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4 @settitle September Gnus Manual
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175 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
182 \thispagestyle{empty}
184 Copyright \copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
186 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
187 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
188 are preserved on all copies.
190 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
191 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
192 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
193 permission notice identical to this one.
195 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
196 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
205 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
207 Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
209 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
210 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
211 are preserved on all copies.
214 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
215 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
216 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
217 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
220 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
221 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
222 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
223 permission notice identical to this one.
225 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
226 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
232 @title September Gnus Manual
234 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
237 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
238 Copyright @copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
240 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
241 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
242 are preserved on all copies.
244 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
245 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
246 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
247 permission notice identical to this one.
249 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
250 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
259 @top The Gnus Newsreader
263 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
264 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
265 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
273 \thispagestyle{empty}
276 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
277 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
279 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
280 being accused of plagiarism:
282 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
283 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
284 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
285 even read news with it!
287 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
288 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
289 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
290 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
291 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
298 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
299 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
300 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
301 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
302 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
303 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
304 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
305 * Various:: General purpose settings.
306 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
307 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
308 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
309 * Key Index:: Key Index.
314 @chapter Starting Gnus
319 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
320 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
323 @findex gnus-other-frame
324 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
325 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
326 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
328 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
332 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
333 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
334 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
335 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
336 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
337 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
338 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
339 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
340 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
341 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
345 @node Finding the News
346 @section Finding the News
348 @vindex gnus-select-method
350 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
351 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
352 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
353 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
356 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
357 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
360 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
363 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
366 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
369 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
370 certainly be much faster.
372 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
374 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
375 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
376 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
377 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
378 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
379 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
380 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
382 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
383 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
384 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
385 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
387 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
388 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
389 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
390 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
391 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
392 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
394 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
396 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
397 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
398 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
399 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
400 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
401 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
403 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
405 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
406 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
407 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
408 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
409 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
410 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
413 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read you mail, you
414 would typically set this variable to
417 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
422 @section The First Time
423 @cindex first time usage
425 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
426 be subscribed by default.
428 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
429 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
430 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
431 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
434 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few randomly picked
435 groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Random} is here defined as
436 @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
438 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
439 help you with most common problems.
441 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
442 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
446 @node The Server is Down
447 @section The Server is Down
448 @cindex server errors
450 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
451 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
452 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
454 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
455 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
456 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
457 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
458 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
459 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
460 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
462 @findex gnus-no-server
464 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
465 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
466 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
467 if you're in a hurry as well.
471 @section Slave Gnusiï
474 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
475 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
476 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
477 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
479 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
482 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
483 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
484 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
485 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
486 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
487 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
488 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
490 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
491 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
492 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
493 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
494 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
495 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
496 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
497 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
499 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
500 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
503 @node Fetching a Group
504 @section Fetching a Group
506 @findex gnus-fetch-group
507 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
508 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
509 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
510 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
511 It takes the group name as a parameter.
518 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
519 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
520 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
522 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
527 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
528 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
529 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
530 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
533 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
534 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
535 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
537 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
538 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
539 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
541 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
542 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
543 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.
545 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
546 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
547 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
548 you about @strong{all} new groups.
550 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
551 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
556 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
557 A closely related variable is
558 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
559 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
560 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
561 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
564 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
565 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
566 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
568 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
569 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
570 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
573 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
576 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
577 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
578 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
579 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
580 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
581 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
582 subscribing these groups.
583 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
584 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
586 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
587 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
588 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
589 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
590 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
591 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
592 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
593 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
595 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
596 Yet another variable that meddles here is
597 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
598 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
599 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
600 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
601 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
602 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
603 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
604 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
606 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
607 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
608 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
609 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
610 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
611 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
612 is @code{t} by default.
614 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
615 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
616 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
617 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
618 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
619 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
620 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
621 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
622 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
623 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
625 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
626 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
627 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
628 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
629 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
630 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
631 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
632 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @samp{HELP} and see
633 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
634 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
635 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
637 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
638 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
639 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
640 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
641 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
642 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
646 @section Startup Files
647 @cindex startup files
650 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
651 information is traditionally stored in this file.
653 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
654 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
655 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
656 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
657 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
658 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
659 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
661 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
662 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
663 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
664 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
666 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
667 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
668 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
669 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
670 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
671 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
673 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
674 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
675 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
676 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
677 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
678 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
679 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
680 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
683 @vindex gnus-startup-file
684 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
685 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
686 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
688 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
689 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
690 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
691 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
692 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
693 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
694 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
695 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
696 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
705 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
706 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
707 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
708 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
709 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
712 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
713 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
716 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
717 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
718 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
720 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
721 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
722 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
723 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
724 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
725 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
728 @node The Active File
729 @section The Active File
731 @cindex ignored groups
733 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
734 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
735 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
737 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
738 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
739 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
740 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
741 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
742 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
743 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
746 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
747 @c if you set it to anything else.
749 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
751 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
752 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
753 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
755 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
756 you actually subscribe to.
758 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
759 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
760 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
761 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
763 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
764 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
765 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
766 support the @samp{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
767 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
768 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
770 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
771 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
772 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
773 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
774 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
775 @samp{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
777 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
778 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
781 @node Startup Variables
782 @section Startup Variables
787 @vindex gnus-load-hook
788 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
789 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
790 times you start Gnus.
792 @item gnus-startup-hook
793 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
794 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
796 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
797 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
798 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
799 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
800 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
801 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
802 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
803 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
805 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
806 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
807 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
808 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
811 @item gnus-no-groups-message
812 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
813 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
817 @node The Group Buffer
818 @chapter The Group Buffer
821 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
822 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
823 long as Gnus is active.
826 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
827 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
828 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
829 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
830 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
831 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
832 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
833 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
834 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
835 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
836 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
837 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
838 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what if has to offer.
839 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
840 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
841 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
845 @node Group Buffer Format
846 @section Group Buffer Format
847 @cindex group buffer format
850 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
851 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
852 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
856 @node Group Line Specification
857 @subsection Group Line Specification
859 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
860 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
862 Here's a couple of example group lines:
865 25: news.announce.newusers
866 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
871 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
872 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
873 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
874 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
876 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
877 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
878 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
879 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
880 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
881 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
883 The default value that produced those lines above is
884 @samp{"%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n"}.
886 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
887 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
888 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
889 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
892 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
893 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
894 instead of wasting time reading news.)
896 Here's a list of all available format characters:
901 Only marked articles.
904 Whether the group is subscribed.
907 Level of subscribedness.
910 Number of unread articles.
913 Number of dormant articles.
916 Number of ticked articles.
919 Number of read articles.
922 Total number of articles.
925 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
928 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
937 Newsgroup description.
940 @samp{m} if moderated.
943 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
952 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
956 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
959 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
960 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
961 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
962 The default is @samp{1}.
965 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
966 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
967 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
968 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
969 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
970 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
974 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
975 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
976 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
979 @node Group Modeline Specification
980 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
982 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
983 The mode line can be changed by setting
984 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
989 The native news server.
991 The native select method.
995 @node Group Highlighting
996 @subsection Group Highlighting
998 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
999 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1000 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1001 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1002 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1004 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1008 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1010 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1011 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1012 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1014 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1016 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1018 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1022 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1029 The number of unread articles in the group.
1033 Whether the group is a mail group.
1035 The level of the group.
1037 The score of the group.
1039 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1042 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1043 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1044 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1046 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1047 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1048 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1049 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1050 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1053 @node Group Maneuvering
1054 @section Group Maneuvering
1055 @cindex group movement
1057 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1058 expected, hopefully.
1064 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1065 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1066 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1073 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1074 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1075 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1079 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1080 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1084 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1085 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1089 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1090 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1091 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1095 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1096 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1097 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1100 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1106 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1107 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1108 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1113 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1114 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1115 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1119 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1120 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1121 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1124 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1125 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1126 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1127 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1131 @node Selecting a Group
1132 @section Selecting a Group
1133 @cindex group selection
1138 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1139 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1140 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1141 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1142 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1143 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1144 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1145 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1146 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1147 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1151 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1152 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1153 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1154 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1155 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1159 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1160 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1161 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1162 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1163 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1164 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1165 enter some humongous groups.
1168 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1169 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1170 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1171 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1172 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1176 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1177 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1178 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1179 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1180 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1185 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1186 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1187 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1190 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1191 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1192 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1193 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1194 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1195 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@samp{-n}),
1196 the @samp{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1197 @samp{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1199 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1200 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1201 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1202 automatically when entering a group.
1207 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1208 full summary buffer.
1211 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1214 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1218 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1219 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1220 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1223 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
1224 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
1225 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
1226 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1227 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
1228 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1229 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
1230 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
1231 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
1232 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
1233 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
1234 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
1235 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
1236 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
1238 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
1239 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
1240 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
1241 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
1242 in the list. You should probably always include
1243 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
1244 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
1245 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
1246 ascending article order.
1248 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
1249 number, you could do something like:
1252 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1253 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1254 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1255 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1258 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
1259 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
1260 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
1261 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
1262 which the articles arrived.
1264 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
1268 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1270 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
1271 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1274 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
1275 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
1276 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
1277 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
1280 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
1281 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
1282 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
1283 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
1284 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
1285 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
1286 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
1287 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
1288 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
1289 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
1290 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
1291 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
1292 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
1294 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
1298 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
1299 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
1300 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
1304 @node Subscription Commands
1305 @section Subscription Commands
1314 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1315 Toggle subscription to the current group
1316 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1322 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1323 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1324 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1325 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1331 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1332 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1338 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1339 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1342 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1343 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1344 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1345 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1346 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1352 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1353 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1357 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1358 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1361 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1362 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1363 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1364 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1365 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1366 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1367 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1368 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1369 @file{.newsrc} file.
1373 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1377 @section Group Levels
1380 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1381 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1382 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1383 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1384 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1390 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1391 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1392 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1393 prompted for a level.
1396 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1397 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1398 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1399 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1400 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1401 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1402 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1403 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1404 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1405 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1406 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1407 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1408 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1409 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1410 for reasons of efficiency.
1412 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1413 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1415 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1416 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1417 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1419 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1420 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1421 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1422 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1423 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1424 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1425 relevant legal ranges.
1427 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1428 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1429 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1430 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1431 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1432 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1435 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1436 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1437 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1440 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1441 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1442 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1443 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1446 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1447 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1448 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1449 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1451 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1452 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1453 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1454 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1459 @section Group Score
1462 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1463 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1464 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1467 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1468 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1469 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1470 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1471 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1472 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1473 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1475 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1476 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1477 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1478 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1479 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1480 action after each summary exit, you can add
1481 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1482 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1483 slow things down somewhat.
1486 @node Marking Groups
1487 @section Marking Groups
1488 @cindex marking groups
1490 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1491 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1492 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1493 bidding on those groups.
1495 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1496 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1497 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1505 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1506 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1512 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1513 Remove the mark from the current group
1514 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1518 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1519 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1523 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1524 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1528 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1529 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1533 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1534 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1535 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1538 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1540 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1541 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1542 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1543 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1544 the command to be executed.
1547 @node Foreign Groups
1548 @section Foreign Groups
1550 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1551 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1552 special-purpose groups:
1558 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1559 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1560 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1561 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1565 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1566 Rename the current group to something else
1567 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
1568 mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
1573 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1574 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1575 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1579 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1580 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1581 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1585 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1586 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1587 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1591 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1592 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1593 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1597 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1598 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1602 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1603 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1604 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1605 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1606 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1607 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1608 group will be created from from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1612 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1613 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1614 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1615 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1619 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1620 Read a random directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1621 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1625 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1626 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1627 Make a group based on some file or other
1628 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1629 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1630 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1631 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1632 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1633 guess at the file type.
1636 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1637 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1638 This function will delete the current group
1639 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1640 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1641 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1642 aboslutely sure of what you are doing.
1646 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1647 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1648 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1652 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1653 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1654 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1657 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1660 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1661 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1662 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1663 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1664 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1667 @node Group Parameters
1668 @section Group Parameters
1669 @cindex group parameters
1671 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1672 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1673 Here's an example info.
1676 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1677 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1680 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1681 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1682 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1683 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1684 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1685 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1686 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1688 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1689 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1690 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1692 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1697 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1698 @samp{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1699 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1700 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1701 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1702 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1703 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1704 copies of your followups.
1706 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1707 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1708 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1709 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1710 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1711 list address instead.
1715 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1716 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1717 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1718 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1719 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1721 @item broken-reply-to
1722 @cindex broken-reply-to
1723 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1724 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1725 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1726 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1727 broken behavior. So there!
1731 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1732 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1736 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1737 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1738 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1741 @cindex total-expire
1742 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1743 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1748 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1749 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @samp{(expiry-wait
1750 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1751 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1752 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1753 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1756 Elements that look like @samp{(score-file . "file")} will make
1757 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1758 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1761 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1762 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1763 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1764 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1767 This parameter allows you to enter a random comment on the group.
1769 @item @var{(variable form)}
1770 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1771 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1772 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1773 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1774 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1775 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1777 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1778 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1779 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1780 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1781 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1782 form, but who cares?
1786 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1787 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1789 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1790 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1793 @node Listing Groups
1794 @section Listing Groups
1795 @cindex group listing
1797 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1805 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1806 List all groups that have unread articles
1807 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1808 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1809 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1815 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1816 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1817 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1818 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1819 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1820 unsubscribed groups).
1824 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1825 List all unread groups on a specific level
1826 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1827 with no unread articles.
1831 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1832 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1833 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1834 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1839 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1840 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1844 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1845 List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
1846 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1850 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1851 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1855 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1856 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1857 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1858 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1859 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1864 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1865 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1866 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1871 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1872 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1876 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1877 @cindex visible group parameter
1878 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1879 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1880 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1881 get the same effect.
1883 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1884 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1885 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1886 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1887 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1890 @node Sorting Groups
1891 @section Sorting Groups
1892 @cindex sorting groups
1894 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1895 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1896 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1897 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1898 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1899 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1904 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1905 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1906 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1908 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1909 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1910 Sort by group level.
1912 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1913 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1914 Sort by group score.
1916 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1917 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1918 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1919 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1921 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1922 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1923 Sort by number of unread articles.
1925 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1926 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1927 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1932 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1933 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1937 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1938 some sorting criteria:
1942 @kindex G S a (Group)
1943 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1944 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1945 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1948 @kindex G S u (Group)
1949 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1950 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1951 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1954 @kindex G S l (Group)
1955 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1956 Sort the group buffer by group level
1957 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1960 @kindex G S v (Group)
1961 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1962 Sort the group buffer by group score
1963 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1966 @kindex G S r (Group)
1967 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1968 Sort the group buffer by group level
1969 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1972 @kindex G S m (Group)
1973 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1974 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1975 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1979 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1982 @node Group Maintenance
1983 @section Group Maintenance
1984 @cindex bogus groups
1989 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1990 Find bogus groups and delete them
1991 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1995 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1996 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1997 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2001 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2002 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2003 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2004 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2007 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2008 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2009 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2010 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2015 @node Browse Foreign Server
2016 @section Browse Foreign Server
2017 @cindex foreign servers
2018 @cindex browsing servers
2023 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2024 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2025 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2026 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2029 @findex gnus-browse-server-mode
2030 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2031 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-server-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2032 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2033 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2034 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2035 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2036 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2037 as you would any other group.
2039 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2042 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2047 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2048 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2052 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2053 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2056 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2057 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2058 Enter the current group and display the first article
2059 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2062 @kindex RET (Browse)
2063 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2064 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2068 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2069 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2070 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2076 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2077 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2081 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2082 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2083 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2088 @section Exiting Gnus
2089 @cindex exiting Gnus
2091 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2096 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2097 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2098 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2099 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2103 @findex gnus-group-exit
2104 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2108 @findex gnus-group-quit
2109 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2112 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2113 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2114 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2115 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2116 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2121 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2122 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2123 trying to customize meta-variables.
2128 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2129 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2130 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2136 @section Group Topics
2139 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2140 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2141 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2142 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2143 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2144 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2146 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2148 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2149 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2150 is a toggling command.)
2152 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2153 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2154 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2155 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2158 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2159 the hook for the group mode:
2162 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2166 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2167 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2168 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2172 @node Topic Variables
2173 @subsection Topic Variables
2174 @cindex topic variables
2176 @vindex gnus-topic-unique
2177 If @code{gnus-topic-unique} is non-@code{nil}, each group will be member
2178 of (tops) one topic each. If this is @code{nil}, each group might end
2179 up being a member of several topics.
2181 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2182 really neat, I think.
2184 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2185 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2186 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2187 Elements allowed are:
2199 Number of groups in the topic.
2201 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2203 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2206 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2207 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2208 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2209 The default is @samp{2}.
2211 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2212 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2215 @node Topic Commands
2216 @subsection Topic Commands
2217 @cindex topic commands
2219 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2220 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2221 definitions slightly.
2227 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2228 Create a new topic (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}). You will be
2229 prompted for a topic name and the name of the parent topic.
2233 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2234 Move the current group to some other topic
2235 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2236 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2240 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2241 Copy the current group to some other topic
2242 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2243 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2247 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2248 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2249 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2250 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2254 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2255 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2256 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2260 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2261 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2262 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2266 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2268 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2269 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2270 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2271 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2272 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2273 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2277 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2278 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2279 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2280 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2284 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2285 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2289 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2290 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2291 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2295 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2296 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2299 @kindex T DEL (Group)
2300 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2301 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2305 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2306 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2307 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2312 @node Topic Topology
2313 @subsection Topic Topology
2314 @cindex topic topology
2317 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2323 2: alt.religion.emacs
2326 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2328 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2329 13: comp.sources.unix
2332 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2333 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2334 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2338 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2339 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2343 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2344 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2345 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2346 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2347 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2348 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2350 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2351 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2352 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2355 @node Misc Group Stuff
2356 @section Misc Group Stuff
2359 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2360 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2361 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2368 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2369 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2374 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2375 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2376 group name will be used as the default.
2380 @findex gnus-group-mail
2381 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2385 Variables for the group buffer:
2389 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2390 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2391 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2394 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2395 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2396 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2397 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2403 @node Scanning New Messages
2404 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2405 @cindex new messages
2406 @cindex scanning new news
2412 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2413 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2414 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2415 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2416 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2421 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2422 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2423 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2424 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2425 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2426 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2429 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2430 @cindex activating groups
2432 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2433 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2438 @findex gnus-group-restart
2439 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2443 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2444 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2447 @node Group Information
2448 @subsection Group Information
2449 @cindex group information
2450 @cindex information on groups
2456 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2459 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2460 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2461 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2462 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2466 @cindex describing groups
2467 @cindex group description
2468 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2469 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2470 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2474 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2475 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2476 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2481 @findex gnus-version
2482 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2486 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2487 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2490 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2493 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2494 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2499 @subsection File Commands
2500 @cindex file commands
2506 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2507 @vindex gnus-init-file
2508 @cindex reading init file
2509 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2510 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2515 @cindex savind .newsrc
2516 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2517 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2518 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2522 @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2523 Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2528 @node The Summary Buffer
2529 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2530 @cindex summary buffer
2532 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2533 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2536 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2537 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2538 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2539 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2540 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2541 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2542 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2543 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2544 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2545 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2546 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2547 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2548 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2549 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2550 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2551 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2552 * Summary Sorting:: You can sort the summary buffer four ways.
2553 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2554 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2555 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2556 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2557 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2558 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2562 @node Summary Buffer Format
2563 @section Summary Buffer Format
2564 @cindex summary buffer format
2567 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2568 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2569 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2572 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2573 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2574 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2575 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2576 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2577 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2578 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2579 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2580 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2583 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2584 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2585 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2586 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{""}.
2589 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2590 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2592 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2593 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2594 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2595 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2597 The default string is @samp{"%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n"}.
2599 The following format specification characters are understood:
2607 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2610 Full @code{From} line.
2612 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2614 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2615 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2616 slower, but may be more thorough.
2618 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2621 Number of lines in the article.
2623 Number of characters in the article.
2625 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2627 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2628 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2630 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2631 for adopted articles.
2633 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2634 for adopted articles.
2636 One space for each thread level.
2638 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2646 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2647 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2648 default level. If the difference between
2649 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2650 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2662 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2663 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2665 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2667 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2668 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2669 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2670 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2671 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2672 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2675 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2676 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2677 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2678 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2679 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2680 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2682 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2683 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2685 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2688 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2689 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2691 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2692 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2693 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2694 elements you can play with:
2700 Unprefixed group name.
2702 Current article number.
2706 Number of unread articles in this group.
2708 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2710 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2711 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2712 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2713 and no unselected ones.
2715 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2716 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2718 Subject of the current article.
2722 Name of the current score file.
2724 Number of dormant articles.
2726 Number of ticked articles.
2728 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2730 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2734 @node Summary Highlighting
2735 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2739 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2740 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2741 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2742 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2743 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2745 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2746 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2747 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2748 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2750 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2751 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2752 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2753 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2755 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2756 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2757 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2758 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2759 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2760 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2762 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2763 ((> score default) . bold))
2765 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2766 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2770 @node Summary Maneuvering
2771 @section Summary Maneuvering
2772 @cindex summary movement
2774 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2775 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2777 None of these commands select articles.
2782 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2783 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2784 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2785 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2786 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2790 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2791 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2792 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2793 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2794 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2799 @kindex G g (Summary)
2800 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2801 Ask for an article number and then go to this summary line
2802 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2805 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2806 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2807 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2808 to the group buffer.
2810 Variables related to summary movement:
2814 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2815 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2816 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2817 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2818 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2819 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2820 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2821 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2822 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2823 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2824 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2825 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2826 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2827 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2829 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2830 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2831 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2832 article with the same subject as the current. This variable is not
2833 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2835 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2836 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2837 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2838 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2839 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2841 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2842 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2843 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2844 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2845 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2846 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2847 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2848 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2854 @node Choosing Articles
2855 @section Choosing Articles
2856 @cindex selecting articles
2858 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2859 and they all select and display an article.
2863 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2864 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2865 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2866 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2871 @kindex G n (Summary)
2872 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2873 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2878 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2879 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2884 @kindex G N (Summary)
2885 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2886 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2891 @kindex G P (Summary)
2892 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2893 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2896 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2897 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2898 Go to the next article with the same subject
2899 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2902 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2903 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2904 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2905 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2909 @kindex G f (Summary)
2911 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2912 Go to the first unread article
2913 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2917 @kindex G b (Summary)
2919 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2920 Go to the article with the highest score
2921 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2926 @kindex G l (Summary)
2927 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2928 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2931 @kindex G p (Summary)
2932 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2933 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2934 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2935 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2936 history as you like.
2939 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2942 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2943 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2944 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2945 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2946 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2947 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2949 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2950 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2951 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2952 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2954 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2955 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2956 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2957 be used for marking articles as read.
2962 @node Paging the Article
2963 @section Scrolling the Article
2964 @cindex article scrolling
2969 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2970 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2971 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
2972 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
2973 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2976 @kindex DEL (Summary)
2977 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
2978 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
2981 @kindex RET (Summary)
2982 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
2983 Scroll the current article one line forward
2984 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
2989 @kindex A < (Summary)
2990 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
2991 Scroll to the beginning of the article
2992 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
2997 @kindex A > (Summary)
2998 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
2999 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3002 @kindex A s (Summary)
3003 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3004 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3005 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3010 @node Reply Followup and Post
3011 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3014 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3015 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3016 * Summary Mail and Post Commands:: Sending both news and mail.
3020 @node Summary Mail Commands
3021 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3023 @cindex composing mail
3025 Commands for composing a mail message:
3031 @kindex S r (Summary)
3033 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3034 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3035 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3040 @kindex S R (Summary)
3041 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3042 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3043 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3044 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3047 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3048 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3049 Forward the current article to some other person
3050 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3053 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3054 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3055 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3056 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3061 @kindex S m (Summary)
3062 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3063 Send a mail to some other person
3064 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3067 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3068 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3069 @vindex gnus-bounced-headers-junk
3070 @cindex bouncing mail
3071 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3072 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3073 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3074 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3075 sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
3076 @code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
3077 automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3078 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3079 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3080 very well fail, though.
3083 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3084 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3085 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3086 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3087 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3088 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3089 @samp{Resent-To}, @samp{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3090 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @samp{To}
3091 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3092 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3094 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3095 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3096 @samp{root} and @samp{postmaster} and get a mail for @samp{postmaster}
3097 to the @samp{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3098 @samp{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3101 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3102 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3103 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3104 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3105 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3108 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3109 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3110 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3111 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3115 @node Summary Post Commands
3116 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3118 @cindex composing news
3120 Commands for posting an article:
3126 @kindex S p (Summary)
3127 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3128 Post an article to the current group
3129 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3134 @kindex S f (Summary)
3135 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3136 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3140 @kindex S F (Summary)
3142 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3143 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3144 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3145 process/prefix convention.
3148 @kindex S u (Summary)
3149 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3150 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3151 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3155 @node Summary Mail and Post Commands
3156 @subsection Summary Mail and Post Commands
3157 @cindex mail and post
3158 @cindex post and mail
3160 Commands for sending mail and post at the same time:
3164 @kindex S b (Summary)
3165 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply
3166 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article
3167 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply}).
3170 @kindex S B (Summary)
3171 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original
3172 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article and include the
3173 original message (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original}).
3174 This command uses the process/prefix convention.
3178 @node Canceling and Superseding
3179 @section Canceling Articles
3180 @cindex canceling articles
3181 @cindex superseding articles
3183 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3184 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3186 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3188 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3190 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3191 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3192 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3193 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3195 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3196 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3199 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3200 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3201 your original article.
3203 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3205 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3206 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3207 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3210 @vindex gnus-delete-supersedes-headers
3211 You probably want to delete some of the old headers before sending the
3212 superseding article---@code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
3213 incorrect. Set @code{gnus-delete-supersedes-headers} to a regexp to
3214 match the lines you want removed. The default is
3215 @samp{"^Path:\\|^Date"}.
3217 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3218 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3219 have posted almost the same article twice.
3221 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3222 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3223 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3224 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3225 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3226 the @samp{Message-ID} header to a @samp{Cancel} or @samp{Supersedes}
3227 header by substituting one of those words for @samp{Message-ID}. Then
3228 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3229 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3231 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3234 @node Marking Articles
3235 @section Marking Articles
3236 @cindex article marking
3237 @cindex article ticking
3240 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3242 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readed-ness} (whoo, neato-keano
3243 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3244 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3246 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3249 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3250 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3251 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3255 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3259 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3260 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3264 @node Unread Articles
3265 @subsection Unread Articles
3267 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3269 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3270 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3273 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3274 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3275 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3276 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3277 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3278 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3281 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3282 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3283 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3284 if there are followups to it.
3287 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3288 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3289 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3295 @subsection Read Articles
3296 @cindex expirable mark
3298 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3303 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3304 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3305 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3306 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3309 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3310 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3311 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3314 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3315 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3316 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3319 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3320 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3323 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3324 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3327 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3328 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3331 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3332 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3335 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3336 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3339 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3340 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3343 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3344 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3347 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3348 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3351 One more special mark, though:
3355 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3356 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3357 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3358 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3359 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3360 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3361 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3366 @subsection Other Marks
3367 @cindex process mark
3370 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3376 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3377 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3378 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3379 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3380 encounters the article.
3383 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3384 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3385 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3386 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3389 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3390 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3391 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3394 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3395 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3396 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3397 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3400 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3401 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3402 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3403 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3404 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3407 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3408 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3409 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3410 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3411 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3412 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3416 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3417 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3418 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3420 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3421 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3422 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3426 @subsection Setting Marks
3427 @cindex setting marks
3429 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3435 @kindex M t (Summary)
3436 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3437 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3442 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3443 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3444 Mark the current article as dormant
3445 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3449 @kindex M d (Summary)
3451 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3452 Mark the current article as read
3453 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3458 @kindex M k (Summary)
3459 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3460 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3461 and then select the next unread article
3462 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3466 @kindex M K (Summary)
3467 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3468 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3469 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3470 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3473 @kindex M C (Summary)
3474 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3475 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3476 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3479 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3480 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3481 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3482 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3485 @kindex M H (Summary)
3486 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3487 Catchup the current group to point
3488 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3491 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3492 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3493 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3494 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3497 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3498 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3499 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3500 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3504 @kindex M c (Summary)
3505 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3506 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3507 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3508 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3512 @kindex M e (Summary)
3514 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3515 Mark the current article as expirable
3516 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3519 @kindex M b (Summary)
3520 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3521 Set a bookmark in the current article
3522 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3525 @kindex M B (Summary)
3526 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3527 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3528 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3531 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3532 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3533 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3534 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3537 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3538 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3539 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3540 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3543 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3544 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3545 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3546 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3547 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3550 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3551 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3552 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3553 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3554 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3555 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3556 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3557 The default is @code{t}.
3560 @node Setting Process Marks
3561 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3562 @cindex setting process marks
3569 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3571 Mark the current article with the process mark
3572 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3573 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3577 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3578 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3579 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3580 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3583 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3584 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3585 Remove the process mark from all articles
3586 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3589 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3590 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3591 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3594 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3595 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3596 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3599 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3600 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3601 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3602 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3605 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3606 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3607 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3608 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3611 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3612 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3613 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3614 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3617 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3618 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3619 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3622 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3623 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3624 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3625 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3628 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3629 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3630 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3633 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3634 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3635 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3636 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3644 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3645 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3646 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3653 @kindex / / (Summary)
3654 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3655 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3656 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3659 @kindex / a (Summary)
3660 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3661 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3662 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3666 @kindex / u (Summary)
3668 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3669 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3670 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3671 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3672 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3675 @kindex / m (Summary)
3676 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3677 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3678 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3681 @kindex / n (Summary)
3682 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3683 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3684 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3685 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3688 @kindex / w (Summary)
3689 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3690 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3691 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3695 @kindex / v (Summary)
3696 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3697 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3698 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3702 @kindex M S (Summary)
3703 @kindex / E (Summary)
3704 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3705 Display all expunged articles
3706 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3709 @kindex / D (Summary)
3710 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3711 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3714 @kindex / d (Summary)
3715 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3716 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3719 @kindex / c (Summary)
3720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3721 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3722 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3725 @kindex / C (Summary)
3726 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3727 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3728 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3729 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3737 @cindex article threading
3739 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3740 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3744 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3745 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3749 @node Customizing Threading
3750 @subsection Customizing Threading
3751 @cindex customizing threading
3757 @item gnus-show-threads
3758 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3759 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3760 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3761 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3762 slower and more awkward.
3764 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3765 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3766 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3767 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3768 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3769 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3770 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3771 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3772 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3773 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3774 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3775 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3777 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3778 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3779 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3780 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3781 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3782 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3783 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3784 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3785 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3786 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3787 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3788 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3789 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3790 @code{nil} by default.
3792 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3793 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3794 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3795 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3796 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3797 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3798 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3799 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3800 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3801 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3802 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3804 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3805 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3806 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3808 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3809 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3810 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3811 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3812 simplification is used.
3814 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3815 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3816 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3817 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3819 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3821 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3824 (mapconcat 'identity
3826 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3827 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3828 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3829 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3834 (mapconcat 'identity
3835 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3837 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3840 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3843 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3844 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3845 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3846 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3847 @samp{""} and @samp{"(none)"}. To make the situation slightly better,
3848 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3849 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3850 default is @samp{"^ *$\\|^(none)$"}.
3852 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3853 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3854 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3855 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3856 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3857 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3858 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3859 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3860 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3864 @item gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-subject
3865 @findex gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-subject
3866 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3867 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3869 @item gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references
3870 @findex gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references
3871 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3874 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3878 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3879 'gnus-summary-gather-threads-by-references)
3882 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3883 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3884 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3885 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3886 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3887 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3889 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3890 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3891 There are four possible values:
3893 @cindex adopting articles
3898 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3899 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3900 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3901 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3904 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3905 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3906 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3907 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3908 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3909 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3910 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3913 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3914 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3915 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3919 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3920 display them after one another.
3923 Don't gather loose threads.
3926 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3927 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3928 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3931 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3932 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3933 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3936 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3937 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3938 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3939 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3940 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3943 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3944 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3945 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3946 The default is @samp{4}.
3950 @node Thread Commands
3951 @subsection Thread Commands
3952 @cindex thread commands
3958 @kindex T k (Summary)
3959 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3960 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3961 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
3962 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
3963 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
3968 @kindex T l (Summary)
3969 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
3970 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
3971 Lower the score of the current thread
3972 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
3975 @kindex T i (Summary)
3976 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
3977 Increase the score of the current thread
3978 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
3981 @kindex T # (Summary)
3982 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3983 Set the process mark on the current thread
3984 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3987 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
3988 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3989 Remove the process mark from the current thread
3990 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3993 @kindex T T (Summary)
3994 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
3995 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
3998 @kindex T s (Summary)
3999 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4000 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
4001 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4004 @kindex T h (Summary)
4005 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4006 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4009 @kindex T S (Summary)
4010 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4011 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4014 @kindex T H (Summary)
4015 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4016 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4019 @kindex T t (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4021 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4022 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4023 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4026 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4027 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4028 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4029 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4033 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4034 understand the numeric prefix.
4039 @kindex T n (Summary)
4040 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4041 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4044 @kindex T p (Summary)
4045 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4046 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4049 @kindex T d (Summary)
4050 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4051 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4054 @kindex T u (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4056 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4059 @kindex T o (Summary)
4060 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4061 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4064 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4065 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4066 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4067 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4068 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4069 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4070 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4071 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4072 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4073 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4074 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4075 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4078 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4079 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4080 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4082 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4083 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4084 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4085 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4086 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4088 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4089 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4091 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4092 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4093 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4094 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4095 connection is blocked.
4097 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4098 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4099 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4100 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4102 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4103 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4104 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4105 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4108 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4111 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4112 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4113 happen automatically.
4115 @vindex nntp-async-number
4116 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4117 @code{nntp-async-number}. This is five by default, which means that when
4118 you read an article in the group, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch the next
4119 five articles. If this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch
4120 all the articles that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no
4121 pre-fetching will be made.
4123 @vindex gnus-asynchronous-article-function
4124 You may wish to create some sort of scheme for choosing which articles
4125 that @code{nntp} should consider as candidates for pre-fetching. For
4126 instance, you may wish to pre-fetch all articles with high scores, and
4127 not pre-fetch low-scored articles. You can do that by setting the
4128 @code{gnus-asynchronous-article-function}, which will be called with an
4129 alist where the keys are the article numbers. Your function should
4130 return an alist where the articles you are not interested in have been
4131 removed. You could also do sorting on article score and the like.
4134 @node Article Caching
4135 @section Article Caching
4136 @cindex article caching
4139 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4140 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4141 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4142 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4143 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4145 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4147 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4148 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4149 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4150 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4151 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4152 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4153 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4154 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4156 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4157 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4158 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4159 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4160 as dormant, and don't worry.
4162 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4164 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4165 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4166 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4167 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4168 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4169 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4170 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4171 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4172 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4173 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4175 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4176 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4177 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4178 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4179 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4180 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4181 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4183 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4184 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4185 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4186 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4187 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4188 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4189 @samp{"^nnml"}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4192 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4193 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4194 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4195 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4196 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4197 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4198 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4199 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4200 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4204 @node Persistent Articles
4205 @section Persistent Articles
4206 @cindex persistent articles
4208 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4209 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4210 useful in my opinion.
4212 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4213 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4214 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4215 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4216 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4217 the expiry going on at the news server.
4219 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4220 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4221 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4227 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4228 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4231 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4232 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4233 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4234 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4238 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4240 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4241 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4242 interested in persistent articles:
4245 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4249 @node Article Backlog
4250 @section Article Backlog
4252 @cindex article backlog
4254 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4255 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4256 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4257 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4258 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4259 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4260 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4261 increase memory usage some.
4263 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4264 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4265 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4266 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4267 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will group without
4268 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4269 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4271 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4274 @node Saving Articles
4275 @section Saving Articles
4276 @cindex saving articles
4278 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4279 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4280 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4281 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4282 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4284 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4285 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4286 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4288 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4289 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4290 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4291 deleted before saving.
4297 @kindex O o (Summary)
4299 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4300 Save the current article using the default article saver
4301 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4304 @kindex O m (Summary)
4305 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4306 Save the current article in mail format
4307 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4310 @kindex O r (Summary)
4311 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4312 Save the current article in rmail format
4313 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4316 @kindex O f (Summary)
4317 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4318 Save the current article in plain file format
4319 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4322 @kindex O b (Summary)
4323 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4324 Save the current article body in plain file format
4325 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4328 @kindex O h (Summary)
4329 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4330 Save the current article in mh folder format
4331 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4334 @kindex O p (Summary)
4335 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4336 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4337 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4340 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4341 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4342 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4343 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4344 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4345 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4346 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4347 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4348 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4349 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4350 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4351 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4355 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4356 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4357 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4358 functions below, or you can create your own.
4362 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4363 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4364 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4365 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4366 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4367 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4368 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4370 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4371 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4372 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4373 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4374 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4375 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4377 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4378 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4379 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4380 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4381 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4382 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4383 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4385 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4386 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4387 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4388 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4389 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4391 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4392 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4393 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4394 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4395 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4398 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4399 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4400 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4401 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4402 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitilized names, and
4403 the latter does not.
4405 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4406 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4407 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4408 reader to use this setting.
4411 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4412 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4413 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4414 @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4417 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4418 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4419 available functions that generate names:
4423 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4424 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4425 Generates file names that look like @samp{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4427 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4428 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4429 Generates file names that look like @samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4431 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4432 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4433 Generates file names that look like @samp{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4435 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4436 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4437 Generates file names that look like @samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4440 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4441 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking regexp into
4442 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4443 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4444 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4448 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4449 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4450 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4451 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4454 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4455 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4456 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4457 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function); or it
4458 can be a list (which will be @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions
4459 have a non-@code{nil} result, the @dfn{file} will be used as a default
4460 prompt. In addition, the result of the operation itself will be used if
4461 the function or form called returns a string or a list of strings.
4463 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4464 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4465 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4466 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4468 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4469 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4470 @samp{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4473 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4474 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4475 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4476 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4477 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4478 all the files in the toplevel directory
4479 (@samp{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4480 @samp{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4481 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4482 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4484 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4485 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4486 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4487 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4488 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4491 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4495 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4496 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4499 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4500 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4501 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4502 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4505 @node Decoding Articles
4506 @section Decoding Articles
4507 @cindex decoding articles
4509 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4510 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4513 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4514 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4515 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4516 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4517 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4520 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4521 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4522 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4523 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4524 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4526 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4527 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4528 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4530 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4531 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4532 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4534 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4535 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4536 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4539 @node Uuencoded Articles
4540 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4542 @cindex uuencoded articles
4547 @kindex X u (Summary)
4548 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4549 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4552 @kindex X U (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4554 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4555 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4558 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4559 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4560 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4563 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4564 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4565 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4566 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4569 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4570 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to uncode and save an
4571 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4572 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4573 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4575 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4576 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4577 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4578 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4581 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4582 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4583 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4584 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4585 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4586 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4590 @node Shared Articles
4591 @subsection Shared Articles
4593 @cindex shared articles
4598 @kindex X s (Summary)
4599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4600 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4603 @kindex X S (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4605 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4608 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4610 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4613 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4615 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4616 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4620 @node PostScript Files
4621 @subsection PostScript Files
4627 @kindex X p (Summary)
4628 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4629 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4632 @kindex X P (Summary)
4633 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4634 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4635 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4638 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4639 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4640 View the current PostScript series
4641 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4644 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4646 View and save the current PostScript series
4647 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4651 @node Decoding Variables
4652 @subsection Decoding Variables
4654 Adjective, not verb.
4657 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4658 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4659 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4663 @node Rule Variables
4664 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4665 @cindex rule variables
4667 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4668 variables are on the form
4671 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4678 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4679 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4681 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4682 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4685 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4686 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4689 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4690 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4691 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4692 user and default view rules.
4694 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4695 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4696 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
4701 @node Other Decode Variables
4702 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
4705 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4707 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4708 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
4709 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
4710 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
4711 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
4715 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
4716 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
4719 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
4720 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
4721 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
4724 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4725 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4726 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
4728 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4729 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4730 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
4731 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
4732 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
4735 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4736 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4737 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
4739 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4740 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4741 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
4742 looking for files to display.
4744 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
4745 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
4746 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
4749 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4750 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4751 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
4754 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4755 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4756 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
4759 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4760 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4761 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
4764 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4765 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4766 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
4767 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
4769 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4770 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4771 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
4772 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
4774 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4775 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4777 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
4778 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
4779 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
4780 @code{metamail} for viewing.
4782 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4783 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
4785 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
4786 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
4787 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
4788 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
4789 simply dropped them.
4794 @node Uuencoding and Posting
4795 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
4799 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4800 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4801 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
4802 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
4803 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
4804 for you when you post the article.
4806 @item gnus-uu-post-length
4807 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
4808 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
4809 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
4811 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
4812 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
4813 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
4814 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
4815 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
4816 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
4817 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
4819 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4820 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4821 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
4822 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
4823 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
4824 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
4825 Default is @code{t}.
4831 @subsection Viewing Files
4832 @cindex viewing files
4833 @cindex pseudo-articles
4835 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
4836 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
4837 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
4838 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
4839 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
4840 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
4841 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
4843 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
4844 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
4845 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
4846 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
4848 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
4849 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
4850 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
4852 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
4853 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
4854 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
4855 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
4856 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
4858 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
4859 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
4860 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
4861 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
4862 a list of parameters to that command.
4864 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
4865 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
4866 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
4868 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
4869 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
4870 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
4873 @node Article Treatment
4874 @section Article Treatment
4876 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
4877 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
4878 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
4879 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
4880 these articles easier.
4883 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
4884 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
4885 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
4886 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
4887 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
4891 @node Article Highlighting
4892 @subsection Article Highlighting
4895 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
4896 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
4901 @kindex W H a (Summary)
4902 @findex gnus-article-highlight
4903 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
4906 @kindex W H h (Summary)
4907 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
4908 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
4909 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
4910 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
4911 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
4912 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
4913 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
4914 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
4915 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
4916 prepended---Gnus will add one.
4919 @kindex W H c (Summary)
4920 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
4921 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
4923 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
4926 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4928 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4929 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
4930 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
4932 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4933 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4934 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
4936 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
4937 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
4938 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
4940 @item gnus-cite-face-list
4941 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
4942 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
4943 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
4944 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
4947 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
4948 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
4949 Regexp matching normal SuperCite attribution lines.
4951 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4952 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4953 Regexp matching mangled SuperCite attribution lines.
4955 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4956 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4957 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
4958 that it's a citation.
4960 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4961 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4962 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
4964 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4965 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4966 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
4968 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
4969 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
4970 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
4971 cited text belonging to the attribution.
4977 @kindex W H s (Summary)
4978 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
4979 @vindex gnus-signature-face
4980 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
4981 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
4982 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} in an article will be
4983 considered a signature and will be highlighted with
4984 @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by default.
4989 @node Article Hiding
4990 @subsection Article Hiding
4991 @cindex article hiding
4993 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
4994 too much cruft in most articles.
4999 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-article-hide
5001 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5004 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5005 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5006 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5010 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5011 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5012 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5013 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5016 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5018 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
5021 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5022 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5023 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5026 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5027 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5028 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5029 customizing the hiding:
5033 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5034 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5035 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5036 50), hide the cited text.
5038 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5039 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5040 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5043 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5044 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5045 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5046 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5047 by this format-like variable. These specs are legal:
5051 Start point of the hidden text.
5053 End point of the hidden text.
5055 Length of the hidden text.
5058 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5059 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5060 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5065 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5067 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5068 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5069 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5070 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5074 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5075 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5076 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5078 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5079 citation customization.
5081 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5082 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5083 signature. If it is a number, no signature may not be longer (in
5084 characters) than that number. If it is a function, the function will be
5085 called without any parameters, and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no
5086 signature in the buffer. If it is a string, it will be used as a
5087 regexp. If it matches, the text in question is not a signature.
5090 @node Article Washing
5091 @subsection Article Washing
5093 @cindex article washing
5095 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5096 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5098 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5099 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5105 @kindex W l (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5107 Remove page breaks from the current article
5108 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5111 @kindex W r (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5113 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5114 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5117 @kindex A g (Summary)
5118 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5119 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5120 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5121 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5122 the way it came from the server.
5125 @kindex W t (Summary)
5126 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5127 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5128 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5131 @kindex W v (Summary)
5132 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5133 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5134 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5137 @kindex W m (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5139 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5143 @kindex W o (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5145 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5148 @kindex W w (Summary)
5149 @findex gnus-article-word-wrap
5150 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-word-wrap}).
5153 @kindex W c (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5155 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5158 @kindex W L (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5160 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5161 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5164 @kindex W q (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5166 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5169 @kindex W f (Summary)
5171 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5172 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5173 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5174 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5175 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5176 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5177 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If
5178 this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell.
5179 If it is a function, this function will be called with the face as the
5180 argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp)
5181 matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5184 @kindex W b (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5186 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5189 @kindex W B (Summary)
5190 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5191 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5192 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5197 @node Article Buttons
5198 @subsection Article Buttons
5201 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5202 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5203 with the minimum of fuzz.
5205 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5206 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5207 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5212 @item gnus-button-alist
5213 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5214 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5217 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5223 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5224 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5225 @samp{"<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>"}.
5228 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5229 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5230 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @samp{0} here.
5233 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5234 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5235 avoid false matches.
5238 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5241 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5242 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5246 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5249 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5252 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5253 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5254 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5255 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5256 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5259 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5262 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5264 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5265 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5266 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5267 default values of the variables above.
5269 @item gnus-article-button-face
5270 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5271 Face used on bottons.
5273 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5274 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5275 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5281 @subsection Article Date
5283 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5284 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5285 when the article was sent.
5290 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5292 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5293 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5296 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5298 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5301 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5302 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5303 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5304 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5307 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5308 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5309 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5310 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5311 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5312 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5313 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5318 @node Summary Sorting
5319 @section Summary Sorting
5320 @cindex summary sorting
5322 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5323 can't really see why you'd want that.
5328 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5330 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5333 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5335 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5338 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5340 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5343 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5344 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5345 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5348 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5350 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5353 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5354 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5355 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5356 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5357 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5361 @node Finding the Parent
5362 @section Finding the Parent
5363 @cindex parent articles
5364 @cindex referring articles
5366 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5368 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5369 displayed in the article buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5370 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5371 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5372 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5373 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5374 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5375 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5377 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5378 @kindex A R (Summary)
5379 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5380 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5381 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5383 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5384 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5385 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5386 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5387 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5388 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5389 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5390 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5392 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5393 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5394 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5395 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5396 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5397 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5398 not really necessary.
5400 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5401 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5402 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5403 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5404 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5405 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5408 @node Alternative Approaches
5409 @section Alternative Approaches
5411 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5412 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5415 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5416 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5421 @subsection Pick and Read
5422 @cindex pick and read
5424 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5425 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5426 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5427 an article buffer displayed.
5429 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5430 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5431 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5432 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5433 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5434 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5437 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5441 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5442 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5443 Pick the article (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5447 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5448 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5452 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5453 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5457 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5458 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5462 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5463 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5467 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5468 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5472 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5473 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5477 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5478 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5482 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5483 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5487 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5488 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5492 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5493 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5497 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5498 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5499 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5500 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5501 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5502 will still be visible when you are reading.
5506 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5509 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5512 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5513 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5517 @subsection Binary Groups
5518 @cindex binary groups
5520 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5521 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5522 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5523 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5524 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5525 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5526 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5529 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5530 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5531 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5533 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5534 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5538 @section Tree Display
5541 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5542 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5543 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5544 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5547 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5550 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5551 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5552 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5554 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5555 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5556 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5557 is @samp{"Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z"}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5560 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5561 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5562 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5563 default is @code{modeline}.
5565 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5566 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5567 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5568 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5569 is @samp{"%(%[%3,3n%]%)"}, which displays the first three characters of
5570 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5571 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5577 The name of the poster.
5579 The @code{From} header.
5581 The number of the article.
5583 The opening bracket.
5585 The closing bracket.
5590 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5592 Variables related to the display are:
5595 @item gnus-tree-brackets
5596 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
5597 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
5598 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
5599 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
5600 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
5602 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5603 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5604 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
5605 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
5609 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
5610 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
5611 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
5612 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
5613 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
5614 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
5616 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
5617 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
5618 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
5619 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
5620 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
5621 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
5622 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
5626 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
5629 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
5639 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
5643 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
5644 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
5646 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
5648 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
5654 @node Mail Group Commands
5655 @section Mail Group Commands
5656 @cindex mail group commands
5658 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
5659 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
5661 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
5662 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5667 @kindex B e (Summary)
5668 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
5669 Expire all expirable articles in the group
5670 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
5673 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
5674 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
5675 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
5676 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
5677 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
5678 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
5681 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
5682 @findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
5683 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
5684 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
5685 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
5688 @kindex B m (Summary)
5690 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
5691 Move the article from one mail group to another
5692 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5695 @kindex B c (Summary)
5697 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
5698 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
5699 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
5702 @kindex B C (Summary)
5703 @cindex crosspost mail
5704 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
5705 Crosspost the current article to some other group
5706 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
5707 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
5708 be properly updated.
5711 @kindex B i (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
5713 Import a random file into the current mail newsgroup
5714 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
5715 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
5717 Something similar can be done by just starting to compose a mail
5718 message. Instead of typing @kbd{C-c C-c} to mail it off, you can type
5719 @kbd{C-c M-C-p} instead. This will put the message you have just created
5720 into the current mail group.
5723 @kindex B r (Summary)
5724 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
5725 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5729 @kindex B w (Summary)
5731 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
5732 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
5733 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
5734 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
5735 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
5738 @kindex B q (Summary)
5739 @findex gnus-summary-fancy-query
5740 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
5741 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
5742 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-fancy-query}).
5745 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
5746 @cindex moving articles
5747 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
5748 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
5749 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
5750 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
5751 suggestions you find reasonable.
5754 @node Various Summary Stuff
5755 @section Various Summary Stuff
5758 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
5759 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
5760 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
5764 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
5765 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
5766 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
5768 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
5769 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
5770 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
5771 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
5772 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
5773 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
5776 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5777 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5778 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
5779 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
5780 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
5785 @node Summary Group Information
5786 @subsection Summary Group Information
5791 @kindex H f (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
5793 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5794 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
5795 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
5796 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
5797 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5798 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5799 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
5803 @kindex H d (Summary)
5804 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
5805 Give a brief description of the current group
5806 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
5807 rereading the description from the server.
5810 @kindex H h (Summary)
5811 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
5812 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
5813 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
5816 @kindex H i (Summary)
5817 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5818 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5822 @node Searching for Articles
5823 @subsection Searching for Articles
5828 @kindex M-s (Summary)
5829 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
5830 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
5831 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
5834 @kindex M-r (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
5836 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
5837 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
5841 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
5842 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
5843 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
5844 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
5847 @kindex M-& (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
5849 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
5850 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
5854 @node Really Various Summary Commands
5855 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
5860 @kindex A D (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
5862 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
5863 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
5864 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
5865 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
5866 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
5867 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
5868 some format, you @kbd{A D} and read these messages in a more convenient
5872 @kindex C-t (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
5874 Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
5878 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
5879 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
5880 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
5884 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
5885 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
5886 @cindex summary exit
5887 @cindex exiting groups
5889 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
5890 group and return you to the group buffer.
5896 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
5898 @findex gnus-summary-exit
5899 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
5900 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
5901 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
5902 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
5903 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
5904 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
5905 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
5910 @kindex Z E (Summary)
5912 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
5913 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
5914 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
5918 @kindex Z c (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
5921 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
5922 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
5925 @kindex Z C (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
5927 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
5928 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
5931 @kindex Z n (Summary)
5932 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
5933 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
5934 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
5937 @kindex Z R (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
5939 Exit this group, and then enter it again
5940 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
5941 all articles, both read and unread.
5945 @kindex Z G (Summary)
5946 @kindex M-g (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
5948 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
5949 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
5950 articles, both read and unread.
5953 @kindex Z N (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
5955 Exit the group and go to the next group
5956 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
5959 @kindex Z P (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
5961 Exit the group and go to the previous group
5962 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
5965 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
5966 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
5969 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
5970 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
5971 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
5972 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
5973 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
5974 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
5975 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
5976 something like @samp{"*Dead Summary ... *"} and install a minor mode
5977 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
5978 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
5979 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
5980 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
5982 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
5984 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
5985 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
5986 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
5987 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
5988 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
5989 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
5990 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
5991 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
5992 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
5996 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
5997 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
5998 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
5999 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6000 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6003 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6004 separately to several groups is not.
6006 @cindex cross-posting
6009 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6010 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6011 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6012 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6013 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6014 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6015 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6016 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6017 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6018 the cross reference mechanism.
6020 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6021 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6022 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6028 @node The Article Buffer
6029 @chapter The Article Buffer
6030 @cindex article buffer
6032 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6033 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6034 tell Gnus otherwise.
6037 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6038 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6039 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6040 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6041 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6045 @node Hiding Headers
6046 @section Hiding Headers
6047 @cindex hiding headers
6048 @cindex deleting headers
6050 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6051 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6053 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6054 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6055 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6056 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6057 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6058 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6059 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6060 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6061 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6063 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6067 @item gnus-visible-headers
6068 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6069 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6070 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6071 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6073 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6074 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6077 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6080 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6083 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6084 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6085 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6086 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6087 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6088 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6090 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6091 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6094 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6097 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6100 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6101 variable will have no effect.
6105 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6106 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6107 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6108 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6109 the headers are to be displayed.
6111 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6112 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6115 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6118 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6119 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6120 are listed in this variable.
6122 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6123 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6124 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6125 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6126 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6127 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6128 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6129 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6130 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6132 These conditions are:
6135 Remove all empty headers.
6137 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6140 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6141 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6143 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6146 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6150 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6153 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6154 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6157 This is also the default value for this variable.
6161 @section Using @sc{mime}
6164 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6165 while people stand around yawning.
6167 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6168 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6170 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6171 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6172 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6174 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6175 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6176 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6177 @findex metamail-buffer
6178 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6179 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6180 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6181 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6182 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6183 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6185 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6186 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6187 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6188 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6189 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6190 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6191 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6192 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6193 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6195 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6198 @node Customizing Articles
6199 @section Customizing Articles
6200 @cindex article customization
6202 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6203 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6204 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6205 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6207 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6208 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6209 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6210 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6211 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6212 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6213 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6216 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6217 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6218 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6219 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6220 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6223 @node Article Keymap
6224 @section Article Keymap
6226 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6227 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6228 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6229 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6232 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6237 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6238 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6239 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6242 @kindex DEL (Article)
6243 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6244 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6247 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6248 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6249 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6250 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6251 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6254 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6255 @findex gnus-article-mail
6256 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6257 given a prefix, include the mail.
6261 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6262 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6263 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6267 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6268 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6269 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6272 @kindex TAB (Article)
6273 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6274 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6275 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6278 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6279 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6280 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6286 @section Misc Article
6290 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6291 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6292 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6293 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6296 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6297 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6298 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6299 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6300 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6301 the contents of the article buffer.
6303 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6304 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6305 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6306 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6307 hiding headers, and the like.
6309 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6310 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6311 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6313 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6314 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6315 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6316 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
6317 format specifications as that variable.
6318 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6320 @item gnus-break-pages
6321 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6322 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6323 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6324 paging will not be done.
6326 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6327 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6328 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6333 @node Composing Messages
6334 @chapter Composing Messages
6339 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
6340 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a post or mail
6341 buffer where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
6342 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. If you are in a foreign news group,
6343 and you wish to post the article using the foreign server, you can give
6344 a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c} to make Gnus try to post using the foreign
6348 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
6349 * Post:: Posting and following up.
6350 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
6351 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
6352 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
6353 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
6354 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
6355 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
6358 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
6359 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
6365 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
6368 @item gnus-reply-to-function
6369 @vindex gnus-reply-to-function
6370 Gnus uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go, but
6371 you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with this
6374 If you want the replies to go to the @samp{Sender} instead of the
6375 @samp{From} in the group @samp{mail.stupid-list}, you could do something
6379 (setq gnus-reply-to-function
6381 (cond ((string= group "mail.stupid-list")
6382 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
6387 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
6390 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
6391 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
6392 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
6393 header will be used.
6395 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
6396 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
6397 (eg. @samp{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
6398 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
6399 the head of the outgoing mail.
6401 @item gnus-mail-send-method
6402 @vindex gnus-mail-send-method
6403 @vindex send-mail-function
6404 @findex sendmail-send-it
6405 This variable says how a mail should be mailed. It uses the function in
6406 the @code{send-mail-function} variable as the default, which usually is
6407 @code{sendmail-send-it}.
6409 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
6410 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
6411 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
6412 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
6414 @item gnus-mail-hook
6415 @vindex gnus-mail-hook
6416 Hook called as the last thing after setting up a mail buffer.
6418 @item gnus-required-mail-headers
6419 @vindex gnus-required-mail-headers
6421 Gnus will generate headers in all outgoing mail instead of letting
6422 @code{sendmail} do it for us. This makes it possible to do more neat
6423 stuff, like putting mail without sending it, do hairy @code{Fcc}
6424 handling, and much more. This variable controls what headers Gnus will
6425 generate, and is of the exact same form as @code{gnus-required-headers},
6426 which does the same for news articles (@pxref{Post}).
6429 The @code{Newsgroups} header is illegal in this list, while @code{To} is
6430 required, and @code{X-Mailer} can be added if you so should want.
6432 @vindex gnus-forward-start-separator
6433 @item gnus-forward-start-separator
6434 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages.
6436 @vindex gnus-forward-end-separator
6437 @item gnus-forward-end-separator
6438 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages.
6440 @vindex gnus-signature-before-forwarded-message
6441 @item gnus-signature-before-forwarded-message
6442 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
6443 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
6444 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
6446 @item gnus-forward-included-headers
6447 @vindex gnus-forward-included-headers
6448 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages. It
6449 uses the same regexp as @code{gnus-visible-headers} by default.
6453 @kindex C-c M-C-c (Mail)
6454 @kindex C-c M-C-p (Mail)
6455 @findex gnus-put-message
6456 You normally send a mail message by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. However,
6457 you may wish to just put the mail message you have just written in your
6458 own local mail group instead of sending it. Sounds quite unlikely, but
6459 I found that useful, so you can now also press @kbd{C-c M-C-p} to
6460 @dfn{put} the article in the current mail group, or, if there is no such
6461 thing, you will be prompted for a mail group, and then the article will
6462 be put there. This means that the article is @dfn{not} mailed.
6464 @findex gnus-kill-message-buffer
6465 @cindex kill mail buffer
6466 @kindex C-x k (Mail)
6467 @kindex C-x k (Post)
6468 If enter a mail (or post) buffer and then decide not to compose a
6469 message after all, you'd normally just kill the buffer with @kbd{C-x k}.
6470 However, since the mail and post buffers are associated with articles in
6471 the draft group, this will leave lots of rubbish articles in the draft
6472 group. To avoid that problem, kill mail and post buffer with @kbd{C-c
6473 C-k} (@code{gnus-kill-message-buffer}) instead. This will make sure
6474 that everything is properly cleaned up before the buffer is killed.
6476 @vindex gnus-mail-method
6477 There are three ``methods'' for handling all mail. The default is
6478 @code{sendmail}. Some people like what @code{mh} does better, and some
6479 people prefer @code{vm}. Set @code{gnus-mail-method} to the one you
6480 think is way koolest.
6482 Three variables for customizing what to use when:
6486 @vindex gnus-mail-reply-method
6487 @item gnus-mail-reply-method
6488 This function is used to compose replies. The three functions available
6491 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-vm
6492 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-mhe
6493 @findex gnus-mail-reply-using-mail
6496 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-mail} (sendmail)
6498 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-mhe} (mh)
6500 @code{gnus-mail-reply-using-vm} (vm)
6503 @vindex gnus-mail-forward-method
6504 @item gnus-mail-forward-method
6505 This function is used to forward messages. The three functions available
6508 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-vm
6509 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-mhe
6510 @findex gnus-mail-forward-using-mail
6513 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-mail} (sendmail)
6515 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-mhe} (mh)
6517 @code{gnus-mail-forward-using-vm} (vm)
6520 @vindex gnus-mail-other-window-method
6521 @item gnus-mail-other-window-method
6522 This function is used to send mails. The three functions available are:
6524 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-vm
6525 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-mhe
6526 @findex gnus-mail-other-window-using-mail
6529 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-mail} (sendmail)
6531 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-mhe} (mh)
6533 @code{gnus-mail-other-window-using-vm} (vm)
6542 Variables for composing news articles:
6544 @vindex gnus-required-headers
6545 @code{gnus-required-headers} a list of header symbols. These headers
6546 will either be automatically generated, or, if that's impossible, they
6547 will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
6553 @findex gnus-inews-user-name
6554 @vindex gnus-user-from-line
6555 @vindex gnus-user-login-name
6556 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6557 @vindex user-mail-address
6558 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
6559 @code{gnus-inews-user-name} function, which depends on the
6560 @code{gnus-user-from-line}, @code{gnus-user-login-name},
6561 @code{gnus-local-domain} and @code{user-mail-address} variables.
6565 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
6569 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
6570 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
6573 @cindex organization
6574 @vindex gnus-local-organization
6575 @vindex gnus-organization-file
6576 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
6577 @code{gnus-local-organization} variable. @code{gnus-organization-file}
6578 will be used if that variable is nil.
6582 This optional header will be computed by Gnus.
6586 This required header will be generated by Gnus. A unique ID will be
6587 created based on date, time, user name and system name.
6590 @cindex X-Newsreader
6591 This optional header will be filled out with the Gnus version numbers.
6594 @vindex gnus-article-expires
6596 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
6597 @code{gnus-article-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and
6598 shouldn't be used unless you know what you're doing.
6601 @cindex Distribution
6602 @findex gnus-distribution-function
6603 This optional header is filled out according to the
6604 @code{gnus-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and much
6605 misunderstood header.
6609 @vindex gnus-use-generic-path
6610 This extremely optional header should probably not ever be used.
6611 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
6612 present. @code{gnus-use-generic-path} further controls how this
6613 @code{Path} header is to look. If is is @code{nil}, the the server name
6614 as the leaf node. If is is a string, use the string. If it is neither
6615 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
6616 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
6620 @cindex Mime-Version
6621 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
6622 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
6623 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
6624 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
6625 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
6626 @samp{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
6627 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
6628 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
6629 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
6631 The list contains a cons where the car of the cons is @code{optional},
6632 the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is non-@code{nil}.
6634 Other variables for customizing outgoing articles:
6637 @item nntp-news-default-headers
6638 @vindex nntp-news-default-headers
6639 If non-@code{nil}, this variable will override
6640 @code{mail-default-headers} when posting. This variable should then be
6641 a string. This string will be inserted, as is, in the head of all
6644 @item gnus-use-followup-to
6645 @vindex gnus-use-followup-to
6646 If @code{nil}, always ignore the Followup-To header. If it is @code{t},
6647 use its value, but ignore the special value @samp{poster}, which will
6648 send the followup as a reply mail to the person you are responding to.
6649 If it is the symbol @code{ask}, query the user before posting.
6650 If it is the symbol @code{use}, always use the value.
6652 @item gnus-followup-to-function
6653 @vindex gnus-followup-to-function
6654 This variable is most useful in mail groups, where ``following up''
6655 really means sending a mail to a list address. Gnus uses the normal
6656 methods to determine where follow-ups are to go, but you can change the
6657 behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with this variable.
6659 If you want the followups to go to the @samp{Sender} instead of the
6660 @samp{From} in the group @samp{mail.stupid-list}, you could do something
6664 (setq gnus-followup-to-function
6666 (cond ((string= group "mail.stupid-list")
6667 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
6672 This function will be called narrowed to header of the article that is
6675 @item gnus-removable-headers
6676 @vindex gnus-removable-headers
6677 @cindex NNTP-Posting-Host
6678 Some headers that are generated are toxic to the @sc{nntp} server.
6679 These include the @code{NNTP-Posting-Host}, @code{Bcc} and @code{Xref},
6680 so these headers are deleted if they are present in this list of
6683 @item gnus-deletable-headers
6684 @vindex gnus-deletable-headers
6685 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Gnus will be
6686 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
6687 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
6688 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
6689 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
6690 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
6691 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
6692 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
6695 @item gnus-signature-function
6696 @vindex gnus-signature-function
6697 If non-@code{nil}, this variable should be a function that returns a
6698 signature file name. The function will be called with the name of the
6699 group being posted to. If the function returns a string that doesn't
6700 correspond to a file, the string itself is inserted. If the function
6701 returns @code{nil}, the @code{gnus-signature-file} variable will be used
6704 @item gnus-post-prepare-function
6705 @vindex gnus-post-prepare-function
6706 This function is called with the name of the current group after the
6707 post buffer has been initialized, and can be used for inserting a
6708 signature. Nice if you use different signatures in different groups.
6710 @item gnus-post-prepare-hook
6711 @vindex gnus-post-prepare-hook
6712 @findex gnus-inews-insert-signature
6713 This hook is called after a post buffer has been prepared. If you want
6714 to insert a signature at this point, you could put
6715 @code{gnus-inews-insert-signature} into this hook.
6717 @item news-reply-header-hook
6718 @vindex news-reply-header-hook
6719 A related variable when following up and replying is this variable,
6720 which inserts the @dfn{quote line}. The default value is:
6723 (defvar news-reply-header-hook
6725 (insert "In article " news-reply-yank-message-id
6726 " " news-reply-yank-from " writes:\n\n")))
6729 This will create lines like:
6732 In article <zngay8jrql@@eyesore.no> Lars Mars <lars@@eyesore.no> writes:
6735 Having the @code{Message-ID} in this line is probably overkill, so I
6736 would suggest this hook instead:
6739 (setq news-reply-header-hook
6740 (lambda () (insert news-reply-yank-from " writes:\n\n")))
6743 @item gnus-prepare-article-hook
6744 @vindex gnus-prepare-article-hook
6745 This hook is called before the headers have been prepared.
6747 @item gnus-inews-article-function
6748 @vindex gnus-inews-article-function
6749 This function is used to do the actual article processing and header
6750 checking/generation.
6752 @item gnus-inews-article-hook
6753 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
6754 This hook is called right before the article is posted. By default it
6755 handles FCC processing (i.e., saving the article to a file.) You can
6756 also have this hook add a score to all followups to the article you've
6757 written (@pxref{Followups To Yourself}).
6759 @item gnus-inews-article-header-hook
6760 @vindex gnus-inews-article-header-hook
6762 This hook is called after inserting the required headers in an article
6763 to be posted. The hook is called from the @code{*post-news*} buffer,
6764 narrowed to the head, and is intended for people who would like to
6765 insert additional headers, or just change headers in some way or other.
6767 @item gnus-check-before-posting
6768 @vindex gnus-check-before-posting
6769 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to check the legality of the
6770 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
6771 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
6772 list. Legal elements are:
6776 Check the subject for commands.
6779 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
6780 @item multiple-headers
6781 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
6784 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
6786 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
6788 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
6791 Check for too long lines.
6793 Check for illegal characters.
6795 Check for excessive size.
6797 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
6799 Check the length of the signature.
6802 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
6803 something only moderators should include.
6805 Check whether the article is empty.
6811 @node Posting Server
6812 @section Posting Server
6814 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
6815 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
6817 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
6819 @vindex gnus-post-method
6821 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
6822 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
6823 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
6824 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
6825 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
6828 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
6831 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
6832 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
6833 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
6834 the ``current'' server for posting.
6836 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
6837 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
6839 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
6840 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
6845 @section Mail and Post
6847 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
6851 @item gnus-signature-file
6852 @itemx mail-signature
6853 @vindex mail-signature
6854 @vindex gnus-signature-file
6855 @cindex double signature
6857 If @code{gnus-signature-file} is non-@code{nil}, it should be the name
6858 of a file containing a signature (@samp{~/.signature} by default). This
6859 signature will be appended to all outgoing post. Most people find it
6860 more convenient to use @code{mail-signature}, which (sort of) does the
6861 same, but inserts the signature into the buffer before you start editing
6862 the post (or mail). So---if you have both of these variables set, you
6863 will get two signatures. Note that @code{mail-signature} does not work
6864 the same way as @code{gnus-signature-file}, which is a bit confusing.
6865 If @code{mail-signature} is @code{t}, it will insert
6866 @file{~/.signature}. If it is a string, this string will be inserted.
6868 Note that RFC1036 says that a signature should be preceded by the three
6869 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
6870 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
6871 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
6872 that they ruin you beautiful design, like, totally.
6874 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
6875 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
6876 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
6878 @item mail-yank-prefix
6879 @vindex mail-yank-prefix
6882 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
6883 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
6884 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
6885 @code{mail-yank-prefix} prepended to it. This is @code{nil} by default,
6886 which isn't very pretty---the prefix will just be some spaces. Most
6887 everybody prefers that lines are prepended with @samp{> }, so
6888 @code{(setq mail-yank-prefix "> ")} in your @file{.emacs} file.
6890 @item mail-yank-ignored-headers
6891 @vindex mail-yank-ignored-headers
6892 When you yank a message, you do not want to quote any headers, so
6893 @code{(setq mail-yank-ignored-headers "^")}.
6895 @item user-mail-address
6896 @vindex user-mail-address
6897 @vindex gnus-user-login-name
6898 @vindex gnus-use-generic-from
6899 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6900 If all of @code{gnus-user-login-name}, @code{gnus-use-generic-from} and
6901 @code{gnus-local-domain} are @code{nil}, Gnus will use
6902 @code{user-mail-address} as the address part of the @code{From} header.
6904 @item gnus-local-domain
6905 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6907 The local domain name excluding the host name. If your host is called
6908 @samp{"narfi.ifi.uio.no"}, then this variable should be
6909 @samp{"ifi.uio.no"}.
6911 @item gnus-local-domain
6912 @vindex gnus-local-domain
6914 The local domain name excluding the host name. If your host is called
6915 @samp{"narfi.ifi.uio.no"}, then this variable should be
6916 @samp{"ifi.uio.no"}.
6918 @item gnus-user-from-line
6919 @vindex gnus-user-from-line
6920 Your full, complete e-mail address with name. This variable overrides
6921 the other Gnus variables if it is non-@code{nil}.
6923 Here are two example values of this variable: @samp{"larsi@@ifi.uio.no
6924 (Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen)"} and @samp{"Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
6925 <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}. The latter version is recommended in news (and is
6926 probably illegal in mail), but the name has to be quoted if it contains
6927 non-alpha-numerical characters---@samp{"\"Lars M. Ingebrigtsen\"
6928 <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"}.
6930 @item mail-default-headers
6931 @vindex mail-default-headers
6932 This is a string that will be inserted into the header of all outgoing
6933 mail messages and news articles. Convenient to use to insert standard
6934 headers. If @code{nntp-news-default-headers} is non-@code{nil}, that
6935 variable will override this one when posting articles.
6937 @item gnus-auto-mail-to-author
6938 @vindex gnus-auto-mail-to-author
6939 If @code{ask}, you will be prompted for whether you want to send a mail
6940 copy to the author of the article you are following up. If
6941 non-@code{nil} and not @code{ask}, Gnus will send a mail with a copy of
6942 all follow-ups to the authors of the articles you follow up. It's nice
6943 in one way---you make sure that the person you are responding to gets
6944 your response. Other people loathe this method and will hate you dearly
6945 for it, because it means that they will first get a mail, and then have
6946 to read the same article later when they read the news. It is
6947 @code{nil} by default.
6949 @item gnus-mail-courtesy-message
6950 @vindex gnus-mail-courtesy-message
6951 This is a string that will be prepended to all mails that are the result
6952 of using the variable described above.
6954 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
6955 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
6956 @cindex mailing lists
6958 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
6959 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
6960 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
6961 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
6962 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
6963 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
6964 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
6965 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
6966 still a pain, though.
6968 @item mail-citation-hook
6969 @vindex mail-citation-hook
6970 This hook is run after yankning a message, both in mail and post
6971 buffers. Point will be at the beginning of the yanked message and mark
6972 will be at the end. If this hook is non-@code{nil} the yanked text
6973 won't be indended automatically---you have to do that explicitly.
6975 For instance, if you want to remove signatures automatically, you could
6979 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'gnus-inews-remove-signature)
6982 This function indents the cited message and then removes the
6983 signature. If you decide you want to include the signature after all,
6984 you can just press the @code{undo} key.
6988 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
6989 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
6990 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
6992 @vindex news-inews-hook
6994 @findex ispell-message
6996 (add-hook 'news-inews-hook 'ispell-message) ;For news posts
6997 (add-hook 'mail-send-hook 'ispell-message) ;for mail posts via sendmail
7000 @findex gnus-inews-insert-mime-headers
7001 If you want to insert some @sc{mime} headers into the articles you post,
7002 without doing any actual encoding, you could add
7003 @code{gnus-inews-insert-mime-headers} to @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
7006 @node Archived Messages
7007 @section Archived Messages
7008 @cindex archived messages
7009 @cindex sent messages
7011 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7012 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7015 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7016 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7017 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
7018 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
7019 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
7020 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
7021 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
7025 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7026 '((nnfolder "archive"
7027 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7028 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/sent-mail/active")
7029 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/"))))
7032 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7034 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7035 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7036 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7038 This variable can be:
7042 Messages will be saved in that group.
7043 @item a list of strings
7044 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7045 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7046 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7051 Just saving to a single group called @samp{"MisK"}:
7053 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7056 Saving to two groups, @samp{"MisK"} and @samp{"safe"}:
7058 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7061 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7063 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7064 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7065 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7066 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7071 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7072 '((if (eq major-mode news-reply-mode)
7077 This is the default.
7079 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7080 messages in one file per month:
7083 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7084 '((if (eq major-mode news-reply-mode)
7086 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7087 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7090 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7091 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7092 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7093 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7094 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7095 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7096 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7097 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something nice --
7098 @samp{"misc-mail-september-1995"}, or whatever. New messages will
7099 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7101 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
7102 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
7103 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
7104 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
7107 @item gnus-author-copy
7108 @vindex gnus-author-copy
7110 This is a file name, and all outgoing articles will be saved in that
7111 file. Initialized from the @code{AUTHORCOPY} environment variable.
7113 If this variable begins with the character @samp{"|"}, outgoing articles
7114 will be piped to the named program. It is possible to save an article in
7115 an MH folder as follows:
7118 (setq gnus-author-copy
7119 "|/usr/local/lib/mh/rcvstore +Article")
7122 If the first character is not a pipe, articles are saved using the
7123 function specified by the @code{gnus-author-copy-saver} variable.
7125 @item gnus-author-copy-saver
7126 @vindex gnus-author-copy-saver
7127 @findex rmail-output
7128 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
7129 called with the same of the file to store the article in. The default
7130 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in the Unix mailbox format.
7132 @item gnus-mail-self-blind
7133 @vindex gnus-mail-self-blind
7134 Non-@code{nil} means insert a BCC header in all outgoing articles
7135 pointing to yourself. This will result you receiving a copy of the
7136 article mailed to yourself. The BCC header is inserted when the post
7137 buffer is initialized, so you can remove or alter the BCC header to
7138 override the default.
7140 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7141 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7142 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7143 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7144 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7147 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7148 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7149 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7154 @node Posting Styles
7155 @section Posting Styles
7156 @cindex posting styles
7159 All them variables, they make my head swim.
7161 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7162 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7163 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7166 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7167 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7168 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7169 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7170 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7175 (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7176 (organization . "What me?"))
7178 (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7179 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7180 (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7183 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7184 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7185 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7186 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7187 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7188 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7189 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7190 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7192 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7193 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7194 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7195 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7196 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7197 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7200 Each style may contain a random amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7201 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7202 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}.
7203 The attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be
7204 used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of
7207 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7208 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7209 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7211 So here's a new example:
7214 (setq gnus-posting-styles
7216 (signature . "~/.signature")
7217 (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7218 ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7219 (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7221 (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7222 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7223 (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7224 (posting-from-work-p
7225 (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7226 (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7227 (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7229 (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7237 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7238 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7239 craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7240 message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7241 day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7243 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7244 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7245 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7246 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7247 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7251 @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7252 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7253 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7254 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7255 controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7256 in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7257 group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7258 articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7260 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7263 @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7264 @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7265 @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7266 @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7267 @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7268 @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7269 If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7270 encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7271 (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7272 interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7273 and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7274 (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7275 If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7276 @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7278 @vindex gnus-use-draft
7279 To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7280 @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7282 @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7283 @kindex S D c (Summary)
7284 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7285 draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7286 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7288 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7291 @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7292 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7293 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7294 (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7295 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7298 @node Rejected Articles
7299 @section Rejected Articles
7300 @cindex rejected articles
7302 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7303 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7304 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7305 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7307 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7308 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7309 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7310 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7311 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7313 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7314 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7315 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7318 @node Select Methods
7319 @chapter Select Methods
7320 @cindex foreign groups
7321 @cindex select methods
7323 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7324 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7325 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7326 personal mail group.
7328 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7329 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7330 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
7331 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7332 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7333 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7335 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7336 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7338 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7341 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7342 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7343 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
7344 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
7345 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7347 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7350 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7351 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7352 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7353 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7354 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7358 @node The Server Buffer
7359 @section The Server Buffer
7361 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7362 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7363 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7364 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7365 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7366 backend represents a virtual server.
7368 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7369 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7370 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7371 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7373 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7374 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7375 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @samp{13}, which
7376 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7377 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7378 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7379 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7381 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7382 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7385 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7386 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7387 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7388 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7389 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7390 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7393 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7394 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7397 @node Server Buffer Format
7398 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7399 @cindex server buffer format
7401 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7402 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7403 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7404 variable, with some simple extensions:
7409 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7412 The name of this server.
7415 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7418 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7421 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7422 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7423 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7434 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7437 @node Server Commands
7438 @subsection Server Commands
7439 @cindex server commands
7445 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7446 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7450 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7451 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7454 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7455 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7456 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7460 @findex gnus-server-exit
7461 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7465 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7466 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7470 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7471 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7475 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7476 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7480 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7481 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7486 @node Example Methods
7487 @subsection Example Methods
7489 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7492 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7495 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7501 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7502 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7505 After these two elements, there may be a random number of @var{(variable
7508 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7509 port @samp{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7513 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7516 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7517 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7519 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7520 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7521 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7525 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7528 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7531 Here's the method for a public spool:
7535 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7536 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7540 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7541 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7543 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7544 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7546 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7547 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7548 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7550 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7552 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7553 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7554 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7555 will contain the following:
7565 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7566 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7567 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7570 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7571 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7572 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7575 @node Servers and Methods
7576 @subsection Servers and Methods
7578 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7579 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7580 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7581 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7585 @node Unavailable Servers
7586 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7588 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7589 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7590 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7591 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7592 actually the case or not.
7594 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7595 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7596 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7597 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7598 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7599 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7600 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7601 regard that server as ``down''.
7603 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7604 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7606 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7607 with the following commands:
7613 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7614 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7615 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7619 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7620 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7621 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7625 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7626 Mark the current server as unreachable
7627 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7631 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7632 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7633 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7639 @section Getting News
7640 @cindex reading news
7641 @cindex news backends
7643 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7644 only two methods of getting news -- it can read from an @sc{nntp}
7645 server, or it can read from a local spool.
7648 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7649 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7654 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7657 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7658 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7659 server as the, uhm, address.
7661 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7662 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7663 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7664 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7666 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7667 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7668 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7670 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7675 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7676 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7677 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7679 @cindex authentification
7680 @cindex nntp authentification
7681 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7682 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7683 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7684 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7685 been contacted. By default is sends the command @samp{MODE READER} to
7686 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. Another
7687 popular function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which will prompt you for
7688 an @sc{nntp} password and stuff.
7690 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7691 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7692 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7693 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7694 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7697 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7701 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7703 The default value is
7706 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7707 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
7710 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @samp{MODE READER} command to
7711 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
7713 @item nntp-maximum-request
7714 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
7715 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
7716 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
7717 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
7718 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
7719 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
7720 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
7722 @item nntp-connection-timeout
7723 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
7724 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
7725 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
7726 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
7727 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
7728 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
7729 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
7730 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
7731 no timeouts are done.
7733 @item nntp-server-hook
7734 @vindex nntp-server-hook
7735 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
7738 @c @findex nntp-open-rlogin
7739 @c @findex nntp-open-network-stream
7740 @c @item nntp-open-server-function
7741 @c @vindex nntp-open-server-function
7742 @c This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
7743 @c functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
7744 @c simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
7745 @c is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
7746 @c and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
7748 @c @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
7749 @c @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
7750 @c If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
7751 @c @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
7752 @c parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
7754 @c @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
7755 @c @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
7756 @c User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
7760 @vindex nntp-address
7761 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
7763 @item nntp-port-number
7764 @vindex nntp-port-number
7765 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
7768 @item nntp-buggy-select
7769 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
7770 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
7772 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
7773 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
7774 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
7775 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
7776 can be used automatically.
7778 @item nntp-xover-commands
7779 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
7782 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
7783 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
7787 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
7788 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
7789 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
7790 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
7791 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
7792 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
7793 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
7794 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
7795 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
7796 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
7797 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
7799 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
7800 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
7801 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
7803 @item nntp-async-number
7804 @vindex nntp-async-number
7805 How many articles should be pre-fetched when in asynchronous mode. If
7806 this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch all the articles
7807 that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
7810 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7811 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7812 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
7813 server closes connection.
7819 @subsection News Spool
7823 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
7824 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
7825 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
7827 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{""} (or
7828 anything else) as the address.
7830 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
7831 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
7832 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
7833 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
7837 @item nnspool-inews-program
7838 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
7839 Program used to post an article.
7841 @item nnspool-inews-switches
7842 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
7843 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
7845 @item nnspool-spool-directory
7846 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
7847 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
7848 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
7850 @item nnspool-nov-directory
7851 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
7852 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
7853 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
7855 @item nnspool-lib-dir
7856 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
7857 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
7859 @item nnspool-active-file
7860 @vindex nnspool-active-file
7861 The path of the active file.
7863 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
7864 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
7865 The path of the group descriptions file.
7867 @item nnspool-history-file
7868 @vindex nnspool-history-file
7869 The path of the news history file.
7871 @item nnspool-active-times-file
7872 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
7873 The path of the active date file.
7875 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
7876 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
7877 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
7880 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7881 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7883 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
7884 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
7885 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
7891 @section Getting Mail
7892 @cindex reading mail
7895 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
7899 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
7900 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
7901 * Mail Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
7902 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
7903 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
7904 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
7905 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
7906 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
7907 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
7908 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
7912 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
7913 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
7915 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
7916 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
7917 and things will happen automatically.
7919 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
7920 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
7923 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
7924 '((nnml "private")))
7927 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
7928 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
7929 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
7930 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
7931 like any other group.
7933 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
7936 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7937 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7938 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7942 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
7943 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
7944 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
7947 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
7948 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
7949 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
7952 @node Splitting Mail
7953 @subsection Splitting Mail
7954 @cindex splitting mail
7955 @cindex mail splitting
7957 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
7958 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
7959 to be split into groups.
7962 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7963 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7964 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7968 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
7969 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
7970 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
7971 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
7972 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
7974 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
7975 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
7976 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
7977 mail belongs in that group.
7979 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
7980 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any
7981 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
7983 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
7984 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
7985 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
7986 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
7987 thinks should carry this mail message.
7989 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
7990 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
7991 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
7992 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
7994 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
7995 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
7996 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
7997 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
7998 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
8000 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8003 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8004 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8005 links. If that's the case for you, set
8006 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8007 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8009 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8010 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8011 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8012 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8013 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8014 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8015 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8016 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8020 @node Mail Variables
8021 @subsection Mail Variables
8023 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8027 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8028 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8029 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8030 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8032 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8033 @item nnmail-spool-file
8037 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8038 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8039 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8040 @samp{"larsi"}, you should set this variable to @samp{"po:larsi"}. If
8041 your name is not @samp{"larsi"}, you should probably modify that
8042 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8043 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8044 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8045 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8046 @samp{MAILHOST} environment variable.
8048 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8049 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8050 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8051 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8052 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8053 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8055 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8056 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8057 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8058 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8059 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8060 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8061 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8064 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8065 @item nnmail-crash-box
8066 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8067 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8068 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8071 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8072 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8073 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8074 used for, well, anything, really.
8076 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8077 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8078 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8079 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8080 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8081 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8082 starting to handle the new mail) and
8083 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8084 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8085 default file modes the new mail files get:
8088 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8089 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8091 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8092 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8095 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8096 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8097 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8098 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8099 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8100 it will be used instead.
8102 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8103 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8104 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8105 directory. The default is @samp{"movemail"}.
8107 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8108 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8109 @cindex incoming mail files
8110 @cindex deleting incoming files
8111 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8112 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8113 default for reasons of security.
8115 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8116 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8117 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8118 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8119 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8122 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8123 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8125 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8130 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8131 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8132 @cindex mail splitting
8133 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8135 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8136 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8137 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8138 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8139 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8140 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8142 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8145 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8146 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8147 ;; from real errors.
8148 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8150 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8151 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8152 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8153 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8154 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8155 ;; Other mailing lists...
8156 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8157 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8159 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8160 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8164 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8165 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8166 the four possible split syntaxes:
8171 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8173 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
8174 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
8175 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
8176 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
8179 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
8180 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
8181 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
8185 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
8186 all SPLITs in the list.
8189 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
8190 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
8191 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
8194 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8195 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
8196 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
8197 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
8198 the cdr contains a string.
8201 @node Mail and Procmail
8202 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8207 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8208 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8209 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8210 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8211 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8213 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8214 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8217 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8218 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8219 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8220 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8221 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8222 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8224 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8227 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8229 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8230 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8232 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8233 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8234 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8235 to include all your mail groups.
8237 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8238 method will be created automatically.
8240 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8241 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8242 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8243 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8244 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8245 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8246 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8247 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8249 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8250 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8251 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8252 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8253 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8255 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8256 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8257 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8258 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8259 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8263 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8264 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8266 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8267 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8268 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8271 Doing so can be quite easy.
8273 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8274 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8275 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8276 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8277 your @code{nnml} groups.
8283 Go to the group buffer.
8286 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8287 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8290 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8293 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8297 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8298 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8301 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8302 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8303 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8304 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8305 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8307 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8308 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8309 using the new mail backend.
8313 @subsection Expiring Mail
8314 @cindex article expiry
8316 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8317 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8318 different approach to mail reading.
8320 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8321 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8322 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8323 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8324 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8325 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8328 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8329 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8330 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8331 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8332 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8333 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8334 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8335 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8337 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8338 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8339 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8340 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8341 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8342 column in the summary buffer.
8344 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8345 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8348 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8349 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8352 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8353 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8355 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8356 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8357 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8359 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8360 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8361 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8362 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8365 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8367 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8369 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8371 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8373 ((string= group "important")
8379 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8380 names---no @samp{"nnml:"} prefixes and the like.
8382 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8383 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8384 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8387 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8388 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8390 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8391 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8392 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8393 easier for procmail users.
8395 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8396 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8397 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8398 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8399 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8400 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8401 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8402 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8403 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8404 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8405 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8406 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8407 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8412 @subsection Duplicates
8414 @vindex nnmail-delete-duplicates
8415 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8416 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8417 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8418 @cindex duplicate mails
8419 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8420 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8421 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8422 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
8423 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8424 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8425 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8426 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8427 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8428 @code{nnmail-delete-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8429 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8430 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8431 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8432 duplicate of a different message.
8434 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8435 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8436 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8437 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8439 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8442 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8443 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8447 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8448 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8449 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8450 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8451 (any mail "mail.misc")
8458 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8459 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8464 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8465 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8466 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8467 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8468 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8471 @node Not Reading Mail
8472 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8474 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8475 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8476 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8478 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8479 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8481 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8482 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8483 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8484 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8485 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8486 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8487 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8488 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8489 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8490 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8491 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8493 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8494 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8498 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8499 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8501 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8502 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8503 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8506 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8507 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8508 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8509 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8510 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8515 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8517 @cindex unix mail box
8519 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8520 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8521 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8522 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8523 which group it belongs in.
8525 Virtual server settings:
8528 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8529 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8530 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8532 @item nnmbox-active-file
8533 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8534 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8536 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8537 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8538 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8544 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8548 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8549 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8550 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8551 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8552 article to say which group it belongs in.
8554 Virtual server settings:
8557 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8558 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8559 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8561 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8562 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8563 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8565 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8566 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8567 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8572 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8574 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8576 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8577 format. It should be used with some caution.
8579 @vindex nnml-directory
8580 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8581 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8582 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8583 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8585 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8588 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8589 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8590 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8591 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8592 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8593 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8594 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8595 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8597 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8598 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8599 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8600 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8602 Virtual server settings:
8605 @item nnml-directory
8606 @vindex nnml-directory
8607 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8609 @item nnml-active-file
8610 @vindex nnml-active-file
8611 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8613 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8614 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8615 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8618 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8619 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8620 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8622 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8623 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8624 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8626 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8627 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8628 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8630 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8631 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8632 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8636 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8637 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8638 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8639 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8640 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8641 might take a while to complete.
8645 @subsubsection MH Spool
8647 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8649 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8650 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8651 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8652 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8654 Virtual server settings:
8657 @item nnmh-directory
8658 @vindex nnmh-directory
8659 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
8661 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
8662 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8663 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
8666 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
8667 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
8668 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
8669 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
8670 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
8671 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
8672 to set this variable to @code{t}.
8677 @subsubsection Mail Folders
8679 @cindex mbox folders
8680 @cindex mail folders
8682 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
8683 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
8684 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
8687 Virtual server settings:
8690 @item nnfolder-directory
8691 @vindex nnfolder-directory
8692 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
8694 @item nnfolder-active-file
8695 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
8696 The name of the active file.
8698 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8699 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8700 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
8702 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
8703 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8704 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
8707 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
8708 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
8709 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
8710 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
8711 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
8712 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
8716 @section Other Sources
8718 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
8719 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
8723 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
8724 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
8725 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
8726 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
8730 @node Directory Groups
8731 @subsection Directory Groups
8733 @cindex directory groups
8735 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
8736 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
8739 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
8740 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
8741 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
8743 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
8744 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
8745 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
8746 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
8748 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
8750 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
8751 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
8752 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
8753 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
8756 @node Anything Groups
8757 @subsection Anything Groups
8760 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
8761 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
8762 pretends that any random directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but true.
8764 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
8765 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
8766 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
8767 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
8768 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
8769 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
8770 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
8771 If this is just some random file without a head (eg. a C source file),
8772 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
8773 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
8776 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
8777 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
8778 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
8779 in the article buffer, just as usual.
8781 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
8782 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
8783 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
8784 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
8786 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
8787 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
8788 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
8789 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
8790 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
8791 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
8792 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
8793 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
8798 @item nneething-map-file-directory
8799 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
8800 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
8801 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
8803 @item nneething-exclude-files
8804 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
8805 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
8806 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
8808 @item nneething-map-file
8809 @vindex nneething-map-file
8810 Name of the map files.
8814 @node Document Groups
8815 @subsection Document Groups
8817 @cindex documentation group
8820 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
8821 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
8828 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
8833 The standard Unix mbox file.
8835 @cindex MMDF mail box
8837 The MMDF mail box format.
8840 Several news articles appended into a file.
8843 @cindex rnews batch files
8844 The rnews batch transport format.
8845 @cindex forwarded messages
8854 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
8855 @cindex RFC 341 digest
8856 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
8858 @item standard-digest
8859 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
8862 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
8865 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
8866 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
8867 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
8870 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
8871 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
8872 group. And that's it.
8874 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
8875 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
8876 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
8877 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
8878 @code{nndoc}, set the process mark on all the articles in the buffer
8879 (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r}) using
8880 @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL} file is
8881 now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can delete
8882 that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
8884 Virtual server variables:
8887 @item nndoc-article-type
8888 @vindex nndoc-article-type
8889 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
8890 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
8891 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
8893 @item nndoc-post-type
8894 @vindex nndoc-post-type
8895 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
8896 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
8906 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
8907 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
8908 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
8910 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
8911 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
8912 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
8915 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
8916 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
8917 that interested in doing things properly.
8919 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
8920 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
8926 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
8927 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
8928 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
8931 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
8934 You put the packet in your home directory.
8937 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
8940 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
8944 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
8948 You transfer this packet to the server.
8951 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
8954 You then repeat until you die.
8958 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
8959 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
8962 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
8963 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
8964 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
8969 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
8973 @kindex G s b (Group)
8974 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
8975 Pack all unread articles in the current group
8976 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
8977 process/prefix convention.
8980 @kindex G s w (Group)
8981 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
8982 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
8985 @kindex G s s (Group)
8986 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
8987 Send all replies from the replies packet
8988 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
8991 @kindex G s p (Group)
8992 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
8993 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
8996 @kindex G s r (Group)
8997 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
8998 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9001 @kindex O s (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9003 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9004 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9010 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9015 @item gnus-soup-directory
9016 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9017 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9018 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9020 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9021 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9022 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9023 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
9025 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
9026 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
9027 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
9028 @samp{"gnus-prefix"}.
9030 @item gnus-soup-packer
9031 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
9032 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9033 @samp{ "tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz"}.
9035 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
9036 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
9037 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9038 @samp{"gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -"}.
9040 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
9041 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
9042 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
9044 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9045 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9046 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
9047 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
9053 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
9056 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
9057 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
9058 you can read them at leisure.
9060 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
9064 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
9065 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
9066 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
9067 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
9069 @item nnsoup-directory
9070 @vindex nnsoup-directory
9071 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
9072 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
9074 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
9075 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
9076 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
9077 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
9079 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
9080 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
9081 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
9082 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
9083 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
9085 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
9086 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
9087 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
9088 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
9090 @item nnsoup-active-file
9091 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
9092 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
9093 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
9094 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
9095 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
9098 @vindex nnsoup-packer
9099 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
9100 is @samp{"tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz"}.
9102 @item nnsoup-unpacker
9103 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
9104 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
9105 default is @samp{"gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -"}.
9107 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
9108 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
9109 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
9112 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
9113 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
9114 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
9121 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
9123 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
9124 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
9125 more for that to happen.
9127 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
9128 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
9129 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
9132 In specific, this is what it does:
9135 (setq gnus-inews-article-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
9136 (setq send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
9139 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
9140 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9141 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9144 @node Combined Groups
9145 @section Combined Groups
9147 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9151 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9152 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9156 @node Virtual Groups
9157 @subsection Virtual Groups
9159 @cindex virtual groups
9161 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9164 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9165 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9166 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9168 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9169 regexp to match component groups.
9171 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9172 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9173 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9174 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9177 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9178 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9181 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9184 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9185 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9187 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9188 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9189 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9190 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9193 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9196 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9197 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9198 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9199 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9200 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9202 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9203 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9204 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9206 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9207 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9208 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9209 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9210 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9211 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9212 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9213 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9214 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9215 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9216 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9219 @node Kibozed Groups
9220 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9224 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9225 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9226 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9227 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9229 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9230 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9231 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9232 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9234 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9235 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9236 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9238 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9239 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9240 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9241 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9242 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9243 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9244 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9245 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9247 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9248 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9249 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9250 Stranger things have happened.
9252 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9253 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9255 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9256 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9257 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9258 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9259 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9260 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9263 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9264 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
9271 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
9272 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
9273 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
9276 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
9277 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
9278 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
9279 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
9280 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
9282 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
9283 before generating the summary buffer.
9285 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
9286 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
9287 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
9289 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
9290 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
9291 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
9292 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
9295 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
9296 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
9297 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
9298 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
9299 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
9300 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
9301 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
9302 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
9303 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
9304 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
9305 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
9309 @node Summary Score Commands
9310 @section Summary Score Commands
9311 @cindex score commands
9313 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
9314 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
9315 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
9316 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
9317 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
9319 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
9320 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
9321 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
9322 score file the current one.
9324 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
9329 @kindex V s (Summary)
9330 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
9331 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
9334 @kindex V S (Summary)
9335 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
9336 Display the score of the current article
9337 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
9340 @kindex V t (Summary)
9341 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
9342 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
9343 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
9346 @cindex V R (Summary)
9347 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
9348 Run the current summary through the scoring process
9349 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
9350 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
9351 effect you're having.
9354 @kindex V a (Summary)
9355 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
9356 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
9357 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
9360 @kindex V c (Summary)
9361 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
9362 Make a different score file the current
9363 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
9366 @kindex V e (Summary)
9367 @findex gnus-score-edit-alist
9368 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-alist}). You will be
9369 popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File
9373 @kindex V f (Summary)
9374 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
9375 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
9376 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
9379 @kindex V C (Summary)
9380 @findex gnus-score-customize
9381 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
9382 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
9385 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
9386 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
9387 Increase the score of the current article
9388 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
9391 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
9392 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
9393 Lower the score of the current article
9394 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
9397 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
9402 @kindex V m (Summary)
9403 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
9404 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
9405 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
9408 @kindex V E (Summary)
9409 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
9410 Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
9411 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
9414 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
9415 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
9420 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
9421 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
9423 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
9428 Score on the author name.
9431 Score on the subject line.
9434 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
9437 Score on thread---the References line.
9443 Score on the number of lines.
9446 Score on the Message-ID.
9459 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
9460 what headers you are scoring on.
9504 Greater than number.
9509 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9510 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9511 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9515 Temporary score entry.
9518 Permanent score entry.
9521 Immediately scoring.
9526 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9527 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9528 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9529 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9531 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9532 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9533 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9534 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9535 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9537 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9538 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9539 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9542 @node Group Score Commands
9543 @section Group Score Commands
9544 @cindex group score commands
9546 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9552 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9553 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9554 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9555 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9560 @node Score Variables
9561 @section Score Variables
9562 @cindex score variables
9566 @item gnus-use-scoring
9567 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9568 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9569 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9571 @item gnus-kill-killed
9572 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9573 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9574 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9575 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9576 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9577 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9578 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9580 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9581 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9582 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9583 initialized from the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9584 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9586 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9587 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9588 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9589 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9591 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9592 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9594 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9595 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9596 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9597 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9598 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9599 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9600 variable is @samp{"ADAPT$"} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9603 @item gnus-save-score
9604 @vindex gnus-save-score
9605 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9606 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9607 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9609 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9610 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9611 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9612 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9613 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9614 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9615 manually entered data.
9617 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9618 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9619 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9621 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9622 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9623 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9624 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9626 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9627 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9628 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9629 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9631 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9632 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9633 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9634 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9636 Predefined functions available are:
9639 @item gnus-score-find-single
9640 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9641 Only apply the group's own score file.
9643 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9644 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
9645 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
9646 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
9647 @samp{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @samp{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
9648 @samp{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
9649 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
9650 then a regexp match is done.
9652 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
9653 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
9655 If @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, this won't work
9656 very will. It will find stuff like @file{gnu/all/SCORE}, but will not
9657 find files like @file{not/gnu/all/SCORE}.
9659 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9660 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9661 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
9662 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
9663 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
9664 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
9667 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
9668 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
9669 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
9670 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
9671 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
9672 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
9675 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
9676 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
9677 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
9678 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
9679 are expired. It's 7 by default.
9681 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9682 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9683 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
9684 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
9685 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
9686 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
9687 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
9693 @node Score File Format
9694 @section Score File Format
9695 @cindex score file format
9697 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
9698 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
9699 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
9701 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
9705 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
9707 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
9709 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
9711 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
9716 (mark-and-expunge -10)
9720 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
9721 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
9722 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
9723 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
9727 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
9729 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
9730 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
9731 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
9733 Six keys are supported by this alist:
9738 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
9739 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
9740 @samp{From}, @samp{Subject}, @samp{References}, @samp{Message-ID},
9741 @samp{Xref}, @samp{Lines}, @samp{Chars} and @samp{Date}. In addition to
9742 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
9743 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @samp{Body}
9744 will perform the match on the body of the article, @samp{Head} will
9745 perform the match on the head of the article, and @samp{All} will
9746 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
9747 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
9748 final ``header'' you can score on is @samp{Followup}. These score
9749 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
9750 to articles that matches these score entries.
9752 Following this key is a random number of score entries, where each score
9753 entry has one to four elements.
9757 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
9758 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
9762 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
9763 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
9764 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
9765 is successful. If this element is not present, the
9766 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
9767 instead. This is 1000 by default.
9770 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
9771 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
9772 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
9773 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
9774 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
9777 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
9778 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
9779 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
9780 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
9783 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
9784 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
9785 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
9786 @code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
9787 assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
9788 differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
9789 case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
9790 abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
9791 types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
9794 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
9795 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
9798 For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
9799 and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
9800 like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
9801 case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
9802 Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
9804 @item Head, Body, All
9805 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
9809 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
9810 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
9813 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
9814 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
9820 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9821 lower than this number will be marked as read.
9824 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9825 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
9827 @item mark-and-expunge
9828 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9829 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
9832 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
9833 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
9834 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
9835 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
9836 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
9839 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
9840 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
9844 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
9845 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
9849 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
9850 ignored when handling global score files.
9853 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
9854 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
9857 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
9858 parents will get this number added to their scores.
9861 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
9862 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
9863 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
9864 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
9865 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
9866 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
9867 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9868 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
9869 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
9870 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
9871 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
9875 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
9876 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
9877 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
9878 file for a number of groups.
9881 @cindex local variables
9882 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
9883 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
9884 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
9885 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
9890 @node Score File Editing
9891 @section Score File Editing
9893 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
9894 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
9895 with a mode for that.
9897 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
9898 additional commands:
9903 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
9904 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
9905 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
9906 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
9909 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
9910 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
9911 Insert the current date in numerical format
9912 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
9916 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
9917 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
9918 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
9919 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
9920 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
9925 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
9926 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
9929 @node Adaptive Scoring
9930 @section Adaptive Scoring
9931 @cindex adaptive scoring
9933 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
9934 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
9935 stupidity, to be precise.
9937 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
9938 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
9939 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
9940 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
9941 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9944 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9945 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
9946 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. By default, it
9947 looks something like this:
9950 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9951 '((gnus-unread-mark)
9952 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
9953 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
9954 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
9955 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
9956 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
9957 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
9958 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
9960 (gnus-low-score-mark)
9961 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
9964 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
9965 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
9966 a random number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
9967 pairs following the key, not adaptive scoring will be done on articles
9968 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
9969 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
9972 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
9973 will be applied to each article.
9975 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
9976 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
9977 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
9978 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
9980 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
9981 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
9982 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
9983 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
9985 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
9986 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
9987 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
9988 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
9989 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
9990 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
9992 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
9993 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
9994 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
9995 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
9996 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
9997 aspirins afterwards.)
9999 If you use this scheme, you should set @code{mark-below} to something
10000 small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random changes result
10001 in articles getting marked as read.
10003 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
10004 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
10005 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
10007 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
10008 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
10009 let you use different rules in different groups.
10011 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
10012 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
10013 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
10016 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
10017 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
10018 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
10019 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
10020 the length of the match is less than
10021 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
10022 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
10026 @node Followups To Yourself
10027 @section Followups To Yourself
10029 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
10030 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
10031 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
10032 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
10033 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
10034 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
10038 @item gnus-score-followup-article
10039 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
10040 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
10043 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
10044 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
10045 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
10049 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
10050 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
10051 @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
10055 @section Scoring Tips
10056 @cindex scoring tips
10062 @cindex scoring crossposts
10063 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
10064 the @code{Xref} header.
10066 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
10069 @item Multiple crossposts
10070 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
10071 more than, say, 3 groups:
10073 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
10076 @item Matching on the body
10077 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
10078 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
10079 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
10080 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
10081 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
10082 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
10083 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
10086 @item Marking as read
10087 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
10088 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
10089 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
10093 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
10095 @item Negated character classes
10096 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
10097 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
10098 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
10102 @node Reverse Scoring
10103 @section Reverse Scoring
10104 @cindex reverse scoring
10106 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
10107 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
10108 like this in your score file:
10112 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
10117 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
10118 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
10121 @node Global Score Files
10122 @section Global Score Files
10123 @cindex global score files
10125 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
10126 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
10127 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
10129 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
10130 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
10131 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
10133 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
10134 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
10135 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
10136 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
10137 files are applicable to which group.
10139 Say you want to use all score files in the
10140 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
10141 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
10144 (setq gnus-global-score-files
10145 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
10146 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
10149 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
10150 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
10151 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
10152 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
10153 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
10155 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
10156 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
10158 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
10159 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
10160 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
10161 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
10162 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
10163 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
10165 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
10171 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
10173 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
10175 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
10177 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
10178 lowered out of existence.
10180 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
10181 articles completely.
10184 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
10185 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
10186 old articles for a long time.
10189 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
10190 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
10191 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
10192 holding our breath yet?
10196 @section Kill Files
10199 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
10200 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
10201 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
10203 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
10204 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
10205 files into score files.
10207 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
10208 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
10209 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
10210 that isn't a very good idea.
10212 XCNormal kill files look like this:
10215 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10216 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
10220 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
10221 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
10223 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
10224 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
10227 Two functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
10232 @kindex M-k (Summary)
10233 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
10234 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
10237 @kindex M-K (Summary)
10238 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
10239 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
10242 Kill file variables:
10245 @item gnus-kill-file-name
10246 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
10247 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
10248 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
10249 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
10250 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
10251 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
10253 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10254 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10255 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
10256 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
10259 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
10260 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
10261 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
10262 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you don't want kill files
10263 to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
10265 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10266 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10267 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
10276 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
10277 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
10278 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
10279 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
10280 * Compilation and Init File:: How to speed Gnus up.
10281 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
10282 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
10283 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
10284 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
10285 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
10286 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
10290 @node Process/Prefix
10291 @section Process/Prefix
10292 @cindex process/prefix convention
10294 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
10295 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
10297 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
10298 command to be performed on.
10302 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
10303 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
10304 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
10305 with the current one.
10307 @vindex transient-mark-mode
10308 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
10309 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
10311 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
10312 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
10315 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
10316 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
10318 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
10321 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
10322 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
10323 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
10324 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
10325 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
10326 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
10327 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
10328 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
10332 @section Interactive
10333 @cindex interaction
10337 @item gnus-novice-user
10338 @vindex gnus-novice-user
10339 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
10340 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
10341 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
10342 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
10345 @item gnus-expert-user
10346 @vindex gnus-expert-user
10347 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
10348 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
10349 matter how strange.
10351 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
10352 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
10353 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
10354 is @code{t} by default.
10356 @item gnus-interactive-post
10357 @vindex gnus-interactive-post
10358 If non-@code{nil}, the user will be prompted for a group name when
10359 posting an article. It is @code{t} by default.
10361 @item gnus-interactive-exit
10362 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
10363 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
10368 @node Formatting Variables
10369 @section Formatting Variables
10370 @cindex formatting variables
10372 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
10373 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
10374 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
10375 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
10376 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
10379 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{"%M%S%5y:
10380 %(%g%)\n"}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
10381 lots of percentages everywhere.
10383 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
10384 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
10385 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''. Just like a
10386 normal format spec, almost.
10388 You can also say @samp{%6,4y}, which means that the field will never be
10389 more than 6 characters wide and never less than 4 characters wide.
10391 There are also specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the
10392 format variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers
10393 will get the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it
10394 will be highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse
10397 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
10398 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
10399 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
10400 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
10401 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
10402 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
10404 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
10407 ;; Create three face types.
10408 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
10409 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
10411 ;; We want the article count to be in
10412 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
10413 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
10414 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
10416 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
10417 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
10419 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
10420 (setq gnus-group-line-format
10421 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
10424 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
10425 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
10427 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
10428 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
10429 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
10430 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
10431 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
10432 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
10433 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}.
10435 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
10436 mode-line variables.
10438 All these format variables can also be random elisp forms. In that
10439 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
10441 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
10442 @findex gnus-update-format
10443 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
10444 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
10445 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
10446 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
10449 @node Windows Configuration
10450 @section Windows Configuration
10451 @cindex windows configuration
10453 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
10455 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
10456 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
10457 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
10458 @code{t} by default.
10460 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
10461 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
10462 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
10465 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
10466 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
10467 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10471 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
10472 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
10473 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
10474 possible names is listed below.
10476 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
10477 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
10480 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10484 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
10485 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
10486 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
10487 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
10488 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
10489 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
10490 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
10491 size spec per split.
10493 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
10496 Here's a more complicated example:
10499 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
10500 (summary 0.25 point)
10501 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
10505 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
10506 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
10507 occupy, not a percentage.
10509 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
10510 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
10511 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
10512 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
10513 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
10516 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
10519 (article (horizontal 1.0
10524 (summary 0.25 point)
10529 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
10530 @code{horizontal} thingie?
10532 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
10533 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
10534 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
10535 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
10536 the screen is to be given to this strip.
10538 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
10539 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
10540 lines from the splits.
10542 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
10546 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
10547 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
10548 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
10549 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
10550 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
10551 size = number | frame-params
10552 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
10555 The limitations are that the @samp{frame} split can only appear as the
10556 top-level split. @samp{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
10557 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
10558 may contain any number of @samp{vertical} and @samp{horizontal} splits.
10560 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
10561 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
10562 @cindex window height
10563 @cindex window width
10564 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
10565 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 2) characters high, and all
10566 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
10567 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
10568 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
10569 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
10571 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @samp{horizontal} and
10572 @samp{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
10573 Windows inside a @samp{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
10574 windows within a @samp{vertical} split are shown above each other.
10576 @findex gnus-configure-frame
10577 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
10578 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
10579 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
10580 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
10581 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
10582 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
10583 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
10584 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
10585 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
10586 configuration list.
10589 (gnus-configure-frame
10593 (article 0.3 point))
10601 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
10602 @code{frame} split:
10605 (gnus-configure-frame
10608 (summary 0.25 point)
10610 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
10611 (user-position . t)
10612 (left . -1) (top . 1))
10617 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
10618 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
10619 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
10620 instead of the normal @samp{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
10621 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
10622 @xref{(elisp)Frame Parameters}.
10624 Here's a list of all possible keys for
10625 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
10627 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
10628 @code{browse}, @code{group-mail}, @code{summary-mail},
10629 @code{summary-reply}, @code{info}, @code{summary-faq},
10630 @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server}, @code{reply}, @code{reply-yank},
10631 @code{followup}, @code{followup-yank}, @code{edit-score}.
10633 @findex gnus-add-configuration
10634 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
10635 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
10636 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
10637 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
10640 (gnus-add-configuration
10641 '(article (vertical 1.0
10643 (summary .25 point)
10647 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
10648 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook -- they should be run after
10649 Gnus has been loaded.
10652 @node Compilation and Init File
10653 @section Compilation and Init File
10654 @cindex compilation
10656 @cindex byte-compilation
10658 @vindex gnus-init-file
10659 @findex gnus-compile
10660 When Gnus starts up, it will read the Gnus init file
10661 @code{gnus-init-file}, which is @file{.gnus} by default. It is
10662 recommended that you keep any Gnus-related functions that you have
10663 written in that file. If you want to byte-compile the file, Gnus offers
10664 the handy @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} function that will do that for you.
10666 That's not really why that function was written, though.
10668 Remember all those line format specification variables?
10669 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
10670 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
10671 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
10672 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
10673 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
10676 To help with this, you can run @code{gnus-compile} after you've fiddled
10677 around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of) satisfied.
10678 This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and you'll get
10681 The result of these byte-compilations will be written to
10682 @file{.gnus.elc} by default.
10684 Note that Gnus will read @file{.gnus.elc} instead of @file{.gnus} if
10685 @file{.gnus.elc} exists, so if you change @file{.gnus}, you should
10686 remove @file{.gnus.elc}.
10690 @section Mode Lines
10693 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
10694 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
10695 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
10696 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
10697 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
10698 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
10699 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
10702 @cindex display-time
10704 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
10705 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
10706 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
10707 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
10708 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
10709 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
10710 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
10711 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
10714 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
10716 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
10717 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
10719 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
10720 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
10721 (length display-time-string)))))
10724 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
10725 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
10728 @node Highlighting and Menus
10729 @section Highlighting and Menus
10731 @cindex highlighting
10734 @vindex gnus-visual
10735 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettyfying Gnus
10736 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
10737 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
10740 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
10741 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
10744 @item group-highlight
10745 Do highlights in the group buffer.
10746 @item summary-highlight
10747 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
10748 @item article-highlight
10749 Do highlights in the article buffer.
10751 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
10753 Create menus in the group buffer.
10755 Create menus in the summary buffers.
10757 Create menus in the article buffer.
10759 Create menus in the browse buffer.
10761 Create menus in the server buffer.
10763 Create menus in the score buffers.
10765 Create menus in all buffers.
10768 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
10769 buffers, you could say something like:
10772 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
10775 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
10778 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
10781 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
10782 in all Gnus buffers.
10784 Other general variables that incluence the look of all buffers include:
10787 @item gnus-mouse-face
10788 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
10789 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
10790 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
10792 @item gnus-display-type
10793 @vindex gnus-display-type
10794 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
10795 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
10796 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
10797 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
10798 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10800 @item gnus-background-mode
10801 @vindex gnus-background-mode
10802 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
10803 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
10804 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
10805 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10806 `gnus-display-type'.
10809 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
10813 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
10814 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
10815 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
10817 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
10818 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
10819 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
10821 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
10822 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
10823 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
10825 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
10826 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
10827 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
10829 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
10830 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
10831 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
10833 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
10834 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
10835 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
10846 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
10847 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
10848 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
10849 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
10850 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
10854 @vindex gnus-carpal
10855 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
10856 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
10857 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
10862 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10863 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10864 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
10866 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
10867 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
10868 Face used on buttons.
10870 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
10871 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
10872 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
10874 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10875 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10876 Buttons in the group buffer.
10878 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10879 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10880 Buttons in the summary buffer.
10882 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10883 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10884 Buttons in the server buffer.
10886 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10887 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10888 Buttons in the browse buffer.
10891 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
10892 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
10893 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
10901 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
10902 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
10903 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
10904 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
10905 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
10907 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
10908 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
10909 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
10911 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
10912 been idle for thirty minutes:
10915 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
10918 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
10922 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
10925 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
10926 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
10927 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10929 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
10930 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
10931 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
10932 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10934 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
10935 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
10936 @var{idle} minutes.
10938 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
10939 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
10942 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{"07:31"}, and
10943 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
10944 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
10946 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
10947 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
10948 seconds. This is @samp{60} by default. If you change that variable,
10949 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
10951 @vindex gnus-use-demon
10952 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
10953 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
10955 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
10956 your @file{.gnus} file:
10958 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
10960 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
10963 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
10964 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
10965 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
10966 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
10967 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
10968 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
10969 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
10971 @findex gnus-demon-init
10972 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
10973 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
10974 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
10975 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
10976 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
10978 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
10979 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
10980 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
10989 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
10990 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
10992 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
10993 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
10994 NoCeM is pronouced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
10995 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
10998 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
10999 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
11000 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
11001 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
11003 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
11004 this will make spam disappear.
11006 There are some variables to customize, of course:
11009 @item gnus-use-nocem
11010 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
11011 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
11014 @item gnus-nocem-groups
11015 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
11016 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
11017 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
11019 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
11020 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
11021 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
11022 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
11023 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
11024 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
11026 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
11029 @item "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;"
11030 @cindex Chris Lewis
11031 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
11032 usenet abuse than anybody else.
11034 @item "Automoose-1"
11035 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
11036 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
11037 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
11039 @item "jem@@xpat.com;"
11041 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
11043 @item "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)"
11044 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
11045 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitaed articles).
11048 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
11049 ones you want to listen to.
11051 @item gnus-nocem-directory
11052 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
11053 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
11054 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
11056 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11057 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11058 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
11059 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
11060 might then see old spam.
11065 @node Various Various
11066 @section Various Various
11073 @vindex gnus-verbose
11074 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
11075 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
11076 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
11077 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
11078 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
11080 @item gnus-verbose-backends
11081 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
11082 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
11083 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
11085 @item nnheader-max-head-length
11086 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
11087 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
11088 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
11089 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
11090 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
11091 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
11092 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
11093 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
11096 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11097 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11099 @cindex illegal characters in file names
11100 @cindex characters in file names
11101 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
11102 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
11103 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
11106 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11110 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
11111 Windows (phooey) systems.
11113 @item gnus-hidden-properties
11114 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
11115 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
11116 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
11117 makes invisble text invisible and intangible.
11119 @item gnus-parse-header-hook
11120 @vindex gnus-parse-header-hook
11121 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
11122 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
11123 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
11131 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
11132 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
11134 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
11136 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
11141 Not because of victories @*
11144 but for the common sunshine,@*
11146 the largess of the spring.
11149 but for the day's work done@*
11150 as well as I was able;@*
11151 not for a seat upon the dais@*
11152 but at the common table.@*
11157 @chapter Appendices
11160 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
11161 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
11162 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
11163 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
11164 * A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
11165 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
11166 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
11174 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
11175 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
11177 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
11178 can point your (feh!) web browser to
11179 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
11180 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
11181 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
11183 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
11184 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
11185 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
11186 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
11187 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
11188 appropriate name, don't you think?)
11190 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
11191 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
11192 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
11193 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
11195 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
11196 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
11198 Incidentally, the next Gnus generation will be called ``September
11199 Gnus'', and won't be released until April 1996. Confused? You will be.
11202 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
11203 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
11204 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
11205 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
11206 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
11207 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
11208 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
11209 * Censorship:: This manual has been censored.
11216 What's the point of Gnus?
11218 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
11219 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
11220 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
11221 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
11222 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
11223 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
11224 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
11225 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
11226 keep track of millions of people who post?
11228 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
11229 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
11230 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
11231 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
11232 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
11233 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
11234 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
11235 of you to explore and invent.
11237 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
11240 @node Compatibility
11241 @subsection Compatibility
11243 @cindex compatibility
11244 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
11245 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
11246 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
11251 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
11255 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
11258 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
11261 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
11262 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
11263 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
11264 important variables have their values copied into their global
11265 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
11266 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
11268 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
11269 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
11270 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
11271 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
11272 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
11276 @cindex highlighting
11277 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
11278 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
11279 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
11280 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
11281 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
11282 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
11285 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
11286 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
11287 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
11288 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
11290 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
11291 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
11292 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
11293 to stop doing it the old way.
11295 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
11297 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11299 @cindex reporting bugs
11301 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
11302 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
11303 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
11307 @subsection Conformity
11309 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
11310 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
11317 There are no known breaches of this standard.
11321 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
11323 @item Usenet Seal of Approval
11324 @cindex Usenet Seal of Approval
11325 Gnus hasn't been formally through the Seal process, but I have read
11326 through the Seal text and I think Gnus would pass.
11328 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
11329 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
11330 We do have some breaches to this one.
11335 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
11336 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
11339 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
11340 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
11341 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
11342 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
11343 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
11346 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
11347 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
11348 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
11349 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
11350 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
11351 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
11356 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
11357 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
11362 @subsection Emacsen
11368 Gnus should work on :
11373 Emacs 19.30 and up.
11376 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
11379 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
11383 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
11384 reliably, at least.
11386 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
11391 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
11392 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
11396 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
11397 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
11400 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
11403 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
11406 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
11413 @subsection Contributors
11414 @cindex contributors
11416 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
11417 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
11418 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
11419 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
11420 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
11421 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
11422 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
11423 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
11424 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
11425 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
11427 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
11432 Of course, @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}.
11434 Many excellent functions, especially dealing with scoring and
11435 highlighting (as well as the @sc{soup} support) was written
11438 Design and graphics were done by Luis Fernandes.
11440 Innumerable bug fixes were written by Sudish Joseph.
11442 @code{gnus-topic} was written by Ilja Weis.
11444 Lots and lots of bugs were found and fixed by Steven L. Baur.
11446 The refcard was written by Vladimir Alexiev.
11448 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
11450 @code{nnfolder} has been much enhanced by Scott Byer.
11452 The orphan scoring was written by Peter Mutsaers.
11454 GNU XEmacs support has been added by Fabrice Popineau.
11456 POP mail support was written by Ken Raeburn.
11458 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files, were
11459 suggested and added by Hallvard B Furuseth.
11461 Brian Edmonds has written @code{gnus-bbdb}.
11463 Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges did the proff-reading (sic).
11465 Kevin Davidson came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
11467 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
11468 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, and Andrew Eskilsson have
11469 all contributed code and suggestions.
11474 @subsection New Features
11475 @cindex new features
11480 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
11481 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
11484 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
11485 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
11488 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
11491 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
11492 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
11493 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11496 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
11497 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
11498 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
11499 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
11502 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
11503 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11506 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
11507 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
11508 (@pxref{The Active File}).
11511 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
11512 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
11515 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
11516 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
11517 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
11520 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
11521 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
11522 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
11525 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
11526 the @file{.emacs} file.
11529 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
11530 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11533 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
11534 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
11537 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
11538 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11541 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
11542 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
11545 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
11546 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
11549 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
11552 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
11553 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
11556 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
11557 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
11560 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
11561 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
11564 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
11567 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
11568 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
11571 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
11575 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
11579 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
11580 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
11583 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
11587 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
11591 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
11592 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
11593 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
11597 @node Newest Features
11598 @subsection Newest Features
11601 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
11604 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
11608 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
11610 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
11612 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
11614 Really do unbinhexing.
11617 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
11618 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
11620 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
11621 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
11622 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
11626 @subsection Censorship
11629 This version of the Gnus manual (as well as Gnus itself) has been
11630 censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act. This law was
11631 described by its proponents as a ban on pornography---which was a
11632 deception, since it prohibits far more than that. This manual did not
11633 contain pornography, but part of it was prohibited nonetheless.
11635 For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and
11636 what you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web
11637 site @samp{http://www.vtw.org/}.
11641 @section Terminology
11643 @cindex terminology
11648 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
11649 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
11650 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
11651 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
11652 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
11656 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
11657 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
11658 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
11659 not posting, and replying is not following up.
11663 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
11667 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
11672 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
11673 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
11674 is all done by the backends.
11678 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
11679 default, way of getting news.
11683 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
11684 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
11688 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
11689 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
11693 A nessage that has been posted as news.
11696 @cindex mail message
11697 A message that has been mailed.
11701 A mail message or news article
11705 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
11710 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
11715 A line from the head of an article.
11719 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
11720 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
11724 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
11725 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
11726 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
11727 normal @sc{head} format.
11731 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
11732 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
11733 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
11734 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
11735 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
11736 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
11738 @item killed groups
11739 @cindex killed groups
11740 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
11741 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
11743 @item zombie groups
11744 @cindex zombie groups
11745 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
11748 @cindex active file
11749 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
11750 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
11751 is rather large, as you might surmise.
11754 @cindex bogus groups
11755 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
11756 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
11757 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
11761 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
11763 @item select method
11764 @cindex select method
11765 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
11768 @item virtual server
11769 @cindex virtual server
11770 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
11771 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
11772 whole is a virtual server.
11777 @node Customization
11778 @section Customization
11779 @cindex general customization
11781 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
11782 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
11783 for some quite common situations.
11786 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
11787 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
11788 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
11789 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
11793 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
11794 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
11796 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
11797 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
11798 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
11802 @item gnus-read-active-file
11803 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
11804 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
11805 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
11806 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
11807 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
11809 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
11810 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
11811 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
11812 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
11816 @node Slow Terminal Connection
11817 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
11819 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
11820 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
11821 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
11825 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
11826 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
11827 buffer all the time.
11829 @item gnus-visible-headers
11830 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
11831 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
11832 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
11833 @samp{"^NEVVVVER"} or @samp{"From:"}, or whatever you feel you need.
11835 @item gnus-article-display-hook
11836 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
11838 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
11839 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
11840 gnus-article-hide-citation))
11843 @item gnus-use-full-window
11844 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
11845 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
11846 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
11847 want to read them anyway.
11849 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
11850 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
11853 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
11854 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
11855 lines, which might save some time.
11859 @node Little Disk Space
11860 @subsection Little Disk Space
11863 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
11864 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
11868 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
11869 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
11870 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
11871 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
11874 @item gnus-save-killed-list
11875 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
11876 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
11877 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
11878 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
11884 @subsection Slow Machine
11885 @cindex slow machine
11887 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
11888 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
11890 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
11891 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
11893 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
11894 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
11895 summary buffer faster.
11897 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
11898 processing a bit faster.
11901 @node Troubleshooting
11902 @section Troubleshooting
11903 @cindex troubleshooting
11905 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
11913 Make sure your computer is switched on.
11916 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
11917 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
11921 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
11922 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
11923 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
11924 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
11927 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
11931 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
11934 @cindex reporting bugs
11936 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11938 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
11939 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
11940 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
11941 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
11943 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
11944 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
11945 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
11946 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
11949 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
11950 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
11951 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
11952 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
11953 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
11954 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
11956 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
11957 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
11959 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
11960 @cindex ding mailing list
11961 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
11962 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
11965 @node A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
11966 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
11968 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
11969 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
11970 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
11971 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
11974 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
11975 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
11976 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
11977 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
11978 and general method of operations.
11981 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
11982 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
11983 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
11984 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
11985 * Group Info:: The group info format.
11986 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
11990 @node Backend Interface
11991 @subsection Backend Interface
11993 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
11994 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
11995 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
11996 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
11997 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
11998 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
12000 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
12001 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
12002 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
12003 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
12004 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
12005 been opened, the function should fail.
12007 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
12008 name. Take this example:
12012 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
12013 (nntp-port-number 4324))
12016 Here the virtual server name is @samp{"odd-one"} while the name of
12017 the physical server is @samp{"ifi.uio.no"}.
12019 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
12020 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
12021 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
12023 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
12024 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
12025 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
12027 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
12028 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{" *nntpd*"}), which is somewhat
12029 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
12030 ``resulting data'', I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
12031 talk about ``return value'', I talk about the function value returned by
12034 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
12035 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
12036 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
12037 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
12040 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
12043 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
12046 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
12047 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
12051 @node Required Backend Functions
12052 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
12056 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
12058 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
12059 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
12060 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
12061 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
12063 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
12064 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
12065 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
12066 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
12068 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
12069 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
12070 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
12071 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
12072 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
12073 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
12074 number, do maximum fetches.
12076 Here's an example HEAD:
12079 221 1056 Article retrieved.
12080 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
12081 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
12082 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
12083 Subject: Re: Something very droll
12084 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
12085 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
12087 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
12088 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
12089 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
12093 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
12094 these in the data buffer.
12096 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
12100 head = error / valid-head
12101 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
12102 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
12103 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
12104 header = <text> eol
12107 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
12108 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
12112 nov-buffer = *nov-line
12113 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
12114 field = <text except TAB>
12117 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
12121 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
12123 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
12124 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
12126 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
12127 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
12128 server. In fact, it should do so.
12130 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
12131 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
12134 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
12136 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
12139 There should be no data returned.
12142 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
12144 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
12145 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
12146 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.)
12148 There should be no data returned.
12151 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
12153 This function should return whether @var{server} is opened, and that the
12154 connection to it is still alive. This function should under no
12155 circumstances attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost
12158 There should be no data returned.
12161 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
12163 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
12165 There should be no data returned.
12168 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
12170 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
12171 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
12172 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
12173 it would be nice if that were possible.
12175 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
12176 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
12177 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
12178 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
12179 its article buffer.
12182 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12184 Make @var{group} the current group.
12186 There should be no data returned by this function.
12189 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12191 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
12192 making @var{group} the current group.
12194 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
12197 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
12200 The first number is the status, which should be @samp{211}. Next is the
12201 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
12202 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
12203 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
12204 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
12205 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
12206 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
12207 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
12210 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
12211 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
12212 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
12216 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12218 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
12219 a no-op on most backends.
12221 There should be no data returned.
12224 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
12226 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
12229 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
12232 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
12233 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
12236 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
12237 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
12240 active-file = *active-line
12241 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
12243 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
12246 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
12247 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
12248 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
12251 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
12253 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
12254 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
12255 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
12256 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
12257 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
12258 clear if the posting could not be completed.
12260 There should be no result data from this function.
12263 @item (nnchoke-request-post-buffer POST GROUP SUBJECT HEADER ARTICLE-BUFFER INFO FOLLOW-TO RESPECT-POSTER)
12265 This function should return a buffer suitable for composing an article
12266 to be posted by @code{nnchoke-request-post}. If @var{post} is
12267 non-@code{nil}, this is not a followup, but a totally new article.
12268 @var{group} is the name of the group to be posted to. @var{subject} is
12269 the subject of the message. @var{article-buffer} is the buffer being
12270 followed up, if that is the case. @var{info} is the group info.
12271 @var{follow-to} is the group that one is supposed to re-direct the
12272 article ot. If @var{respect-poster} is non-@code{nil}, the special
12273 @samp{"poster"} value of a @code{Followup-To} header is to be respected.
12275 There should be no result data returned.
12280 @node Optional Backend Functions
12281 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
12285 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
12287 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
12288 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
12289 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
12291 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
12292 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
12293 former is in the same format as the data from
12294 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
12295 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
12298 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
12302 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
12304 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
12305 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
12306 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
12307 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
12308 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
12309 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
12311 There should be no result data from this function.
12314 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
12316 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
12317 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
12318 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
12319 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
12320 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
12321 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
12322 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.)
12324 There should be no result data from this function.
12327 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
12329 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
12330 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
12331 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
12332 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
12333 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
12335 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
12336 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
12337 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
12340 There should be no result data from this function.
12343 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
12345 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
12346 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
12347 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
12348 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
12349 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
12350 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
12351 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
12353 There should be no result data from this function.
12356 @item (nnchoke-request-asynchronous GROUP &optional SERVER ARTICLES)
12358 This is a request to fetch articles asynchronously later.
12359 @var{articles} is an alist of @var{(article-number line-number)}. One
12360 would generally expect that if one later fetches article number 4, for
12361 instance, some sort of asynchronous fetching of the articles after 4
12362 (which might be 5, 6, 7 or 11, 3, 909 depending on the order in that
12363 alist) would be fetched asynchronously, but that is left up to the
12364 backend. Gnus doesn't care.
12366 There should be no result data from this function.
12369 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
12371 The result data from this function should be a description of
12375 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
12377 description = <text>
12380 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
12382 The result data from this function should be the description of all
12383 groups available on the server.
12386 description-buffer = *description-line
12390 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
12392 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
12393 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
12394 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
12397 @item (nnchoke-request-create-groups GROUP &optional SERVER)
12399 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
12401 There should be no return data.
12404 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
12406 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
12407 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
12408 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
12409 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
12410 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
12413 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
12416 There should be no result data returned.
12419 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
12422 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
12423 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
12425 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
12426 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
12427 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
12428 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
12429 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
12430 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
12432 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
12433 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
12436 There should be no data returned.
12439 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional LAST)
12441 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
12442 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
12443 this function in short order.
12445 There should be no data returned.
12448 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
12450 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
12451 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
12453 There should be no data returned.
12456 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
12458 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
12459 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
12460 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
12462 There should be no data returned.
12465 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
12467 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
12468 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
12470 There should be no data returned.
12475 @node Score File Syntax
12476 @subsection Score File Syntax
12478 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
12479 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
12480 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
12482 Here's a typical score file:
12486 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
12493 BNF definition of a score file:
12496 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
12497 element = rule / atom
12498 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
12499 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
12500 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
12501 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
12503 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
12504 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
12505 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
12506 date-header = "date"
12507 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12508 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12509 score = "nil" / <integer>
12510 date = "nil" / <natural number>
12511 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
12512 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
12513 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
12514 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
12515 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12516 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12517 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
12518 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12519 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
12520 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
12521 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
12522 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
12523 exclude-files / read-only / touched
12524 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
12525 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
12526 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
12527 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
12528 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
12529 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
12530 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
12531 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
12532 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
12533 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
12534 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
12535 eval = "eval" space <form>
12536 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
12539 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
12542 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
12543 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
12544 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
12545 one looong line, then that's ok.
12547 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
12552 @subsection Headers
12554 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
12555 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
12556 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
12557 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
12559 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
12560 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
12561 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
12562 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
12563 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
12564 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
12565 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
12567 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
12568 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
12569 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these slots --
12570 they all have predictable names beginning with @code{mail-header-} and
12571 @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
12573 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
12580 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
12581 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
12583 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
12584 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
12585 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
12586 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
12588 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
12592 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
12595 is transformed into
12598 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
12601 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
12602 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
12605 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
12608 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
12609 is slightly tricky:
12612 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
12618 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
12621 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
12627 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
12634 and is equal to the previous range.
12636 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
12637 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
12638 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
12642 range = simple-range / normal-range
12643 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
12644 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
12645 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
12646 number *[ " " contents ]
12649 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
12650 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
12651 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
12652 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
12653 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
12658 @subsection Group Info
12660 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
12661 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
12662 describes the group.
12664 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
12665 second is a more complex one:
12668 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
12670 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
12671 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
12673 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
12676 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
12677 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
12678 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
12679 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
12681 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
12684 info = "(" group space level space read
12685 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
12686 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12687 group = quote <string> quote
12688 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
12690 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
12691 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
12692 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
12693 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
12696 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
12697 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
12701 @node Various File Formats
12702 @subsection Various File Formats
12705 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
12706 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
12710 @node Active File Format
12711 @subsubsection Active File Format
12713 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
12714 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
12717 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
12720 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
12721 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
12722 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
12723 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
12724 no.general 1000 900 y
12727 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
12730 active = *group-line
12731 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
12732 group = <non-white-space string>
12734 high-number = <non-negative integer>
12735 low-number = <positive integer>
12736 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
12740 @node Newsgroups File Format
12741 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
12743 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
12744 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
12745 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
12748 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
12749 Here's the definition:
12753 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
12754 group = <non-white-space string>
12756 description = <string>
12760 @node Emacs for Heathens
12761 @section Emacs for Heathens
12763 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
12764 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
12765 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
12766 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
12767 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
12768 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
12769 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
12773 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
12774 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
12779 @subsection Keystrokes
12783 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
12786 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
12789 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
12790 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
12791 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
12792 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
12793 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
12794 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
12796 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
12797 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
12798 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
12799 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
12800 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
12801 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
12802 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
12804 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
12805 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
12806 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
12807 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
12808 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
12809 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
12810 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
12812 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
12813 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
12814 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
12815 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
12816 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
12822 @subsection Emacs Lisp
12824 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
12825 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
12826 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
12827 any key to run any random code. You just, like, do it.
12829 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
12830 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
12831 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
12832 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
12833 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
12834 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
12835 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
12838 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
12839 write the following:
12842 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
12845 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
12846 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
12847 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
12850 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
12851 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
12852 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
12853 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
12854 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
12856 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
12857 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
12858 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
12862 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
12866 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
12869 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
12870 @samp{"nntp.ifi.uio.no"}'', that means:
12873 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
12876 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
12877 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
12880 @include gnus-faq.texi