10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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295 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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304 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
306 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
309 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
310 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
311 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
312 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
313 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
314 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
315 License'' in the Emacs manual.
317 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
318 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
319 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
321 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
322 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
323 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
324 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
332 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
334 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
335 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
337 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
338 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
339 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
340 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
341 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
342 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
343 License'' in the Emacs manual.
345 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
346 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
347 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
349 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
350 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
351 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
352 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
360 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
363 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
364 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
366 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
368 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
369 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
370 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
371 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
372 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
373 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
374 License'' in the Emacs manual.
376 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
377 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
378 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
380 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
381 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
382 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
383 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
392 @top The Gnus Newsreader
396 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
397 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
398 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
401 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.10.6.
412 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
413 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
415 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
416 being accused of plagiarism:
418 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
419 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
420 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
421 can even read news with it!
423 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
424 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
425 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
426 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
427 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
433 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
434 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
435 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
436 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
437 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
438 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
439 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
440 * Various:: General purpose settings.
441 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
442 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
443 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
444 * Key Index:: Key Index.
446 Other related manuals
448 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
449 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
450 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
451 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
452 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
455 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
459 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
460 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
461 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
462 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
463 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
464 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
465 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
466 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
467 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
468 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
469 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
473 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
474 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
475 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
479 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
480 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
481 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
482 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
483 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
484 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
485 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
486 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
487 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
488 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
489 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
490 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
491 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
492 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
493 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
494 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
495 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
499 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
500 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
501 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
505 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
506 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
507 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
508 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
509 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
513 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
514 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
515 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
516 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
517 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
521 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
522 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
523 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
524 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
525 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
526 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
527 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
528 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
529 * Threading:: How threads are made.
530 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
531 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
532 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
533 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
534 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
535 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
536 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
537 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
538 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
539 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
540 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
541 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
542 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
543 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
544 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
545 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
546 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
547 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
548 or reselecting the current group.
549 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
550 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
551 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
552 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
554 Summary Buffer Format
556 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
557 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
558 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
559 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
563 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
564 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
566 Reply, Followup and Post
568 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
569 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
570 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
571 * Canceling and Superseding::
575 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
576 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
577 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
581 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
582 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
583 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
587 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
588 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
590 Customizing Threading
592 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
593 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
594 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
595 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
599 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
600 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
601 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
602 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
603 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
604 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
608 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
609 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
610 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
614 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
615 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
616 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
617 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
618 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
619 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
620 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
621 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
622 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
623 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
624 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
626 Alternative Approaches
628 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
629 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
631 Various Summary Stuff
633 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
634 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
635 * Summary Generation Commands::
636 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
640 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
641 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
642 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
643 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
644 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
648 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
649 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
650 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
651 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
652 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
653 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
654 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
655 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
656 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
660 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
661 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
662 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
663 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
664 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
665 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
666 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
667 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
671 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
672 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
673 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
674 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
675 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
676 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
677 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
681 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
682 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
686 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
687 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
688 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
692 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
693 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
694 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
695 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
696 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
697 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
698 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
699 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
700 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
701 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
702 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
703 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
704 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
708 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
709 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
710 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
712 Choosing a Mail Back End
714 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
715 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
716 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
717 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
718 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
719 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
720 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
725 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
726 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
727 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
728 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
729 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
730 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
734 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
735 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
736 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
737 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
738 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
739 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
743 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
744 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
745 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
746 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
747 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
751 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
755 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
756 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
757 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
761 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
762 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
766 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
767 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
768 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
769 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
770 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
771 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
772 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
773 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
774 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
775 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
776 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
777 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
778 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
782 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
783 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
784 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
788 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
789 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
790 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
794 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
795 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
796 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
797 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
798 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
799 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
800 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
801 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
802 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
803 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
804 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
805 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
806 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
807 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
808 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
809 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
813 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
814 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
815 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
819 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
820 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
821 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
822 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
823 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
824 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
825 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
826 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
827 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
828 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
829 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
830 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
831 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
832 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
833 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
834 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
835 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
836 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
837 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
838 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
842 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
843 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
844 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
845 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
846 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
847 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
848 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
849 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
853 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
854 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
855 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
856 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
857 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
861 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
862 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
863 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
864 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
865 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
866 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
868 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
870 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
871 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
872 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
873 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
874 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
876 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
877 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
879 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
881 * ifile spam filtering::
882 * spam-stat spam filtering::
884 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
886 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
888 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
889 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
890 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
894 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
895 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
896 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
897 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
898 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
899 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
900 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
901 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
902 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
906 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
907 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
908 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
909 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
910 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
911 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
912 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
913 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
914 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
918 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
919 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
920 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
921 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
922 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
923 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
924 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
928 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
929 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
930 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
931 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
935 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
936 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
937 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
938 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
939 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
940 * Group Info:: The group info format.
941 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
942 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
943 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
947 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
948 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
949 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
950 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
951 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
952 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
956 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
957 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
961 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
962 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
968 @chapter Starting Gnus
973 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
974 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
977 @findex gnus-other-frame
978 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
979 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
980 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
982 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
983 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
984 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
986 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
987 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
990 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
991 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
992 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
993 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
994 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
995 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
996 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
997 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
998 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
999 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1000 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1004 @node Finding the News
1005 @section Finding the News
1006 @cindex finding news
1008 @vindex gnus-select-method
1010 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1011 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1012 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1013 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1016 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1017 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1020 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1023 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1026 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1029 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1030 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1031 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1033 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1035 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1036 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1037 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1038 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1039 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1040 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1041 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1043 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1044 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1045 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1046 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1048 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1049 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1050 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1051 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1052 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1053 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1054 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1055 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1056 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1059 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1061 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1062 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1063 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1064 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1065 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1066 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1068 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1070 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1071 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1072 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1073 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1074 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1075 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1078 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1079 you would typically set this variable to
1082 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1086 @node The First Time
1087 @section The First Time
1088 @cindex first time usage
1090 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1091 be subscribed by default.
1093 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1094 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1095 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1096 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1099 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1100 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1101 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1103 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1104 help you with most common problems.
1106 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1107 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1111 @node The Server is Down
1112 @section The Server is Down
1113 @cindex server errors
1115 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1116 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1117 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1119 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1120 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1121 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1122 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1123 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1124 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1125 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1127 @findex gnus-no-server
1128 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1130 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1131 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1132 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1133 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1134 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1135 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1136 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1140 @section Slave Gnusae
1143 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1144 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1145 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1146 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1148 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1149 @file{.newsrc} file.
1151 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1152 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1153 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1154 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1155 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1156 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1157 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1160 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1161 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1162 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1163 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1164 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1165 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1166 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1167 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1169 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1170 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1172 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1173 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1174 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1175 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1176 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1178 @node Fetching a Group
1179 @section Fetching a Group
1180 @cindex fetching a group
1182 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1183 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1184 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1185 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1186 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1187 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1193 @cindex subscription
1195 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1196 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1197 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1198 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1199 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1200 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1201 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1202 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1203 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1206 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1207 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1208 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1212 @node Checking New Groups
1213 @subsection Checking New Groups
1215 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1216 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1217 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1218 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1219 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1220 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1221 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1222 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1223 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1224 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1226 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1227 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1228 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1229 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1230 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1231 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1232 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1233 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1234 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1235 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1236 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1238 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1239 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1240 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1241 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1242 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1243 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1246 @node Subscription Methods
1247 @subsection Subscription Methods
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1250 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1251 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1253 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1254 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1256 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1260 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1261 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1262 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1263 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1264 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1266 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1267 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1268 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1269 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1273 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1275 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1276 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1277 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1278 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1279 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1280 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1281 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1282 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1283 up. Or something like that.
1285 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1286 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1287 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1288 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1289 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1291 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1292 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1293 Kill all new groups.
1295 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1296 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1297 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1298 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1299 topic parameter that looks like
1305 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1308 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1313 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1314 A closely related variable is
1315 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1316 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1317 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1318 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1321 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1322 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1323 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1324 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1327 @node Filtering New Groups
1328 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1330 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1331 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1332 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1335 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1338 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1339 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1340 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1341 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1342 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1343 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1344 subscribing these groups.
1345 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1346 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1348 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1349 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1350 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1351 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1352 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1353 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1354 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1355 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1357 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1358 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1359 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1360 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1361 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1362 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1363 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1364 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1365 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1366 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1369 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1370 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1373 @node Changing Servers
1374 @section Changing Servers
1375 @cindex changing servers
1377 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1378 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1379 very flaky and you want to use another.
1381 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1382 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1386 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1387 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1388 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1389 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1392 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1393 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1394 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1395 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1397 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1398 @findex gnus-change-server
1399 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1400 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1401 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1402 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1403 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1405 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1406 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1407 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1408 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1409 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1411 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1412 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1413 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1414 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1415 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1416 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1418 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1419 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1420 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1421 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1423 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1424 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1425 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1426 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1427 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1428 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1429 cache for all groups).
1433 @section Startup Files
1434 @cindex startup files
1439 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1440 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1442 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1443 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1444 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1445 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1446 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1447 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1448 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1450 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1451 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1452 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1453 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1454 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1455 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1457 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1458 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1459 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1460 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1461 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1462 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1463 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1464 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1465 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1466 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1468 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1469 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1470 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1471 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1472 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1473 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1474 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1475 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1476 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1477 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1478 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1479 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1481 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1482 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1483 @vindex version-control
1484 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1485 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1486 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1487 If you want version control for this file, set
1488 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1489 @code{version-control} variable.
1491 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1492 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1493 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1494 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1495 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1496 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1497 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1498 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1499 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1500 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1503 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1504 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1506 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1507 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1510 @vindex gnus-init-file
1511 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1512 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1513 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1514 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1515 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1516 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1517 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1518 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1519 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1520 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1526 @cindex dribble file
1529 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1530 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1531 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1532 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1533 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1536 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1537 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1540 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1541 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1542 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1544 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1545 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1546 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1547 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1548 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1549 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1551 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1552 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1553 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1556 @node The Active File
1557 @section The Active File
1559 @cindex ignored groups
1561 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1562 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1563 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1565 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1566 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1567 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1568 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1569 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1570 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1571 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1574 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1575 @c if you set it to anything else.
1577 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1579 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1580 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1581 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1583 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1584 you actually subscribe to.
1586 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1587 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1588 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1589 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1591 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1592 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1593 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1594 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1595 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1596 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1598 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1599 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1600 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1603 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1604 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1605 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1606 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1607 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1608 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1610 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1611 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1613 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1614 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1616 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1617 secondary select methods.
1620 @node Startup Variables
1621 @section Startup Variables
1625 @item gnus-load-hook
1626 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1627 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1628 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1629 times you start Gnus.
1631 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1632 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1633 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1635 @item gnus-startup-hook
1636 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1637 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1639 @item gnus-started-hook
1640 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1641 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1644 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1645 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1646 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1647 generating the group buffer.
1649 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1650 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1651 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1652 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1653 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1654 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1655 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1656 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1658 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1659 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1660 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1661 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1662 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1663 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1665 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1666 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1667 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1669 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1670 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1671 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1673 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1674 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1675 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1676 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1682 @chapter Group Buffer
1683 @cindex group buffer
1685 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1687 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1688 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1689 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1690 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1691 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1692 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1693 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1694 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1695 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1696 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1697 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1698 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1699 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1700 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1701 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1702 @c human rights at 9...
1705 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1706 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1707 long as Gnus is active.
1711 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1712 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1713 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1714 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1715 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1716 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1717 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1718 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1724 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1725 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1726 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1727 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1728 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1729 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1730 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1731 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1732 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1733 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1734 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1735 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1736 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1737 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1738 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1739 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1740 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1744 @node Group Buffer Format
1745 @section Group Buffer Format
1748 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1749 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1750 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1754 @node Group Line Specification
1755 @subsection Group Line Specification
1756 @cindex group buffer format
1758 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1759 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1761 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1764 25: news.announce.newusers
1765 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1770 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1771 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1772 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1773 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1775 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1776 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1777 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1778 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1779 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1780 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1782 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1784 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1785 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1786 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1787 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1788 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1790 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1791 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1792 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1794 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1799 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1802 Whether the group is subscribed.
1805 Level of subscribedness.
1808 Number of unread articles.
1811 Number of dormant articles.
1814 Number of ticked articles.
1817 Number of read articles.
1820 Number of unseen articles.
1823 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1824 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1826 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1827 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1828 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1829 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1830 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1831 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1832 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1833 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1836 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1839 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1848 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1849 comment element in the group parameters.
1852 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1853 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1854 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1858 @samp{m} if moderated.
1861 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1867 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1873 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1877 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1880 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1881 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1882 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1883 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1884 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1887 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1889 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1893 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1896 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1900 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1901 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1902 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1903 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1904 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1905 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1910 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1911 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1912 group, or a bogus native group.
1915 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1916 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1917 @cindex group mode line
1919 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1920 The mode line can be changed by setting
1921 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1922 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1926 The native news server.
1928 The native select method.
1932 @node Group Highlighting
1933 @subsection Group Highlighting
1934 @cindex highlighting
1935 @cindex group highlighting
1937 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1938 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1939 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1940 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1941 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1943 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1947 (cond (window-system
1948 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1949 (defface my-group-face-1
1950 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1951 (defface my-group-face-2
1952 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1953 "Second group face")
1954 (defface my-group-face-3
1955 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1956 (defface my-group-face-4
1957 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1958 (defface my-group-face-5
1959 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1961 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1962 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1963 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1964 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1965 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1966 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1969 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1971 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1978 The number of unread articles in the group.
1982 Whether the group is a mail group.
1984 The level of the group.
1986 The score of the group.
1988 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1990 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1991 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1993 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1994 topic being inserted.
1997 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1998 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1999 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2001 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2002 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2003 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2004 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2005 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2008 @node Group Maneuvering
2009 @section Group Maneuvering
2010 @cindex group movement
2012 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2013 expected, hopefully.
2019 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2020 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2021 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2027 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2028 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2029 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2033 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2034 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2039 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2043 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2044 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2045 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2050 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2051 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2054 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2060 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2061 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2062 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2067 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2068 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2069 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2073 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2074 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2075 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2078 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2079 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2080 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2081 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2085 @node Selecting a Group
2086 @section Selecting a Group
2087 @cindex group selection
2092 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2093 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2094 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2095 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2096 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2097 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2098 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2099 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2100 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2101 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2103 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2104 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2105 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2107 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2108 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2113 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2114 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2115 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2116 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2117 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2121 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2122 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2123 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2124 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2125 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2126 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2127 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2128 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2129 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2130 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2133 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2134 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2135 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2136 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2137 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2140 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2141 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2142 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2143 doing any processing of its contents
2144 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2145 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2146 manner will have no permanent effects.
2150 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2151 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2152 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2153 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2154 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2155 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2156 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2157 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2158 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2159 most recently will be fetched.
2161 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2162 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2163 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2166 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2167 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2168 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2169 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2170 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2171 Which article this is is controlled by the
2172 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2178 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2181 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2184 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2186 @item unseen-or-unread
2187 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2188 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2192 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2196 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2197 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2199 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2200 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2201 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2202 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2206 @node Subscription Commands
2207 @section Subscription Commands
2208 @cindex subscription
2216 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2217 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2218 Toggle subscription to the current group
2219 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2225 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2226 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2227 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2228 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2234 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2235 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2236 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2242 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2243 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2246 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2247 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2248 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2249 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2250 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2256 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2257 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2261 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2262 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2265 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2266 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2267 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2268 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2269 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2270 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2271 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2272 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2273 @file{.newsrc} file.
2277 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2287 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2288 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2289 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2290 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2291 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2292 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2297 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2298 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2299 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2303 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2304 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2305 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2307 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2308 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2309 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2310 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2311 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2312 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2319 @section Group Levels
2323 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2324 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2325 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2326 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2327 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2329 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2335 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2336 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2337 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2338 prompted for a level.
2341 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2342 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2343 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2344 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2345 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2346 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2347 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2348 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2349 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2350 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2351 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2352 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2353 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2354 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2355 reasons of efficiency.
2357 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2358 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2360 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2361 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2362 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2363 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2364 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2365 groups are hidden, in a way.
2367 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2368 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2369 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2370 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2371 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2372 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2374 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2375 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2376 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2377 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2378 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2379 list of killed groups.)
2381 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2382 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2383 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2385 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2386 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2387 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2388 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2389 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2390 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2391 relevant valid ranges.
2393 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2394 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2395 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2396 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2397 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2398 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2401 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2402 one with the best level.
2404 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2405 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2406 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2409 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2410 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2411 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2412 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2415 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2416 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2417 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2418 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2420 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2421 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2422 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2423 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2424 to 5. The default is 6.
2428 @section Group Score
2433 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2434 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2435 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2438 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2439 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2440 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2441 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2442 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2443 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2444 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2445 least significant part.))
2447 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2448 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2449 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2450 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2451 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2452 action after each summary exit, you can add
2453 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2454 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2455 slow things down somewhat.
2458 @node Marking Groups
2459 @section Marking Groups
2460 @cindex marking groups
2462 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2463 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2464 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2465 bidding on those groups.
2467 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2468 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2469 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2477 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2478 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2485 Remove the mark from the current group
2486 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2491 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2496 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2501 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2505 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2506 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2507 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2510 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2512 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2513 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2514 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2515 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2516 the command to be executed.
2519 @node Foreign Groups
2520 @section Foreign Groups
2521 @cindex foreign groups
2523 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2524 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2525 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2526 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2533 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2534 @cindex making groups
2535 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2536 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2537 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2541 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2542 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2543 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2547 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2548 @cindex renaming groups
2549 Rename the current group to something else
2550 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2551 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2557 @findex gnus-group-customize
2558 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2562 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2563 @cindex renaming groups
2564 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2565 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2569 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2570 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2571 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2575 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2576 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2577 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2581 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2583 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2584 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2589 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2590 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2594 @cindex (ding) archive
2595 @cindex archive group
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2597 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2598 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2599 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2600 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2601 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2602 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2606 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2608 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2609 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2610 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2611 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2615 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2617 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2618 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2619 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2623 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2624 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2626 Make a group based on some file or other
2627 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2628 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2629 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2630 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2631 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2632 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2633 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2634 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2635 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2639 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2640 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2641 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2642 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2646 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2650 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2651 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2652 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2653 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2654 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2655 @xref{Web Searches}.
2657 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2658 to a particular group by using a match string like
2659 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2663 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2664 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2665 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2669 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2670 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2671 This function will delete the current group
2672 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2673 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2674 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2675 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2676 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2680 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2681 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2682 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2686 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2687 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2688 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2691 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2694 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2695 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2696 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2697 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2698 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2699 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2703 @node Group Parameters
2704 @section Group Parameters
2705 @cindex group parameters
2707 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2708 Here's an example group parameter list:
2711 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2715 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2716 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2717 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2718 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2720 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2721 is an alist of regexps and values.
2723 The following group parameters can be used:
2728 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2731 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2734 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2735 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2736 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2737 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2738 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2740 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2741 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2742 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2743 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2744 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2745 list address instead.
2747 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2751 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2754 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2757 It is totally ignored
2758 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2759 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2761 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2762 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2763 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2764 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2765 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2767 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2768 @cindex mail list groups
2769 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2770 entering summary buffer.
2772 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2777 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2778 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2779 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2780 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2781 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2782 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2783 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2784 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2787 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2788 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2791 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2792 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2796 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2797 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2798 of whether it has any unread articles.
2800 @item broken-reply-to
2801 @cindex broken-reply-to
2802 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2803 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2804 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2805 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2806 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2807 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2811 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2812 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2816 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2817 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2818 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2823 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2824 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2825 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2826 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2827 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2828 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2829 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2831 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2832 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2833 doesn't accept articles.
2837 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2838 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2839 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2841 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2844 @cindex total-expire
2845 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2846 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2847 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2848 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2851 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2855 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2856 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2857 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2858 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2859 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2860 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2861 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2864 @cindex expiry-target
2865 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2866 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2869 @cindex score file group parameter
2870 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2871 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2872 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2875 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2876 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2877 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2878 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2881 @cindex admin-address
2882 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2883 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2884 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2885 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2889 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2890 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2894 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2897 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2898 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2901 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2905 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2907 Here are some examples:
2911 Display only unread articles.
2914 Display everything except expirable articles.
2916 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2917 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2921 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2922 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2923 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2924 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2925 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2929 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2930 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2931 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2935 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2936 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2937 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2941 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2942 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2943 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2945 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2947 @item ignored-charsets
2948 @cindex ignored-charset
2949 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2950 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2951 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2953 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2956 @cindex posting-style
2957 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2958 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2959 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2960 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2961 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2963 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2964 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2965 like this in the group parameters:
2970 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2971 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2976 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2977 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2981 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2982 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2983 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2984 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2985 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2989 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2990 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2991 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2992 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2994 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2995 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2996 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2997 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3000 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
3001 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
3005 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3006 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3008 @item (agent parameters)
3009 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3010 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3011 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3012 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3013 minimize the configuration effort.
3015 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3016 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3017 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3018 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3019 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3020 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3021 @code{eval}ed there.
3023 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3024 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3025 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3026 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3027 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3028 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3029 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3030 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3033 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3036 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3037 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3038 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3041 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3044 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3045 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3046 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3047 into the group parameters for the group.
3049 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3050 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3051 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3052 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3053 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3057 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3058 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3059 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3060 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3061 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3063 @vindex gnus-parameters
3064 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3065 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3069 (setq gnus-parameters
3071 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3072 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3073 (gnus-summary-line-format
3074 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3078 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3082 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3086 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3089 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3090 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3093 @node Listing Groups
3094 @section Listing Groups
3095 @cindex group listing
3097 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3105 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3106 List all groups that have unread articles
3107 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3108 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3109 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3110 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3117 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3118 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3119 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3120 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3121 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3122 unsubscribed groups).
3126 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3127 List all unread groups on a specific level
3128 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3129 with no unread articles.
3133 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3134 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3135 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3136 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3141 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3142 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3146 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3147 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3148 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3152 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3153 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3157 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3158 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3159 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3160 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3161 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3162 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3163 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3164 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3168 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3169 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3170 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3174 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3175 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3176 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3180 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3181 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3185 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3186 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3190 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3191 List groups limited within the current selection
3192 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3196 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3197 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3201 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3202 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3206 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3207 @cindex visible group parameter
3208 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3209 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3210 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3211 get the same effect.
3213 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3214 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3215 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3216 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3217 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3220 @node Sorting Groups
3221 @section Sorting Groups
3222 @cindex sorting groups
3224 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3225 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3226 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3227 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3228 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3229 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3234 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3235 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3236 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3238 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3239 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3240 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3242 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3243 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3244 Sort by group level.
3246 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3247 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3248 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3250 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3251 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3252 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3253 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3255 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3256 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3257 Sort by number of unread articles.
3259 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3261 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3263 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3264 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3265 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3270 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3271 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3275 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3276 some sorting criteria:
3280 @kindex G S a (Group)
3281 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3282 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3283 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3286 @kindex G S u (Group)
3287 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3288 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3289 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3292 @kindex G S l (Group)
3293 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3294 Sort the group buffer by group level
3295 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3298 @kindex G S v (Group)
3299 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3300 Sort the group buffer by group score
3301 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3304 @kindex G S r (Group)
3305 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3306 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3307 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3310 @kindex G S m (Group)
3311 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3312 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3313 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3316 @kindex G S n (Group)
3317 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3318 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3319 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3323 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3324 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3326 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3327 commands will sort in reverse order.
3329 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3333 @kindex G P a (Group)
3334 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3335 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3336 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3339 @kindex G P u (Group)
3340 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3341 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3342 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3345 @kindex G P l (Group)
3346 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3347 Sort the groups by group level
3348 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3351 @kindex G P v (Group)
3352 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3353 Sort the groups by group score
3354 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3357 @kindex G P r (Group)
3358 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3359 Sort the groups by group rank
3360 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3363 @kindex G P m (Group)
3364 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3365 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3366 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3369 @kindex G P n (Group)
3370 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3371 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3372 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3375 @kindex G P s (Group)
3376 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3377 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3381 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3385 @node Group Maintenance
3386 @section Group Maintenance
3387 @cindex bogus groups
3392 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3393 Find bogus groups and delete them
3394 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3398 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3399 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3400 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3401 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3402 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3406 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3407 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3408 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3409 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3410 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3411 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3414 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3415 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3416 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3417 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3422 @node Browse Foreign Server
3423 @section Browse Foreign Server
3424 @cindex foreign servers
3425 @cindex browsing servers
3430 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3431 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3432 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3433 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3436 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3437 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3438 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3439 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3441 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3446 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3447 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3451 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3452 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3455 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3456 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3457 Enter the current group and display the first article
3458 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3461 @kindex RET (Browse)
3462 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3463 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3467 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3468 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3469 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3475 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3476 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3480 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3481 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3485 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3486 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3487 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3492 @section Exiting Gnus
3493 @cindex exiting Gnus
3495 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3500 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3501 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3502 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3503 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3507 @findex gnus-group-exit
3508 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3509 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3513 @findex gnus-group-quit
3514 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3515 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3518 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3519 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3520 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3521 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3522 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3523 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3529 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3530 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3531 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3537 @section Group Topics
3540 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3541 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3542 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3543 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3544 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3545 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3549 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3550 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3561 2: alt.religion.emacs
3564 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3566 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3567 13: comp.sources.unix
3570 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3572 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3573 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3574 is a toggling command.)
3576 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3577 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3578 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3579 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3582 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3583 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3584 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3587 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3591 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3592 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3593 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3594 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3595 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3599 @node Topic Commands
3600 @subsection Topic Commands
3601 @cindex topic commands
3603 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3604 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3605 definitions slightly.
3607 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3608 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3609 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3610 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3611 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3612 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3614 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3621 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3622 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3623 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3627 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3629 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3630 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3631 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3632 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3635 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3636 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3637 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3638 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3642 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3643 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3644 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3645 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3651 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3652 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3653 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3657 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3658 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3659 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3662 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3663 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3664 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3665 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3666 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3668 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3669 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3673 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3674 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3681 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3683 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3684 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3685 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3686 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3687 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3688 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3692 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3698 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3699 Move the current group to some other topic
3700 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3701 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3705 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3706 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3710 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3711 Copy the current group to some other topic
3712 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3713 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3717 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3718 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3719 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3723 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3724 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3725 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3729 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3730 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3731 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3732 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3733 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3734 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3735 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3738 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3739 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3743 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3744 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3745 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3749 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3750 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3755 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3756 Toggle hiding empty topics
3757 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3761 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3762 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3763 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3764 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3767 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3768 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3769 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3770 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3771 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3774 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3775 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3776 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3777 expiry process (if any)
3778 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3782 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3783 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3786 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3787 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3788 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3792 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3793 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3794 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3797 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3798 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3799 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3802 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3803 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3804 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3808 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3809 @cindex group parameters
3810 @cindex topic parameters
3812 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3813 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3818 @node Topic Variables
3819 @subsection Topic Variables
3820 @cindex topic variables
3822 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3823 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3825 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3826 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3827 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3840 Number of groups in the topic.
3842 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3844 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3847 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3848 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3849 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3852 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3853 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3855 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3856 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3857 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3861 @subsection Topic Sorting
3862 @cindex topic sorting
3864 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3870 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3871 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3872 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3873 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3876 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3877 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3878 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3879 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3882 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3883 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3884 Sort the current topic by group level
3885 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3888 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3889 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3890 Sort the current topic by group score
3891 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3894 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3895 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3896 Sort the current topic by group rank
3897 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3900 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3901 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3902 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3903 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3906 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3907 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3908 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3909 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3912 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3913 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3914 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3915 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3916 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3920 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3921 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3925 @node Topic Topology
3926 @subsection Topic Topology
3927 @cindex topic topology
3930 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3937 2: alt.religion.emacs
3940 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3942 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3943 13: comp.sources.unix
3947 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3948 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3949 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3954 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3955 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3959 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3960 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3961 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3962 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3963 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3964 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3966 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3967 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3968 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3971 @node Topic Parameters
3972 @subsection Topic Parameters
3973 @cindex topic parameters
3975 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3976 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3977 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3978 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3979 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3981 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3986 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3987 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3988 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3991 @item subscribe-level
3992 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3993 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3994 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3998 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3999 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4000 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4001 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4008 2: alt.religion.emacs
4012 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4014 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4015 13: comp.sources.unix
4020 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4021 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4022 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4023 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4024 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4025 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4027 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4028 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4029 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4030 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4031 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4033 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4034 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4035 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4036 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4037 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4038 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4039 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4040 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4043 @node Misc Group Stuff
4044 @section Misc Group Stuff
4047 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4048 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4049 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4050 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4051 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4058 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4059 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4060 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4064 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4065 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4066 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4067 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4068 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4069 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4070 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4074 @findex gnus-group-mail
4075 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4076 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4077 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4078 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4082 @findex gnus-group-news
4083 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4084 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4085 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4087 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4088 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4089 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4090 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4091 for this to work though.
4095 Variables for the group buffer:
4099 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4100 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4101 is called after the group buffer has been
4104 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4105 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4106 is called after the group buffer is
4107 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4110 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4111 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4112 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4113 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4115 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4116 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4117 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4118 whether they are empty or not.
4120 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4121 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4122 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4123 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4127 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4128 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4131 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4132 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4133 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4134 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4135 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4136 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4137 default is @code{nil}.
4141 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4142 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4147 @node Scanning New Messages
4148 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4149 @cindex new messages
4150 @cindex scanning new news
4156 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4157 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4158 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4159 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4160 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4161 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4166 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4167 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4168 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4169 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4170 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4171 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4172 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4174 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4175 @cindex activating groups
4177 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4178 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4183 @findex gnus-group-restart
4184 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4185 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4186 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4190 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4191 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4193 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4194 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4198 @node Group Information
4199 @subsection Group Information
4200 @cindex group information
4201 @cindex information on groups
4208 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4209 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4212 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4213 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4214 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4215 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4216 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4217 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4218 used for fetching the file.
4220 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4221 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4225 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4226 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4228 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4229 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4232 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4233 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4234 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4238 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4239 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4240 @cindex control message
4241 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4242 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4243 group if given a prefix argument.
4245 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4246 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4247 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4248 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4250 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4251 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4252 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4256 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4258 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4259 @cindex describing groups
4260 @cindex group description
4261 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4262 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4263 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4267 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4268 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4269 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4276 @findex gnus-version
4277 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4281 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4282 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4285 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4288 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4289 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4293 @node Group Timestamp
4294 @subsection Group Timestamp
4296 @cindex group timestamps
4298 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4299 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4300 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4303 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4306 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4308 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4309 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4312 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4313 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4316 This will result in lines looking like:
4319 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4320 0: custom 19961002T012713
4323 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4324 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4328 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4329 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4332 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4333 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4337 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4338 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4339 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4340 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4342 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4348 @subsection File Commands
4349 @cindex file commands
4355 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4356 @vindex gnus-init-file
4357 @cindex reading init file
4358 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4359 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4363 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4364 @cindex saving .newsrc
4365 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4366 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4367 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4370 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4371 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4372 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4377 @node Sieve Commands
4378 @subsection Sieve Commands
4379 @cindex group sieve commands
4381 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4382 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4383 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4384 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4385 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4387 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4388 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4389 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4390 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4391 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4392 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4393 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4394 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4395 regenerate the Sieve script.
4397 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4398 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4399 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4400 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4401 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4402 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4403 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4404 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4405 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4406 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4409 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4410 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4415 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4421 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4422 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4423 @cindex generating sieve script
4424 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4425 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4429 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4430 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4431 @cindex updating sieve script
4432 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4433 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4434 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4439 @node Summary Buffer
4440 @chapter Summary Buffer
4441 @cindex summary buffer
4443 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4444 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4446 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4447 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4449 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4452 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4453 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4454 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4455 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4456 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4457 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4458 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4459 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4460 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4461 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4462 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4463 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4464 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4465 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4466 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4467 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4468 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4469 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.