
6681 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6684 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6686 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6687 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6688 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6689 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6690 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6694 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6695 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6698 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6699 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6700 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6703 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6704 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6705 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6706 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6707 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6710 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6711 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6712 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6714 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6715 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6716 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6717 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6718 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6721 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6722 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6723 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6725 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6726 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6727 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6728 looking for files to display.
6730 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6731 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6732 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6735 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6736 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6737 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6740 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6741 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6742 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6745 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6746 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6747 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6750 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6751 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6752 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6753 decoded articles as unread.
6755 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6756 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6757 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6758 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6760 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6761 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6762 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6764 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6765 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6767 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6768 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6769 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6770 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6772 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6773 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6774 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6775 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6776 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6777 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6778 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6779 simply dropped them.
6784 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6785 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6789 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6790 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6791 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6792 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6793 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6794 for you when you post the article.
6796 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6797 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6798 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6799 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6801 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6802 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6803 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6804 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6805 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6806 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6807 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6809 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6810 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6811 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6812 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6813 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6814 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6815 Default is @code{t}.
6821 @subsection Viewing Files
6822 @cindex viewing files
6823 @cindex pseudo-articles
6825 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6826 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6827 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6828 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6829 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6830 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6831 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6833 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6834 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6835 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6836 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6838 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6839 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6840 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6842 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6843 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6844 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6845 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6846 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6848 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6849 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6850 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6851 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6852 a list of parameters to that command.
6854 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6855 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6856 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6858 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6859 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6860 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6863 @node Article Treatment
6864 @section Article Treatment
6866 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6867 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6868 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6869 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6870 these articles easier.
6873 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6874 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6875 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6876 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6877 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6878 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6879 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6880 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6884 @node Article Highlighting
6885 @subsection Article Highlighting
6886 @cindex highlighting
6888 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6889 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6894 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6895 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6896 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6897 Do much highlighting of the current article
6898 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6899 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6902 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6904 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6905 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6906 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6907 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6908 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6909 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6910 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6911 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6912 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6913 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6916 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6917 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6918 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6920 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6923 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6925 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6926 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6927 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6929 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6930 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6931 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6933 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6934 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6935 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6937 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6938 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6939 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6940 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6941 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6942 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6944 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6945 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6946 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6948 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6949 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6950 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6952 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6953 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6954 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6955 that it's a citation.
6957 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6958 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6959 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6961 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6962 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6963 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6965 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6966 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6967 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6968 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6974 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6975 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6976 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6977 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6978 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6979 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6980 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6981 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6986 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6989 @node Article Fontisizing
6990 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6992 @cindex article emphasis
6994 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6995 @kindex W e (Summary)
6996 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6997 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6998 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6999 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7001 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7002 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7003 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7004 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7005 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7006 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7007 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7008 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7012 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7013 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7014 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7023 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7024 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7025 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7026 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7027 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7028 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7029 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7030 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7031 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7032 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7033 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7034 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7035 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7037 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7038 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7039 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7043 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7046 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7048 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7049 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7050 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7051 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7053 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7056 @node Article Hiding
7057 @subsection Article Hiding
7058 @cindex article hiding
7060 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7061 too much cruft in most articles.
7066 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7067 @findex gnus-article-hide
7068 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7069 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7070 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7073 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7074 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7075 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7079 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7080 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7081 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7082 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7085 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7086 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7087 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7091 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7092 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7093 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7094 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}.
7095 These are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of
7096 all @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any
7097 leading @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping.
7101 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7102 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7103 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7104 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7109 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7110 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7111 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7112 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7113 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7114 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7115 articles that have signatures in them do:
7117 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7119 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7121 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7122 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7124 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7127 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7132 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7133 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7134 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7135 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7138 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7139 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7142 @cindex stripping advertisments
7143 @cindex advertisments
7144 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7145 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7146 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7147 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7148 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7149 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7150 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7151 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7152 signature should be removed.
7155 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7156 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7157 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7158 customizing the hiding:
7162 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7163 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7164 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7165 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7166 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7167 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7168 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7173 Starting point of the hidden text.
7175 Ending point of the hidden text.
7177 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7179 Number of lines of hidden text.
7182 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7183 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7184 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7185 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7186 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7191 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7192 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7194 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7195 following two variables:
7198 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7199 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7200 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7201 50), hide the cited text.
7203 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7204 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7205 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7210 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7211 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7212 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7213 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7214 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7215 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7219 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7220 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7221 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7223 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7224 citation customization.
7226 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7230 @node Article Washing
7231 @subsection Article Washing
7233 @cindex article washing
7235 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7236 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7238 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7239 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7245 @kindex W l (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7247 Remove page breaks from the current article
7248 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7252 @kindex W r (Summary)
7253 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7254 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7255 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7256 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7257 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7258 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7260 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7261 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7262 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7263 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7266 @kindex W t (Summary)
7267 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7268 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7269 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7272 @kindex W v (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7274 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7275 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7278 @kindex W o (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7280 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7283 @kindex W d (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7285 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7287 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7289 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7290 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7291 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7292 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7296 @kindex W w (Summary)
7297 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7298 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7300 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7304 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7305 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7306 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7309 @kindex W C (Summary)
7310 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7311 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7312 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7315 @kindex W c (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7317 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7318 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7319 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7320 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7323 @kindex W q (Summary)
7324 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7325 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7326 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7327 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7328 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7329 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7330 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7331 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7334 @kindex W f (Summary)
7336 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7337 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7338 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7339 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7345 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7346 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7347 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7348 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7349 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7350 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7351 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7352 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7353 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7354 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7355 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7356 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7357 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7358 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7359 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7360 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7361 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7362 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7363 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7364 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7368 @kindex W b (Summary)
7369 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7370 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7371 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7374 @kindex W B (Summary)
7375 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7376 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7377 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7380 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7382 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7383 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7386 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7388 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7389 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7392 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7393 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7394 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7395 lines with a single empty line.
7396 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7399 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7401 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7402 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7405 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7406 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7407 Do all the three commands above
7408 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7411 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7412 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7413 Remove all blank lines
7414 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7417 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7418 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7419 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7420 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7423 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7424 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7425 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7426 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7430 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7433 @node Article Buttons
7434 @subsection Article Buttons
7437 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7438 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7439 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7440 button on these references.
7442 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7443 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7444 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7449 @item gnus-button-alist
7450 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7451 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7454 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7460 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7461 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7462 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7465 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7466 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7467 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7470 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7471 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7472 avoid false matches.
7475 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7478 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7479 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7483 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7486 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7489 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7490 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7491 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7492 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7493 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7496 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7499 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7501 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7502 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7503 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7504 default values of the variables above.
7506 @item gnus-article-button-face
7507 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7508 Face used on buttons.
7510 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7511 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7512 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7516 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7520 @subsection Article Date
7522 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7523 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7524 when the article was sent.
7529 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7530 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7531 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7532 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7535 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7536 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7538 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7539 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7542 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7543 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7544 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7547 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7548 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7549 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7550 @findex format-time-string
7551 Display the date using a user-defined format
7552 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7553 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7554 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7555 for a list of possible format specs.
7558 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7559 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7560 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7561 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7562 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7563 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7566 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7569 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7570 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7573 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7574 into wonderful absurdities.
7576 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7579 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7582 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7583 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7587 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7588 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7589 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7590 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7591 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7592 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7593 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7597 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7598 preferred format automatically.
7601 @node Article Signature
7602 @subsection Article Signature
7604 @cindex article signature
7606 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7607 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7608 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7609 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7610 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7611 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7612 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7613 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7614 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7617 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7618 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7619 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7620 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7621 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7622 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7623 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7624 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7627 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7630 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7631 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7632 signature when displaying articles.
7636 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7639 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7642 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7643 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7645 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7646 in question is not a signature.
7649 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7650 listed above. Here's an example:
7653 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7654 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7657 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7658 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7659 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7660 signature after all.
7663 @node Article Miscellania
7664 @subsection Article Miscellania
7668 @kindex A t (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-article-babel
7670 Translate the article from one language to another
7671 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7677 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7678 @cindex MIME decoding
7680 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7681 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7687 @kindex K v (Summary)
7688 View the @sc{mime} part.
7691 @kindex K o (Summary)
7692 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7695 @kindex K c (Summary)
7696 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7699 @kindex K e (Summary)
7700 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7703 @kindex K i (Summary)
7704 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7707 @kindex K | (Summary)
7708 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7711 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7716 @kindex K b (Summary)
7717 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them. This is
7718 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7722 @kindex K m (Summary)
7723 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7724 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7725 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7726 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7727 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7730 @kindex X m (Summary)
7731 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7732 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7733 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7734 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7737 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7739 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7740 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7743 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7744 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7745 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7748 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7749 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7750 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7752 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7753 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7754 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7755 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7756 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7757 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7760 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7761 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7762 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7769 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7770 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7771 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7772 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7775 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7778 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7782 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7783 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7784 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7785 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7786 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7788 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7789 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7790 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7791 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7792 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7793 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7794 save all jpegs into some directory).
7796 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7799 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7800 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7802 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7803 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7804 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7805 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7806 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7809 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7810 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7811 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7820 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7821 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7822 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7823 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7824 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7825 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7826 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7828 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7829 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7830 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7831 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7833 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7834 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7835 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7836 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7837 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7838 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7839 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7840 something some agents insist on having in there.
7842 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7843 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7844 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7845 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7846 quoted-printable header encoding.
7848 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7849 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7850 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7854 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7857 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7858 means encode all charsets),
7860 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7861 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7862 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7869 @cindex coding system aliases
7870 @cindex preferred charset
7872 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7874 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7875 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7878 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7879 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7882 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7883 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7885 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7888 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7891 This will almost do the right thing.
7893 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7897 (codepage-setup 1251)
7898 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7902 @node Article Commands
7903 @section Article Commands
7910 @kindex A P (Summary)
7911 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7912 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7913 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7914 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7915 run just before printing the buffer.
7920 @node Summary Sorting
7921 @section Summary Sorting
7922 @cindex summary sorting
7924 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7925 can't really see why you'd want that.
7930 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7931 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7932 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7935 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7936 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7937 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7940 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7941 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7942 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7945 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7946 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7947 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7950 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7952 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7955 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7956 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7957 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7960 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7961 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7962 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7965 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7966 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7967 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7968 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7969 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7973 @node Finding the Parent
7974 @section Finding the Parent
7975 @cindex parent articles
7976 @cindex referring articles
7981 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7982 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7983 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7984 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7985 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7986 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7987 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7988 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7989 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7991 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7992 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7993 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7994 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7995 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7999 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8000 @kindex A R (Summary)
8001 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8002 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8005 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8006 @kindex A T (Summary)
8007 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8008 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8009 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8010 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8011 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8012 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8013 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8015 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8016 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8017 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8018 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8019 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8020 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8023 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8024 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8026 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8027 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8028 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8029 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8030 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8031 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8032 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8035 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8036 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8037 by giving this command a prefix.
8039 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8040 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8041 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8042 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8043 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8044 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8047 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8048 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8049 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8052 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8053 then ask Deja if that fails:
8056 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8058 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8061 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8062 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8063 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8064 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8065 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8066 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8069 @node Alternative Approaches
8070 @section Alternative Approaches
8072 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8073 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8076 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8077 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8082 @subsection Pick and Read
8083 @cindex pick and read
8085 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8086 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8087 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8088 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8090 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8091 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8092 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8093 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8094 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8095 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8097 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8102 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8103 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8104 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8105 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8106 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8107 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8108 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8109 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8112 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8113 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8114 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8115 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8119 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8120 Unpick the thread or article
8121 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8122 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8123 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8124 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8125 the thread or article at that line.
8129 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8130 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8131 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8132 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8133 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8134 will still be visible when you are reading.
8138 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8139 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8140 which is mapped to the same function
8141 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8143 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8146 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8149 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8150 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8152 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8153 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8154 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8156 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8157 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8158 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8159 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8160 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8161 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8162 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8166 @subsection Binary Groups
8167 @cindex binary groups
8169 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8170 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8171 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8172 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8173 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8174 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8175 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8178 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8179 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8180 command, when you have turned on this mode
8181 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8183 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8184 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8188 @section Tree Display
8191 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8192 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8193 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8194 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8197 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8200 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8201 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8202 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8204 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8205 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8206 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8207 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8208 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8210 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8211 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8212 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8213 default is @code{modeline}.
8215 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8216 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8217 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8218 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8219 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8220 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8221 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8227 The name of the poster.
8229 The @code{From} header.
8231 The number of the article.
8233 The opening bracket.
8235 The closing bracket.
8240 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8242 Variables related to the display are:
8245 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8246 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8247 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8248 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8249 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8250 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8252 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8253 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8254 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8255 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8259 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8260 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8261 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8262 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8263 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8264 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8265 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8266 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8267 other windows displayed next to it.
8269 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8270 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8271 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8272 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8273 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8274 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8275 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8279 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8282 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8292 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8296 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8297 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8299 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8301 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8306 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8307 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8308 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8311 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8312 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8313 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8314 (gnus-add-configuration
8318 (summary 0.75 point)
8323 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8326 @node Mail Group Commands
8327 @section Mail Group Commands
8328 @cindex mail group commands
8330 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8331 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8333 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8334 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8339 @kindex B e (Summary)
8340 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8341 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8342 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8345 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8346 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8347 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8348 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8349 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8350 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8353 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8354 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8355 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8356 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8357 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8358 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8361 @kindex B m (Summary)
8363 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8364 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8365 Move the article from one mail group to another
8366 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8367 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8370 @kindex B c (Summary)
8372 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8373 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8374 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8375 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8376 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8379 @kindex B B (Summary)
8380 @cindex crosspost mail
8381 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8382 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8383 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8384 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8385 be properly updated.
8388 @kindex B i (Summary)
8389 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8390 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8391 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8392 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8395 @kindex B r (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8397 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8398 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8399 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8400 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8401 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8402 (which is the default).
8406 @kindex B w (Summary)
8408 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8409 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8410 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8411 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8412 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8413 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8416 @kindex B q (Summary)
8417 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8418 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8419 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8420 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8423 @kindex B t (Summary)
8424 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8425 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8426 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8429 @kindex B p (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8431 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8432 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8433 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8434 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8435 article from your news server (or rather, from
8436 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8437 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8438 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8439 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8440 just not have arrived yet.
8444 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8445 @cindex moving articles
8446 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8447 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8448 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8449 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8450 suggestions you find reasonable.
8453 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8454 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8455 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8456 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8460 @node Various Summary Stuff
8461 @section Various Summary Stuff
8464 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8465 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8466 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8467 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8471 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8472 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8473 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8475 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8476 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8477 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8478 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8479 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8480 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8483 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8484 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8485 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8486 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8487 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8489 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8490 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8491 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8494 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8495 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8496 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8497 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8498 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8499 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8500 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8501 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8502 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8503 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8505 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8506 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8507 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8508 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8509 list of articles to be selected.
8511 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8512 the list in one particular group:
8515 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8516 (if (string= group "some.group")
8517 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8524 @node Summary Group Information
8525 @subsection Summary Group Information
8530 @kindex H f (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8532 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8533 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8534 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8535 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8536 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8537 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8538 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8539 be used for fetching the file.
8542 @kindex H d (Summary)
8543 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8544 Give a brief description of the current group
8545 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8546 rereading the description from the server.
8549 @kindex H h (Summary)
8550 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8551 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8552 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8555 @kindex H i (Summary)
8556 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8557 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8561 @node Searching for Articles
8562 @subsection Searching for Articles
8567 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8568 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8569 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8570 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8573 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8574 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8575 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8576 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8580 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8581 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8582 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8583 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8587 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8588 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8589 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8590 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8593 @node Summary Generation Commands
8594 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8599 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8600 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8601 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8604 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8605 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8606 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8607 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8612 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8613 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8619 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8620 @kindex A D (Summary)
8621 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8622 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8623 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8624 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8625 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8626 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8627 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8628 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8632 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8633 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8634 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8635 several documents into one biiig group
8636 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8637 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8638 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8639 command understands the process/prefix convention
8640 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8643 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8644 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8645 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8646 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8647 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8648 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8652 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8653 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8654 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8657 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8658 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8659 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8660 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8663 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8664 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8665 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8666 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8671 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8672 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8673 @cindex summary exit
8674 @cindex exiting groups
8676 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8677 group and return you to the group buffer.
8683 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8685 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8686 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8687 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8688 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8689 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8690 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8691 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8692 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8693 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8694 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8695 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8699 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8701 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8702 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8703 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8707 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8709 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8710 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8711 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8712 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8715 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8716 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8717 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8718 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8721 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8722 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8723 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8724 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8727 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8728 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8729 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8730 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8731 all articles, both read and unread.
8735 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8736 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8737 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8738 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8739 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8740 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8741 articles, both read and unread.
8744 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8745 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8746 Exit the group and go to the next group
8747 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8750 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8751 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8752 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8753 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8756 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8757 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8758 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8759 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8760 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8761 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8764 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8765 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8766 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8767 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8769 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8770 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8771 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8772 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8773 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8774 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8775 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8776 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8777 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8778 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8779 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8780 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8782 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8784 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8785 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8786 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8787 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8788 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8789 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8790 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8791 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8792 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8795 @node Crosspost Handling
8796 @section Crosspost Handling
8800 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8801 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8802 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8803 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8804 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8805 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8808 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8809 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8810 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8811 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8812 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8814 @cindex cross-posting
8817 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8818 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8819 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8820 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8821 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8822 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8823 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8824 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8825 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8826 the cross reference mechanism.
8828 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8829 @cindex overview.fmt
8830 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8831 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8832 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8833 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8834 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8835 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8838 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8839 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8840 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8845 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8848 @node Duplicate Suppression
8849 @section Duplicate Suppression
8851 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8852 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8853 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8854 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8859 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8860 is evil and not very common.
8863 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8864 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8867 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8868 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8871 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8874 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8875 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8877 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8878 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8879 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8880 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8881 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8882 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8883 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8886 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8887 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8888 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8889 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8890 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8894 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8895 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8896 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8898 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8899 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8900 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8901 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8902 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8903 session are suppressed.
8905 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8906 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8907 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8908 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8910 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8911 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8912 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8913 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8916 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8917 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8918 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8919 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8920 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8921 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8922 to you to figure out, I think.
8925 @node The Article Buffer
8926 @chapter The Article Buffer
8927 @cindex article buffer
8929 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8930 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8931 tell Gnus otherwise.
8934 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8935 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8936 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8937 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8938 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8942 @node Hiding Headers
8943 @section Hiding Headers
8944 @cindex hiding headers
8945 @cindex deleting headers
8947 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8948 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8950 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8951 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8952 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8953 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8954 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8955 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8956 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8957 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8958 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8960 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8964 @item gnus-visible-headers
8965 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8966 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8967 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8968 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8970 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8971 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8974 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8977 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8980 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8981 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8982 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8983 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8984 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8985 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8987 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8988 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8991 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8994 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8997 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8998 variable will have no effect.
9002 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9003 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9004 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9005 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9006 the headers are to be displayed.
9008 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9009 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9012 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9015 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9016 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9018 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9019 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9020 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9021 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
9022 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9023 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9024 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9027 These conditions are:
9030 Remove all empty headers.
9032 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9033 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9035 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9038 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9041 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9044 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9046 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9049 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9052 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9053 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9056 This is also the default value for this variable.
9060 @section Using @sc{mime}
9063 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9064 while people stand around yawning.
9066 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9067 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9069 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9070 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9071 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9073 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9074 @findex gnus-display-mime
9075 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9076 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9077 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9078 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9080 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9084 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9086 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9087 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9088 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9090 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9091 @item M-RET (Article)
9093 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9094 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9096 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9098 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9099 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9101 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9103 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9104 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9106 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9108 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9109 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9111 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9113 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9115 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9117 Insert the raw contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9118 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}).
9122 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9123 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9126 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9127 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9128 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9129 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9130 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9131 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9132 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9133 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9134 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9136 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9138 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9141 @node Customizing Articles
9142 @section Customizing Articles
9143 @cindex article customization
9145 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9146 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9147 called automatically when you select the articles.
9149 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9150 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9151 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9152 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9154 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9155 for sensible values.
9159 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9162 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9165 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9168 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9171 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9175 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9176 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9177 regexps in the list.
9180 A list where the first element is not a string:
9182 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9183 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9184 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9188 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9193 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9194 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9195 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9196 considered to contain just a single part.
9198 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9199 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9200 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9201 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9202 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9203 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9204 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9206 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9207 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9208 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9209 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9212 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9213 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9214 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9215 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9216 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9217 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9218 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9219 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9220 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9221 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9222 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9223 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9224 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9225 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9226 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9227 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9228 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9229 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9230 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9231 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9232 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9233 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9234 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9235 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9236 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9237 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9238 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9239 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9240 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9241 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9242 @item gnus-treat-translate
9245 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9246 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9247 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9248 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9249 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9253 @node Article Keymap
9254 @section Article Keymap
9256 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9257 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9258 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9259 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9262 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9267 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9268 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9269 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9272 @kindex DEL (Article)
9273 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9274 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9277 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9278 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9279 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9280 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9281 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9284 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9285 @findex gnus-article-mail
9286 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9287 given a prefix, include the mail.
9291 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9292 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9293 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9297 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9298 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9299 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9302 @kindex TAB (Article)
9303 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9304 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9305 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9308 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9309 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9310 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9316 @section Misc Article
9320 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9321 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9322 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9323 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9326 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9327 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9329 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9330 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9332 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9333 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9334 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9335 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9336 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9337 the contents of the article buffer.
9339 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9340 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9341 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9343 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9344 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9345 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9346 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9348 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9349 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9350 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9351 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9352 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9357 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9358 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9361 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9364 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9366 @item gnus-break-pages
9367 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9368 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9369 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9370 paging will not be done.
9372 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9373 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9374 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9379 @node Composing Messages
9380 @chapter Composing Messages
9381 @cindex composing messages
9384 @cindex sending mail
9389 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9390 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9391 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9392 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9393 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9394 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9397 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9398 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9399 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9400 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9401 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9402 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9403 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9404 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9407 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9408 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9414 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9417 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9418 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9419 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9420 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9422 @item gnus-add-to-list
9423 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9424 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9425 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9433 Variables for composing news articles:
9436 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9437 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9438 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9439 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9440 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9441 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9442 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9443 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9444 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
9447 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9448 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9449 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9450 file. It is 1000 by default.
9455 @node Posting Server
9456 @section Posting Server
9458 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9459 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9461 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9463 @vindex gnus-post-method
9465 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
9466 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9467 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9468 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9469 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9472 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9475 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9476 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9477 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9478 the ``current'' server for posting.
9480 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9481 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9483 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9484 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9487 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9488 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9489 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9494 @section Mail and Post
9496 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9500 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9501 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9502 @cindex mailing lists
9504 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9505 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9506 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9507 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9508 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9509 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9510 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9511 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9512 still a pain, though.
9516 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9517 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9518 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9521 @findex ispell-message
9523 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9526 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9527 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9530 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9533 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9534 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9536 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9539 Modify to suit your needs.
9542 @node Archived Messages
9543 @section Archived Messages
9544 @cindex archived messages
9545 @cindex sent messages
9547 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9548 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9549 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9550 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9553 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9554 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9555 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9559 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9560 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9561 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9562 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9565 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9566 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9567 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9568 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9571 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9572 '(nnfolder "archive"
9573 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9574 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9575 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9578 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9580 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9581 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9582 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9584 This variable can be used to do the following:
9588 Messages will be saved in that group.
9589 @item a list of strings
9590 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9591 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9592 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9594 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9599 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9601 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9604 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9606 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9609 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9611 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9612 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9613 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9614 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9619 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9620 '((if (message-news-p)
9625 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9626 messages in one file per month:
9629 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9630 '((if (message-news-p)
9632 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9635 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9636 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9638 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9639 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9640 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9641 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9642 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9643 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9644 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9645 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9646 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9647 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9649 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9650 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9651 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9652 this will disable archiving.
9655 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9656 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9657 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9658 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9659 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9662 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9663 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9664 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9667 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9668 but the latter is the preferred method.
9672 @node Posting Styles
9673 @section Posting Styles
9674 @cindex posting styles
9677 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9679 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9680 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9681 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9684 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9685 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9686 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9687 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9688 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9693 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9694 (organization "What me?"))
9696 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9697 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9698 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9701 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9702 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9703 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9704 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9705 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9706 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9707 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9708 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9710 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9711 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9712 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9713 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9714 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9715 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9716 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9717 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9720 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9721 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9722 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9723 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9724 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9725 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9726 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9727 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9728 result is thrown away.
9730 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9731 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9732 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9733 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9734 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9735 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9737 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9738 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9739 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9741 @findex message-mail-p
9742 @findex message-news-p
9744 So here's a new example:
9747 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9749 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9751 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9752 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9754 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9755 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9756 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9758 (signature my-news-signature))
9759 (header "From.*To" "larsi.*org"
9760 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9761 ((posting-from-work-p)
9762 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9763 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9764 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9765 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9767 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9775 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9776 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9777 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9778 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9779 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9781 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9782 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9783 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9784 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9785 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9789 @vindex nndraft-directory
9790 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9791 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9792 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9793 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9794 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9795 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9797 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9798 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9801 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9802 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9803 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9804 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9805 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9806 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9807 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9808 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9809 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9810 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9811 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9812 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9813 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9814 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9816 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9817 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9818 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9820 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9822 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9823 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9824 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9826 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9829 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9830 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9831 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9832 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9833 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9834 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9835 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9838 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9839 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9840 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9843 @node Rejected Articles
9844 @section Rejected Articles
9845 @cindex rejected articles
9847 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9848 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9849 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9850 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9852 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9853 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9854 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9855 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9856 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9858 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9859 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9860 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9863 @node Select Methods
9864 @chapter Select Methods
9865 @cindex foreign groups
9866 @cindex select methods
9868 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9869 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9870 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9871 personal mail group.
9873 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9874 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9875 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9876 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9877 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9878 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9880 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9881 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9883 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9886 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9887 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9888 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9889 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9890 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9892 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9895 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9896 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9897 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9898 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9899 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9900 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9901 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9905 @node The Server Buffer
9906 @section The Server Buffer
9908 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9909 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9910 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9911 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9912 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9913 backend represents a virtual server.
9915 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9916 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9917 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9918 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9920 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9921 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9922 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9923 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9924 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9925 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9926 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9928 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9929 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9932 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9933 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9934 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9935 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9936 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9937 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9938 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9941 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9942 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9945 @node Server Buffer Format
9946 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9947 @cindex server buffer format
9949 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9950 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9951 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9952 variable, with some simple extensions:
9957 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9960 The name of this server.
9963 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9966 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9969 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9970 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9971 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9972 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9982 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9985 @node Server Commands
9986 @subsection Server Commands
9987 @cindex server commands
9993 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9994 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9998 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9999 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10002 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10003 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10004 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10008 @findex gnus-server-exit
10009 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10013 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10014 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10018 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10019 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10023 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10024 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10028 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10029 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10033 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10034 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10035 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10040 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10041 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10042 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10043 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
10048 @node Example Methods
10049 @subsection Example Methods
10051 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10054 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10057 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10063 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10064 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10067 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10068 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10070 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10071 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10075 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10078 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10079 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10081 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10082 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10083 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10087 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10090 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10093 Here's the method for a public spool:
10097 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10098 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10101 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10102 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10103 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10104 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10105 should probably look something like this:
10109 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10110 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10111 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10112 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10113 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10116 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10117 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10118 server that would look something like this:
10122 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10123 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10124 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10125 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10126 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10127 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10130 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10131 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10132 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10133 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10136 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10137 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10139 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10140 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10142 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10143 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10144 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10146 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10148 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10149 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10150 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10151 will contain the following:
10161 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10162 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10163 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10166 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10167 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10168 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10171 @node Server Variables
10172 @subsection Server Variables
10174 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10175 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10176 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10177 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10178 won't change the "derived" variables.
10180 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10181 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10182 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10183 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10184 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10185 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10186 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10187 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10188 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10192 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10193 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10194 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10198 @node Servers and Methods
10199 @subsection Servers and Methods
10201 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10202 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10203 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10204 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10208 @node Unavailable Servers
10209 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10211 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10212 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10213 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10214 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10215 actually the case or not.
10217 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10218 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10219 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10220 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10221 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10222 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10223 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10224 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10226 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10227 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10229 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10230 with the following commands:
10236 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10237 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10238 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10242 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10243 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10244 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10248 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10249 Mark the current server as unreachable
10250 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10253 @kindex M-o (Server)
10254 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10255 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10256 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10259 @kindex M-c (Server)
10260 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10261 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10262 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10266 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10267 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10268 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10274 @section Getting News
10275 @cindex reading news
10276 @cindex news backends
10278 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10279 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10280 or it can read from a local spool.
10283 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10284 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10289 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10292 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10293 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10294 server as the, uhm, address.
10296 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10297 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10298 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10299 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10301 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10302 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10303 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10305 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10310 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10311 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10312 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10314 @cindex authentification
10315 @cindex nntp authentification
10316 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10317 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10318 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10319 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10320 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10321 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10322 present in this hook.
10324 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10325 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10326 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10327 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10328 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10329 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10330 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10331 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10332 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10333 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10334 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10335 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10339 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10342 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10343 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10344 @samp{default}, @samp{port} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a
10345 valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is almost the only way the
10346 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10351 Here's an example file:
10354 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10355 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10358 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10359 have to be first, for instance.
10361 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10362 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10363 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10364 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10365 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10366 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10367 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10369 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10370 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10376 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10377 previously mentioned.
10379 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10381 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10382 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10383 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10384 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10385 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10388 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10389 '(("innd" (ding))))
10392 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10394 The default value is
10397 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10398 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10401 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10402 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10404 @item nntp-maximum-request
10405 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10406 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10407 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10408 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10409 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10410 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10411 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10413 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10414 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10415 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10416 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10417 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10418 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10419 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10420 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10421 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10422 no timeouts are done.
10424 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10425 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10426 @c @cindex PPP connections
10427 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10428 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10429 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10430 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10431 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10432 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10433 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10434 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10435 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10436 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10438 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10439 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10440 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10441 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10442 @c described above.
10444 @item nntp-server-hook
10445 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10446 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10449 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10450 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10451 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10452 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10453 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10454 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10455 functions are supplied:
10458 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10459 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10462 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10463 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10464 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10467 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10471 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10472 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10473 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10474 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10476 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10477 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10478 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10480 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10481 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10482 User name on the remote system.
10486 @item nntp-open-telnet
10487 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10488 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10490 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10493 @item nntp-telnet-command
10494 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10495 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10497 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10498 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10499 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10501 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10502 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10503 User name for log in on the remote system.
10505 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10506 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10507 Password to use when logging in.
10509 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10510 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10511 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10514 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10515 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10516 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10517 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10519 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10520 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10521 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10522 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10523 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10527 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10528 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10529 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10530 you must have SSLay installed
10531 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10532 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10533 define a server as follows:
10536 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10538 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10540 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10541 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10542 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10543 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10548 @item nntp-end-of-line
10549 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10550 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10551 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10552 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10554 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10555 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10556 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10560 @vindex nntp-address
10561 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10563 @item nntp-port-number
10564 @vindex nntp-port-number
10565 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10568 @item nntp-buggy-select
10569 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10570 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10572 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10573 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10574 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10575 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10578 @item nntp-xover-commands
10579 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10582 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10583 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10587 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10588 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10589 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10590 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10591 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10592 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10593 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10594 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10595 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10596 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10597 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10599 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10600 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10601 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10603 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10604 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10605 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10606 server closes connection.
10608 @item nntp-record-commands
10609 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10610 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10611 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10612 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10613 that doesn't seem to work.
10619 @subsection News Spool
10623 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10624 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10625 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10628 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10629 anything else) as the address.
10631 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10632 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10633 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10634 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10638 @item nnspool-inews-program
10639 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10640 Program used to post an article.
10642 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10643 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10644 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10646 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10647 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10648 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10649 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10651 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10652 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10653 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10654 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10656 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10657 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10658 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10660 @item nnspool-active-file
10661 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10662 The path to the active file.
10664 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10665 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10666 The path to the group descriptions file.
10668 @item nnspool-history-file
10669 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10670 The path to the news history file.
10672 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10673 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10674 The path to the active date file.
10676 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10677 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10678 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10681 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10682 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10684 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10685 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10686 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10692 @section Getting Mail
10693 @cindex reading mail
10696 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10700 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10701 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10702 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10703 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10704 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10705 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10706 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10707 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10708 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10709 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10710 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10711 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10712 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10716 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10717 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10719 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10720 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10721 of a culture shock.
10723 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10724 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10726 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10727 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10728 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10729 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10731 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10733 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10734 deleted? How awful!
10736 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10737 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10738 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10739 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10742 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10743 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10744 they want to treat a message.
10746 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10747 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10748 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10749 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10750 archived somewhere else.
10752 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10753 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10754 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10755 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10756 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10758 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10759 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10760 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10762 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10763 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10766 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10767 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10768 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10769 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10770 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10772 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10773 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10774 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10775 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10776 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10777 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10781 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10782 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10784 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10785 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10786 and things will happen automatically.
10788 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10789 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10792 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10793 '((nnml "private")))
10796 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10797 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10798 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10799 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10800 like any other group.
10802 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10805 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10806 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10807 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10811 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10812 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10813 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10816 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10817 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10818 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10821 @node Splitting Mail
10822 @subsection Splitting Mail
10823 @cindex splitting mail
10824 @cindex mail splitting
10826 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10827 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10828 to be split into groups.
10831 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10832 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10833 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10834 ("mail.other" "")))
10837 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10838 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10839 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10840 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10841 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10842 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10843 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10846 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10849 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10850 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10851 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10852 mail belongs in that group.
10854 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10855 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10856 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10857 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10858 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10859 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10861 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10862 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10863 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10864 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10865 thinks should carry this mail message.
10867 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10868 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10869 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10870 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10872 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10873 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10874 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10875 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10876 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10878 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10881 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10882 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10883 links. If that's the case for you, set
10884 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10885 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10887 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10888 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10889 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10890 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10892 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10893 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10894 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10895 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10896 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10897 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10898 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10899 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10900 month's rent money.
10904 @subsection Mail Sources
10906 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10907 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10911 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10912 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10913 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10917 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10918 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10920 @cindex mail server
10923 @cindex mail source
10925 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10926 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10931 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10934 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10935 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10936 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10939 The following mail source types are available:
10943 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10949 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10950 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10953 An example file mail source:
10956 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10959 Or using the default path:
10965 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10966 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10967 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10970 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10974 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10977 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10981 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10984 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10986 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10989 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10993 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10994 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
11000 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11004 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11008 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11009 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11010 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11011 predicate are considered.
11015 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11019 An example directory mail source:
11022 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11027 Get mail from a POP server.
11033 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11034 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11037 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
11040 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11044 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11048 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
11049 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11052 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11055 The valid format specifier characters are:
11059 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11060 included in this string.
11063 The name of the server.
11066 The port number of the server.
11069 The user name to use.
11072 The password to use.
11075 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11076 corresponding keywords.
11079 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11080 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11083 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11084 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11087 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11088 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11091 @item :authentication
11092 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11093 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11098 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11099 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11101 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11102 default user name, and default fetcher:
11108 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11111 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11112 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11115 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11118 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11122 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11123 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11124 contains exactly one mail.
11130 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11131 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
11133 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11134 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11135 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11138 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11139 from locking problems).
11143 Two example maildir mail sources:
11146 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
11150 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
11154 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11155 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11156 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11157 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11163 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11164 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11167 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11168 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11171 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11175 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11179 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11180 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11181 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11183 @item :authenticator
11184 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11185 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11186 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11190 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11191 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11194 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11195 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11196 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11197 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11198 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11199 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11202 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11203 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11204 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11205 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11208 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11209 after finishing the fetch.
11213 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11216 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11220 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11221 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11223 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11226 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11227 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11229 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11235 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11236 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11239 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11243 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11247 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11248 folder after finishing the fetch.
11252 An example webmail source:
11255 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11260 @item Common Keywords
11261 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11267 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11268 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11272 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11277 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11278 useful when you use local mail and news.
11283 @node Mail Source Customization
11284 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11286 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11287 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11291 @item mail-source-crash-box
11292 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11293 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11294 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11296 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11297 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11298 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11300 @item mail-source-directory
11301 @vindex mail-source-directory
11302 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11303 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11304 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11307 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11308 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11309 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11314 @node Fetching Mail
11315 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11317 @vindex mail-sources
11318 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11319 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11320 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11321 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11323 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11324 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11327 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11328 mail server, you'd say something like:
11333 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11334 :password "secret")))
11337 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11341 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11342 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11345 :password "secret")))
11349 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11350 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11351 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11352 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11353 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11354 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11358 @node Mail Backend Variables
11359 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11361 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11365 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11366 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11367 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11368 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11370 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11371 @item nnmail-split-hook
11372 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11373 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11374 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11375 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11376 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11377 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11378 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11379 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11380 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11383 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11384 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11385 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11386 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11387 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11388 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11389 starting to handle the new mail) and
11390 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11391 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11392 default file modes the new mail files get:
11395 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11396 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11398 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11399 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11402 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11403 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11404 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11405 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11406 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11407 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11408 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11410 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11411 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11412 @findex delete-file
11413 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11415 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11416 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11417 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11418 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11419 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11424 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11425 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11426 @cindex mail splitting
11427 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11429 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11430 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11431 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11432 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11433 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11434 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11436 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11439 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11440 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11441 ;; from real errors.
11442 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11444 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11445 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11446 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11447 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11448 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11449 ;; Other mailing lists...
11450 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11451 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11452 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11453 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11454 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11455 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11456 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11457 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11459 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11460 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11464 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11465 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11466 the five possible split syntaxes:
11471 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11472 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11476 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11477 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11478 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11479 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11480 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11481 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11482 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11483 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11486 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11487 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11488 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11489 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11492 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11493 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11496 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11497 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11500 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11501 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11502 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11503 function should return a @var{split}.
11506 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11507 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11508 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11512 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11516 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11517 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11518 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11519 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11520 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11522 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11523 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11524 are expanded as specified by the variable
11525 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11526 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11529 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11530 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11531 when all this splitting is performed.
11533 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11534 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11535 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11538 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11541 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11542 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11544 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11545 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11546 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11547 groupings 1 through 9.
11550 @node Group Mail Splitting
11551 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11552 @cindex mail splitting
11553 @cindex group mail splitting
11555 @findex gnus-group-split
11556 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11557 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11558 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11559 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11560 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11561 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11562 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11563 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11565 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11566 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11567 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11568 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11570 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11571 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11572 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11573 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11574 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11575 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11576 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11578 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11579 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11580 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11581 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11582 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11583 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11584 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11586 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11587 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11588 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11589 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11590 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11591 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11592 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11593 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11594 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11596 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11601 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11602 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11604 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11605 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11606 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11607 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11609 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11612 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11613 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11614 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11617 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11618 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11619 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11623 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11624 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11625 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11629 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11632 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11633 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11634 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11635 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11636 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11637 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11638 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11639 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11640 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11642 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11643 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11644 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11645 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11646 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11647 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11648 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11649 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11650 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11652 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11653 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11654 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11655 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11656 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11657 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11660 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11663 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11664 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11665 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11666 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11667 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11670 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11671 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11672 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11673 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11675 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11676 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11678 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11679 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11680 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11683 Doing so can be quite easy.
11685 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11686 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11687 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11688 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11689 your @code{nnml} groups.
11695 Go to the group buffer.
11698 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11699 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11702 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11705 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11706 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11709 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11710 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11713 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11714 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11715 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11716 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11717 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11719 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11720 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11721 using the new mail backend.
11724 @node Expiring Mail
11725 @subsection Expiring Mail
11726 @cindex article expiry
11728 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11729 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11730 different approach to mail reading.
11732 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11733 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11734 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11735 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11736 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11737 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11740 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11741 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11742 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11743 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11744 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11745 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11746 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11747 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11749 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11750 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11751 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11752 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11753 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11754 column in the summary buffer.
11756 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11757 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11758 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11759 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11762 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11764 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11765 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11766 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11769 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11770 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11771 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11772 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11773 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11775 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11776 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11779 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11780 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11783 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11784 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11786 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11787 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11788 don't really mix very well.
11790 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11791 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11792 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11793 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11796 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11797 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11798 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11799 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11802 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11804 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11806 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11808 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11810 ((string= group "important")
11816 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11817 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11819 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11820 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11821 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11824 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11825 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11827 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
11828 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
11829 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
11830 other groups instead of deleting them. The @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
11831 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
11832 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
11833 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
11834 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
11835 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
11836 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
11839 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11840 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11841 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11842 easier for procmail users.
11844 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11845 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11846 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11847 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11848 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11849 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11850 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11851 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11852 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11853 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11854 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11855 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11856 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11859 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11861 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11862 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11863 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11864 auto-expire turned on.
11868 @subsection Washing Mail
11869 @cindex mail washing
11870 @cindex list server brain damage
11871 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11873 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11874 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
11875 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11876 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11877 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11878 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11880 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11881 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11882 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11885 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11886 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11887 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11888 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11891 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11892 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11893 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11894 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11895 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11898 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11899 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11900 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11901 Emacs running on MS machines.
11905 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11906 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11907 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11908 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11911 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11912 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11913 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11914 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11916 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11917 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11918 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11919 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11920 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11921 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11922 also be a list of regexp.
11924 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11925 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11928 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11929 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11932 This can also be done non-destructively with
11933 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11935 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11936 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11937 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11939 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11940 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11942 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11943 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11944 @code{References} headers.
11948 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11949 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11950 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11954 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11955 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11956 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11963 @subsection Duplicates
11965 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11966 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11967 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11968 @cindex duplicate mails
11969 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11970 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11971 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11972 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11973 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11974 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11975 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11976 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11977 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11978 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11979 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11980 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11981 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11983 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11984 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11985 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11986 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11988 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11991 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11992 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11996 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11997 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11998 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11999 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12000 (any mail "mail.misc")
12007 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12008 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12013 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12014 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12015 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12016 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12017 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12020 @node Not Reading Mail
12021 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12023 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12024 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12025 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12027 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12028 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12029 mail, which should help.
12031 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12032 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12033 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12034 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12035 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12036 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12037 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12038 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12039 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12040 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12041 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12043 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12044 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12048 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12049 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12051 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12052 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12053 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12055 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12056 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12057 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12058 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12061 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12062 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12063 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12064 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12065 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12066 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12070 @node Unix Mail Box
12071 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12073 @cindex unix mail box
12075 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12076 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12077 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12078 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12079 which group it belongs in.
12081 Virtual server settings:
12084 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12085 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12086 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12088 @item nnmbox-active-file
12089 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12090 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12092 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12093 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12094 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12100 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12104 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12105 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12106 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12107 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12108 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12110 Virtual server settings:
12113 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12114 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12115 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12117 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12118 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12119 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12121 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12122 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12123 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12128 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12130 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12132 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12133 format. It should be used with some caution.
12135 @vindex nnml-directory
12136 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12137 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12138 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12139 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12141 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12144 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12145 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12146 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12147 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12148 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12149 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12150 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12151 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12153 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12154 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12155 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12156 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12158 Virtual server settings:
12161 @item nnml-directory
12162 @vindex nnml-directory
12163 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12165 @item nnml-active-file
12166 @vindex nnml-active-file
12167 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12169 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12170 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12171 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12174 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12175 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12176 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12178 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12179 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12180 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12182 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12183 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12184 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12186 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12187 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12188 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12192 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12193 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12194 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12195 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12196 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12197 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12198 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12203 @subsubsection MH Spool
12205 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12207 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12208 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12209 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12210 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12212 Virtual server settings:
12215 @item nnmh-directory
12216 @vindex nnmh-directory
12217 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12219 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12220 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12221 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12224 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12225 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12226 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12227 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12228 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12229 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12230 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12235 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12237 @cindex mbox folders
12238 @cindex mail folders
12240 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12241 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12242 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12245 Virtual server settings:
12248 @item nnfolder-directory
12249 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12250 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12252 @item nnfolder-active-file
12253 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12254 The name of the active file.
12256 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12257 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12258 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12260 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12261 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12262 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12264 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12265 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12266 @cindex backup files
12267 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12268 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12269 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12270 your @file{.emacs} file:
12273 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12274 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12276 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12279 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12280 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12281 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12282 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12283 extract some information from it before removing it.
12288 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12289 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12290 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12291 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12292 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12293 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12296 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12297 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12299 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12300 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12301 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12302 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12303 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12305 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12306 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12307 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12308 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12309 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12310 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12311 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12312 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12315 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12316 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12317 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12318 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12323 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12324 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12325 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12326 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12327 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12328 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12329 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12330 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12331 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12332 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12333 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12334 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12335 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12340 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12341 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12342 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12343 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12344 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12345 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12346 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12347 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12348 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12349 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12350 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12351 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12352 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12353 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12355 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12356 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12361 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12362 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12363 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12364 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12365 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12366 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12367 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12368 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12369 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12370 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12371 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12372 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12373 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12374 provided by the active file and overviews.
12376 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12377 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12378 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12379 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12380 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12383 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12384 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12389 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12390 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12391 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12392 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12393 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12394 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12395 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12399 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12400 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12401 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12402 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12403 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12404 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12405 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12406 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12407 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12409 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12410 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12411 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12412 friendly mail backend all over.
12417 @node Browsing the Web
12418 @section Browsing the Web
12420 @cindex browsing the web
12424 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12425 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12426 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12427 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12428 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12429 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12430 even know what a news group is.
12432 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12433 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12434 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12435 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12436 you mad in the end.
12438 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12441 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12442 interfaces to these sources.
12445 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12446 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12447 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12448 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12449 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12452 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12454 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12455 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12456 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12457 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12458 though, you should be ok.
12460 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12461 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12462 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12463 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12464 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12468 @subsection Web Searches
12472 @cindex InReference
12473 @cindex Usenet searches
12474 @cindex searching the Usenet
12476 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12477 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12478 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12479 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12480 searches without having to use a browser.
12482 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12483 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12484 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12485 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12486 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12488 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12489 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12490 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12491 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12492 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12493 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12494 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12495 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12496 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12497 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12500 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12501 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12502 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12503 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12504 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12505 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12507 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12508 to use @code{nnweb}.
12510 Virtual server variables:
12515 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12516 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12520 @vindex nnweb-search
12521 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12523 @item nnweb-max-hits
12524 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12525 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12528 @item nnweb-type-definition
12529 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12530 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12531 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12536 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12540 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12543 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12546 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12550 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12557 @subsection Slashdot
12561 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12562 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12563 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12565 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12566 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12569 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12570 '((nnslashdot "")))
12573 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12574 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12575 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12576 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12577 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12580 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12581 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12583 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12584 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12585 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12586 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12587 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12588 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12591 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12594 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12595 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12596 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12597 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12598 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12599 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12600 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12602 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12603 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12604 The login name to use when posting.
12606 @item nnslashdot-password
12607 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12608 The password to use when posting.
12610 @item nnslashdot-directory
12611 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12612 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12613 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12615 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12616 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12617 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12618 news articles and comments. The default is
12619 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12621 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12622 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12623 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12625 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12627 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12628 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12629 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12631 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12633 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12634 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12635 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12637 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12638 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12639 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12640 updated. The default is 0.
12647 @subsection Ultimate
12649 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12651 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12652 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12653 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12654 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12656 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12657 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12658 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12659 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12660 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12661 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12662 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12664 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12667 @item nnultimate-directory
12668 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12669 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12670 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12675 @subsection Web Archive
12677 @cindex Web Archive
12679 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12680 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12681 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12682 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12685 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12686 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12687 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12688 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12689 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12690 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12691 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12693 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12696 @item nnwarchive-directory
12697 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12698 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12699 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12701 @item nnwarchive-login
12702 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12703 The account name on the web server.
12705 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12706 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12707 The password for your account on the web server.
12711 @node Customizing w3
12712 @subsection Customizing w3
12718 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12719 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12720 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12722 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12723 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12724 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12727 (eval-after-load "w3"
12729 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12730 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12731 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12732 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12734 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12737 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12738 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12742 @node Other Sources
12743 @section Other Sources
12745 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12746 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12750 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12751 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12752 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12753 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12754 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12755 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12759 @node Directory Groups
12760 @subsection Directory Groups
12762 @cindex directory groups
12764 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12765 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12768 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12769 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12770 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12771 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12773 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12774 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12775 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12776 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12777 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12779 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12781 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12782 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12783 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12784 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12787 @node Anything Groups
12788 @subsection Anything Groups
12791 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12792 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12793 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12796 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12797 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12798 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12799 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12800 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12801 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12802 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12803 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12804 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12805 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12808 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12809 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12810 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12811 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12813 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12814 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12815 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12816 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12818 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12819 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12820 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12821 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12822 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12823 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12824 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12825 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12830 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12831 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12832 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12833 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12835 @item nneething-exclude-files
12836 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12837 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12838 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12840 @item nneething-include-files
12841 @vindex nneething-include-files
12842 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12843 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12845 @item nneething-map-file
12846 @vindex nneething-map-file
12847 Name of the map files.
12851 @node Document Groups
12852 @subsection Document Groups
12854 @cindex documentation group
12857 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12858 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12865 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12870 The standard Unix mbox file.
12872 @cindex MMDF mail box
12874 The MMDF mail box format.
12877 Several news articles appended into a file.
12880 @cindex rnews batch files
12881 The rnews batch transport format.
12882 @cindex forwarded messages
12885 Forwarded articles.
12888 Netscape mail boxes.
12891 MIME multipart messages.
12893 @item standard-digest
12894 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12897 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12900 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12901 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12902 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12905 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12906 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12907 group. And that's it.
12909 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12910 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12911 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12912 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12913 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12914 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12915 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12916 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12917 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12918 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12920 Virtual server variables:
12923 @item nndoc-article-type
12924 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12925 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12926 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12927 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12928 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12930 @item nndoc-post-type
12931 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12932 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12933 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12938 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12942 @node Document Server Internals
12943 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12945 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12946 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12947 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12948 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12950 First, here's an example document type definition:
12954 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12955 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12958 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12959 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12960 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12961 types can be defined with very few settings:
12964 @item first-article
12965 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12966 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12969 @item article-begin
12970 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12971 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12973 @item head-begin-function
12974 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12977 @item nndoc-head-begin
12978 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12981 @item nndoc-head-end
12982 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12983 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12985 @item body-begin-function
12986 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12990 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12993 @item body-end-function
12994 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12998 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13001 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13002 regexp will be totally ignored.
13006 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13007 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13008 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13009 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13010 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13013 @item prepare-body-function
13014 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13015 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13016 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13018 @item article-transform-function
13019 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13020 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13021 body of the article.
13023 @item generate-head-function
13024 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13025 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13026 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13027 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13031 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13036 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13037 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13038 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13039 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13040 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13041 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13042 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13043 (subtype digest guess))
13046 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13047 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13048 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13049 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13050 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13052 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13053 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13054 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13055 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13056 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13057 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13058 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13059 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13060 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13061 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13069 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13070 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13071 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13073 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13074 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13075 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13078 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13079 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13080 that interested in doing things properly.
13082 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13083 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13086 First some terminology:
13091 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13092 get news and/or mail from.
13095 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13096 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13099 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13103 @item message packets
13104 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13105 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13106 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13108 @item response packets
13109 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13110 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13111 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13121 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13122 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13123 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13124 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13127 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13130 You put the packet in your home directory.
13133 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13134 the native or secondary server.
13137 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13138 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13141 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13145 You transfer this packet to the server.
13148 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13151 You then repeat until you die.
13155 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13156 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13159 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13160 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13161 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13165 @node SOUP Commands
13166 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13168 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13172 @kindex G s b (Group)
13173 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13174 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13175 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13176 process/prefix convention.
13179 @kindex G s w (Group)
13180 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13181 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13184 @kindex G s s (Group)
13185 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13186 Send all replies from the replies packet
13187 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13190 @kindex G s p (Group)
13191 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13192 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13195 @kindex G s r (Group)
13196 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13197 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13200 @kindex O s (Summary)
13201 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13202 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13203 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13204 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13209 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13214 @item gnus-soup-directory
13215 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13216 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13217 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13219 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13220 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13221 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13222 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13224 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13225 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13226 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13227 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13229 @item gnus-soup-packer
13230 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13231 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13232 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13234 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13235 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13236 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13237 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13239 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13240 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13241 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13243 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13244 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13245 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13246 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13252 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13255 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13256 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13257 you can read them at leisure.
13259 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13263 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13264 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13265 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13266 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13268 @item nnsoup-directory
13269 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13270 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13271 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13273 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13274 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13275 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13276 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13278 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13279 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13280 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13281 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13282 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13284 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13285 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13286 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13287 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13289 @item nnsoup-active-file
13290 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13291 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13292 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13293 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13294 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13296 @item nnsoup-packer
13297 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13298 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13299 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13301 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13302 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13303 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13304 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13306 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13307 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13308 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13311 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13312 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13313 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13316 @item nnsoup-always-save
13317 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13318 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13324 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13326 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13327 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13328 more for that to happen.
13330 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13331 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13332 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13335 In specific, this is what it does:
13338 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13339 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13342 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13343 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13344 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13347 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13348 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13349 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13352 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13353 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13354 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13356 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13362 @item nngateway-address
13363 @vindex nngateway-address
13364 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13366 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13367 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13368 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13369 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13370 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13371 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13372 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13375 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13376 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13377 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13380 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13383 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13386 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13389 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13391 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13394 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13395 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13396 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13398 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13400 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13401 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13402 @code{nngateway-address}.
13407 (setq gnus-post-method
13408 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13409 (nngateway-header-transformation
13410 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13418 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13421 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13427 @subsection @sc{imap}
13431 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13432 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13433 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13434 network address of the server.
13436 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13441 @item nnimap-address
13442 @vindex nnimap-address
13444 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13445 server name if not specified.
13447 @item nnimap-server-port
13448 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13449 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13451 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13452 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13453 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13454 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13455 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13456 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13457 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13459 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13460 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13461 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13467 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13470 @item nnimap-stream
13471 @vindex nnimap-stream
13472 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13473 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13474 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13475 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13479 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13480 @samp{imtest} program.
13482 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13484 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13485 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13488 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13489 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13491 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13494 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13495 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x.
13497 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13498 @file{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13499 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of SSLeay,
13500 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it useless. Earlier
13501 versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to work.
13503 @item nnimap-authenticator
13504 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13506 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13507 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13511 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
13512 external program @code{imtest}.
13514 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
13517 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
13518 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
13520 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13522 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13524 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13527 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13529 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13530 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13531 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13532 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13533 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13534 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13537 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13538 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13539 running in circles yet?
13541 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13542 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13545 The possible options are:
13550 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13553 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13554 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13555 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13556 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13558 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13565 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13566 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13567 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13572 @node Splitting in IMAP
13573 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13574 @cindex splitting imap mail
13576 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13577 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13578 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13579 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13580 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13584 Here are the variables of interest:
13588 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13589 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13591 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13593 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13594 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13596 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13598 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13599 @cindex splitting, inbox
13601 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13603 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13604 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13608 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13611 No nnmail equivalent.
13613 @item nnimap-split-rule
13614 @cindex Splitting, rules
13615 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13617 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13620 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13621 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13622 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13623 Neither did I, we need examples.
13626 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13627 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13628 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13629 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13632 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13633 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13634 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13636 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13637 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13641 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13644 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13645 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13646 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13647 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13649 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13650 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13651 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13652 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13653 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13654 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13656 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13657 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13658 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13660 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13661 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13662 thinks the article should be splitted to.
13664 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13666 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13668 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13670 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13672 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13673 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13675 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13676 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13677 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13680 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13681 @cindex splitting, fancy
13682 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13683 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13685 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13686 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13687 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13689 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13690 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13691 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13692 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13697 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13698 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13701 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13705 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13706 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13707 @cindex editing imap acls
13708 @cindex Access Control Lists
13709 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13711 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13713 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13714 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13715 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13718 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13719 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13720 editing window with detailed instructions.
13722 Some possible uses:
13726 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13727 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13728 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13730 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13731 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13732 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13736 @node Expunging mailboxes
13737 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13741 @cindex Manual expunging
13743 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13745 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13746 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13747 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13749 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13754 @node Combined Groups
13755 @section Combined Groups
13757 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13761 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13762 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13766 @node Virtual Groups
13767 @subsection Virtual Groups
13769 @cindex virtual groups
13770 @cindex merging groups
13772 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13775 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13776 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13777 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13779 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13780 regexp to match component groups.
13782 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13783 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13784 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13785 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13786 the virtual group.)
13788 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13789 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13792 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13795 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13796 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13798 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13799 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13800 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13801 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13804 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13807 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13808 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13809 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13811 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13812 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13813 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13814 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13815 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13817 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13818 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13819 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13821 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13822 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13823 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13824 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13825 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13826 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13827 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13828 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13829 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13830 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13831 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13833 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13834 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13835 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13836 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13837 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13838 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13839 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13841 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13842 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13846 @node Kibozed Groups
13847 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13851 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13852 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13853 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13854 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13856 @kindex G k (Group)
13857 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13860 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13861 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13862 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13863 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13865 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13866 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13867 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13869 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13870 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13871 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13872 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13873 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13874 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13875 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13876 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13878 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13879 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13880 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13881 Stranger things have happened.
13883 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13884 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13886 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13887 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13888 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13889 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13890 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13891 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13893 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13894 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13897 @node Gnus Unplugged
13898 @section Gnus Unplugged
13903 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13905 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13906 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13907 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13908 read news. Believe it or not.
13910 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13911 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13912 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13913 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13914 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13916 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13917 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13918 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13919 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13920 reading news on a machine.
13922 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13926 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13927 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13931 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13932 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13939 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13941 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13944 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13945 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13946 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13947 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13948 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13949 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13950 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13951 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13952 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13957 @subsection Agent Basics
13959 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13961 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13962 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13963 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13964 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13966 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13967 connected to the net continuously.
13969 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13970 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13972 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13977 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13978 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13979 already fetched while in this mode.
13982 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13983 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13984 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13987 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13988 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13989 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13990 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13993 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13994 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13995 then you read the news offline.
13998 And then you go to step 2.
14001 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14007 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14008 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14009 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14010 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14011 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14012 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14015 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14022 @node Agent Categories
14023 @subsection Agent Categories
14025 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14026 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14027 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14028 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14029 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14030 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14031 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14033 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14034 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14035 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14036 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14037 managing categories.
14040 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14041 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14042 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14046 @node Category Syntax
14047 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14049 A category consists of two things.
14053 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14054 are eligible for downloading; and
14057 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14058 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14059 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14062 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14063 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14064 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14065 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14067 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14068 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14069 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
14071 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14072 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14073 operators sprinkled in between.
14075 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14077 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14078 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14084 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14085 short (for some value of ``short'').
14087 Here's a more complex predicate:
14096 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14097 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14100 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14101 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14102 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14104 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14105 you want to do, you can write your own.
14109 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14110 lines; default 100.
14113 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14114 lines; default 200.
14117 True iff the article has a download score less than
14118 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14121 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14122 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14125 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14126 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14127 checksum and sees whether articles match.