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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.3.
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
378 can even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
390 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
391 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
392 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
393 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
394 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
395 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
396 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
397 * Various:: General purpose settings.
398 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
399 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
400 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
401 * Key Index:: Key Index.
404 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
408 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
409 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
410 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
411 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
412 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
413 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
414 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
415 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
416 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
417 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
418 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
422 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
423 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
424 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
428 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
429 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
430 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
431 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
432 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
433 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
434 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
435 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
436 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
437 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
438 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
439 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
440 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
441 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
442 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
443 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
444 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
448 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
449 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
450 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
454 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
455 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
456 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
457 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
458 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
462 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
463 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
464 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
465 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
469 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
470 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
471 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
472 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
473 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
474 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
475 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
476 * Threading:: How threads are made.
477 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
478 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
479 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
480 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
481 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
482 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
483 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
484 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
485 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
486 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
487 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
488 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
489 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
490 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
491 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
492 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
493 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
494 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
495 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
496 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
498 Summary Buffer Format
500 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
501 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
502 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
503 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
507 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
508 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
510 Reply, Followup and Post
512 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
513 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
514 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
515 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
519 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
520 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
521 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
525 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
526 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
527 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
531 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
532 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
534 Customizing Threading
536 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
537 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
538 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
539 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
543 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
544 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
545 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
546 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
547 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
548 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
552 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
553 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
554 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
558 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
559 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
560 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
561 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
562 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
563 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
564 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
565 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
567 Alternative Approaches
569 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
570 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
572 Various Summary Stuff
574 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
575 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
576 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
577 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
581 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
582 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
583 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
584 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
585 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
589 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
590 * Post:: Posting and following up.
591 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
592 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
593 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
594 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
595 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
596 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
600 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
601 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
602 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
603 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
604 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
605 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
606 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
610 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
611 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
612 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
613 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
614 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
615 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
616 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
620 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
621 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
625 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
626 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
627 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
628 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
629 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
630 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
631 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
632 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
633 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
634 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
635 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
636 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
637 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
641 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
642 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
643 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
645 Choosing a Mail Backend
647 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
648 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
649 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
650 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
651 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
652 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
656 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
657 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
658 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
659 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
663 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
664 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
665 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
666 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
667 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
668 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
672 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
676 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
677 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
678 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
682 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
683 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
684 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
688 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
689 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
693 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
694 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
695 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
696 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
697 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
698 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
699 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
700 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
701 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
705 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
706 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
707 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
711 * Group Agent Commands::
712 * Summary Agent Commands::
713 * Server Agent Commands::
717 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
718 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
719 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
720 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
721 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
722 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
723 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
724 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
725 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
726 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
727 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
728 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
729 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
730 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
731 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
732 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
736 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
737 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
738 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
739 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
743 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
744 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
745 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
749 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
750 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
751 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
752 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
753 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
754 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
755 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
756 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
757 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
758 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
759 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
760 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
761 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
762 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
763 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
764 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
765 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
766 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
770 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
771 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
772 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
773 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
774 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
778 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
779 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
780 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
781 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
785 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
786 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
787 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
788 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
789 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
793 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
794 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
795 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
796 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
797 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
798 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
799 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
800 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
804 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
805 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
806 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
807 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
808 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
809 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
810 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
811 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
812 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
813 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
817 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
818 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
819 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
820 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
824 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
825 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
826 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
827 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
831 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
832 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
833 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
834 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
835 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
836 * Group Info:: The group info format.
837 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
838 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
839 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
843 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
844 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
845 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
846 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
847 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
848 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
852 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
853 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
857 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
858 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
864 @chapter Starting Gnus
869 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
870 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
873 @findex gnus-other-frame
874 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
875 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
876 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
878 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
879 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
880 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
882 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
883 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
886 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
887 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
888 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
889 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
890 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
891 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
892 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
893 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
894 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
895 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
896 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
900 @node Finding the News
901 @section Finding the News
904 @vindex gnus-select-method
906 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
907 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
908 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
909 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
912 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
913 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
916 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
919 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
922 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
925 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
926 certainly be much faster.
928 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
930 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
931 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
932 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
933 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
934 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
935 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
937 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
938 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
939 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
940 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
942 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
943 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
944 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
945 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
946 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
947 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
948 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
949 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
950 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
953 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
955 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
956 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
957 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
958 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
959 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
960 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
962 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
964 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
965 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
966 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
967 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
968 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
969 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
972 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
973 would typically set this variable to
976 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
981 @section The First Time
982 @cindex first time usage
984 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
985 be subscribed by default.
987 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
988 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
989 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
990 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
993 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
994 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
995 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
997 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
998 help you with most common problems.
1000 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1001 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1005 @node The Server is Down
1006 @section The Server is Down
1007 @cindex server errors
1009 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1010 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1011 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1013 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1014 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1015 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1016 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1017 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1018 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1019 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1021 @findex gnus-no-server
1022 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1024 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1025 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1026 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1027 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1028 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1029 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1034 @section Slave Gnusae
1037 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1038 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1039 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1040 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1042 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1043 @code{.newsrc} file.
1045 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1046 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1047 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1048 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1049 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1050 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1051 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1053 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1054 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1055 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1056 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1057 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1058 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1059 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1060 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1062 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1063 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1066 @node Fetching a Group
1067 @section Fetching a Group
1068 @cindex fetching a group
1070 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1071 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1072 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1073 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1074 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1075 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1081 @cindex subscription
1083 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1084 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1085 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1086 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1087 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1088 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1089 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1090 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1091 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1094 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1095 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1096 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1100 @node Checking New Groups
1101 @subsection Checking New Groups
1103 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1104 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1105 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1106 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1107 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1108 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1109 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1110 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1111 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1112 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1114 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1115 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1116 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1117 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1118 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1119 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1120 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1121 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1122 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1123 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1124 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1126 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1127 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1128 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1129 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1130 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1131 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1134 @node Subscription Methods
1135 @subsection Subscription Methods
1137 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1138 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1139 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1141 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1142 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1144 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1148 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1149 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1150 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1151 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1152 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1154 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1155 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1156 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1157 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1159 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1160 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1161 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1163 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1164 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1165 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1166 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1167 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1168 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1169 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1170 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1171 up. Or something like that.
1173 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1174 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1175 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1176 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1177 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1179 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1180 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1181 Kill all new groups.
1183 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1184 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1185 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1186 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1187 topic parameter that looks like
1193 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1196 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1201 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1202 A closely related variable is
1203 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1204 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1205 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1206 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1209 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1210 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1211 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1212 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1215 @node Filtering New Groups
1216 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1218 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1219 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1220 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1223 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1227 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1228 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1229 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1230 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1231 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1232 subscribing these groups.
1233 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1234 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1236 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1237 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1238 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1239 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1240 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1241 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1242 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1243 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1245 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1246 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1247 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1248 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1249 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1250 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1251 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1252 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1253 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1254 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1256 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1257 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1260 @node Changing Servers
1261 @section Changing Servers
1262 @cindex changing servers
1264 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1265 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1266 very flaky and you want to use another.
1268 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1269 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1273 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1274 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1275 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1276 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1279 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1280 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1281 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1282 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1284 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1285 @findex gnus-change-server
1286 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1287 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1288 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1289 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1290 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1292 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1293 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1294 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1295 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1296 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1298 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1299 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1300 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1301 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1303 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1305 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1306 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1307 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1311 @section Startup Files
1312 @cindex startup files
1317 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1318 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1320 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1321 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1322 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1323 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1324 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1325 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1326 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1328 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1329 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1330 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1331 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1332 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1333 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1335 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1336 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1337 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1338 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1339 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1340 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1341 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1342 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1343 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1344 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1346 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1347 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1348 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1349 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1350 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1351 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1352 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1353 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1354 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1355 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1356 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1357 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1359 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1360 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1361 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1362 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1364 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1365 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1366 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1367 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1368 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1369 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1370 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1371 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1372 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1373 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1376 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1377 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1379 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1380 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1383 @vindex gnus-init-file
1384 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1385 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1386 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1387 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1388 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1389 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1390 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1391 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1392 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1398 @cindex dribble file
1401 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1402 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1403 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1404 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1405 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1408 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1409 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1412 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1413 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1414 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1416 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1417 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1418 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1419 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1420 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1421 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1423 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1424 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1425 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1428 @node The Active File
1429 @section The Active File
1431 @cindex ignored groups
1433 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1434 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1435 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1437 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1438 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1439 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1440 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1441 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1442 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1443 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1446 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1447 @c if you set it to anything else.
1449 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1451 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1452 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1453 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1455 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1456 you actually subscribe to.
1458 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1459 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1460 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1461 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1463 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1464 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1465 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1466 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1467 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1468 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1470 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1471 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1472 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1474 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1475 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1476 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1477 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1478 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1479 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1481 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1482 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1484 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1485 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1487 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1488 secondary select methods.
1491 @node Startup Variables
1492 @section Startup Variables
1496 @item gnus-load-hook
1497 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1498 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1499 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1500 times you start Gnus.
1502 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1503 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1504 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1506 @item gnus-startup-hook
1507 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1508 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1510 @item gnus-started-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1512 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1515 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1516 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1517 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1518 generating the group buffer.
1520 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1521 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1522 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1523 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1524 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1525 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1526 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1527 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1529 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1530 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1531 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1532 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1533 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1534 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1536 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1537 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1538 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1540 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1541 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1542 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1544 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1545 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1546 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1547 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1552 @node The Group Buffer
1553 @chapter The Group Buffer
1554 @cindex group buffer
1556 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1557 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1558 long as Gnus is active.
1562 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1563 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1564 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1565 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1566 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1567 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1568 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1569 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1575 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1576 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1577 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1578 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1579 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1580 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1581 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1582 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1583 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1584 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1585 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1586 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1587 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1588 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1589 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1590 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1591 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1595 @node Group Buffer Format
1596 @section Group Buffer Format
1599 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1600 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1601 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1605 @node Group Line Specification
1606 @subsection Group Line Specification
1607 @cindex group buffer format
1609 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1610 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1612 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1615 25: news.announce.newusers
1616 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1621 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1622 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1623 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1624 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1626 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1627 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1628 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1629 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1630 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1631 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1633 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1635 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1636 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1637 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1638 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1641 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1642 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1643 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1645 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1650 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1653 Whether the group is subscribed.
1656 Level of subscribedness.
1659 Number of unread articles.
1662 Number of dormant articles.
1665 Number of ticked articles.
1668 Number of read articles.
1671 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1672 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1675 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1678 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1687 Newsgroup description.
1690 @samp{m} if moderated.
1693 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1702 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1706 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1709 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1710 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1711 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1712 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1713 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1716 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1718 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1722 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1726 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1727 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1728 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1729 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1730 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1731 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1736 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1737 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1738 group, or a bogus native group.
1741 @node Group Modeline Specification
1742 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1743 @cindex group modeline
1745 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1746 The mode line can be changed by setting
1747 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1748 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1752 The native news server.
1754 The native select method.
1758 @node Group Highlighting
1759 @subsection Group Highlighting
1760 @cindex highlighting
1761 @cindex group highlighting
1763 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1764 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1765 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1766 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1767 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1769 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1773 (cond (window-system
1774 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1775 (defface my-group-face-1
1776 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1777 (defface my-group-face-2
1778 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1779 (defface my-group-face-3
1780 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1781 (defface my-group-face-4
1782 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1783 (defface my-group-face-5
1784 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1786 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1787 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1788 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1789 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1790 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1791 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1794 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1796 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1803 The number of unread articles in the group.
1807 Whether the group is a mail group.
1809 The level of the group.
1811 The score of the group.
1813 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1815 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1816 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1818 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1819 topic being inserted.
1822 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1823 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1824 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1826 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1827 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1828 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1829 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1830 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1833 @node Group Maneuvering
1834 @section Group Maneuvering
1835 @cindex group movement
1837 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1838 expected, hopefully.
1844 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1845 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1846 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1852 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1853 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1854 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1858 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1859 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1863 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1864 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1868 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1869 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1870 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1874 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1875 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1876 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1879 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1885 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1886 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1887 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1892 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1893 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1894 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1898 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1899 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1900 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1903 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1904 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1905 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1906 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1910 @node Selecting a Group
1911 @section Selecting a Group
1912 @cindex group selection
1917 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1918 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1919 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1920 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1921 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1922 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1923 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1924 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1925 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1926 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1930 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1931 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1932 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1933 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1934 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1938 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1939 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1940 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1941 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1942 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1943 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1944 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1945 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1946 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1947 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1950 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1951 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1952 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1953 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1954 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1957 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1958 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1959 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1960 doing any processing of its contents
1961 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1962 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1963 manner will have no permanent effects.
1967 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1968 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1969 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1970 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1971 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1972 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1973 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1974 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1977 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1978 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1979 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1980 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1985 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1986 full summary buffer.
1989 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1992 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1997 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1998 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1999 Useful functions include:
2002 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2003 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2004 don't select the article.
2006 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2007 Select the first unread article.
2009 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2010 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2014 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2015 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2016 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2020 @node Subscription Commands
2021 @section Subscription Commands
2022 @cindex subscription
2030 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2031 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2032 Toggle subscription to the current group
2033 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2040 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2041 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2042 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2048 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2049 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2050 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2056 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2057 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2060 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2061 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2062 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2063 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2064 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2070 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2071 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2075 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2076 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2079 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2080 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2081 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2082 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2083 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2084 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2085 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2086 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2087 @file{.newsrc} file.
2091 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2101 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2102 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2103 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2104 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2105 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2106 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2111 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2112 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2113 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2117 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2118 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2119 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2121 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2122 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2123 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2124 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2125 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2126 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2133 @section Group Levels
2137 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2138 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2139 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2140 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2141 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2143 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2149 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2150 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2151 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2152 prompted for a level.
2155 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2156 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2157 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2158 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2159 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2160 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2161 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2162 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2163 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2164 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2165 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2166 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2167 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2168 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2169 reasons of efficiency.
2171 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2172 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2174 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2175 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2176 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2178 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2179 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2180 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2181 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2182 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2183 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2184 relevant valid ranges.
2186 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2187 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2188 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2189 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2190 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2191 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2194 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2195 one with the best level.
2197 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2198 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2199 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2202 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2203 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2204 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2205 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2208 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2209 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2210 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2211 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2213 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2214 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2215 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2216 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2217 to 5. The default is 6.
2221 @section Group Score
2226 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2227 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2228 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2231 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2232 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2233 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2234 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2235 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2236 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2237 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2238 least significant part.))
2240 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2241 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2242 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2243 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2244 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2245 action after each summary exit, you can add
2246 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2247 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2248 slow things down somewhat.
2251 @node Marking Groups
2252 @section Marking Groups
2253 @cindex marking groups
2255 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2256 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2257 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2258 bidding on those groups.
2260 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2261 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2262 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2270 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2271 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2277 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2278 Remove the mark from the current group
2279 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2283 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2284 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2288 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2289 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2293 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2294 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2298 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2299 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2300 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2303 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2305 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2306 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2307 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2308 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2309 the command to be executed.
2312 @node Foreign Groups
2313 @section Foreign Groups
2314 @cindex foreign groups
2316 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2317 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2318 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2319 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2326 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2327 @cindex making groups
2328 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2329 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2330 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2334 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2335 @cindex renaming groups
2336 Rename the current group to something else
2337 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2338 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2344 @findex gnus-group-customize
2345 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2349 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2350 @cindex renaming groups
2351 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2352 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2356 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2357 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2358 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2362 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2363 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2364 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2368 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2370 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2371 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2376 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2377 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2381 @cindex (ding) archive
2382 @cindex archive group
2383 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2384 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2385 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2386 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2387 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2388 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2389 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2393 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2395 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2396 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2397 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2398 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2402 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2404 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2405 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2406 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2410 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2411 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2413 Make a group based on some file or other
2414 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2415 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2416 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2417 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2418 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2419 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2420 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2424 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2425 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2426 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2427 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2431 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2436 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2437 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2438 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2439 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2440 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2441 @xref{Web Searches}.
2443 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2444 to a particular group by using a match string like
2445 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2448 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2449 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2450 This function will delete the current group
2451 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2452 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2453 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2454 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2455 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2459 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2460 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2461 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2465 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2466 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2467 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2470 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2473 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2474 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2475 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2476 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2477 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2478 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2482 @node Group Parameters
2483 @section Group Parameters
2484 @cindex group parameters
2486 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2487 Here's an example group parameter list:
2490 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2494 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2495 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2496 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2497 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2499 The following group parameters can be used:
2504 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2507 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2510 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2511 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2512 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2513 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2514 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2516 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2517 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2518 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2519 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2520 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2521 list address instead.
2525 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2528 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2531 It is totally ignored
2532 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2533 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2535 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2536 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2537 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2538 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2539 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2541 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2542 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2543 sending the message.
2547 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2548 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2549 of whether it has any unread articles.
2551 @item broken-reply-to
2552 @cindex broken-reply-to
2553 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2554 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2555 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2556 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2557 broken behavior. So there!
2561 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2562 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2566 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2567 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2568 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2573 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2574 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2575 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2576 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2577 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2578 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2579 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2583 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2584 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2585 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2588 @cindex total-expire
2589 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2590 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2591 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2592 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2597 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2598 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2599 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2600 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2601 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2602 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2605 @cindex score file group parameter
2606 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2607 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2608 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2611 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2612 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2613 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2614 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2617 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2618 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2619 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2620 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2623 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2624 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2628 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2631 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2636 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2637 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2638 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2642 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2643 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2644 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2646 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2647 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2648 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2649 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2650 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2651 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2652 @code{eval}ed there.
2654 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2655 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2656 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2657 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2658 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2661 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2662 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2663 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2664 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2665 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2667 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2668 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2669 like this in the group parameters:
2674 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2679 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2680 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2684 @node Listing Groups
2685 @section Listing Groups
2686 @cindex group listing
2688 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2696 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2697 List all groups that have unread articles
2698 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2699 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2700 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2701 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2708 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2709 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2710 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2711 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2712 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2713 unsubscribed groups).
2717 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2718 List all unread groups on a specific level
2719 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2720 with no unread articles.
2724 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2725 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2726 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2727 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2732 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2733 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2737 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2738 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2739 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2743 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2744 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2748 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2749 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2750 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2751 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2752 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2753 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2754 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2755 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2759 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2760 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2761 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2765 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2766 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2767 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2771 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2772 @cindex visible group parameter
2773 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2774 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2775 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2776 get the same effect.
2778 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2779 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2780 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2781 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2782 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2785 @node Sorting Groups
2786 @section Sorting Groups
2787 @cindex sorting groups
2789 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2790 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2791 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2792 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2793 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2794 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2799 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2800 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2801 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2803 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2804 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2805 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2807 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2808 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2809 Sort by group level.
2811 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2812 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2813 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2815 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2816 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2817 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2818 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2820 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2821 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2822 Sort by number of unread articles.
2824 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2825 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2826 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2831 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2832 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2836 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2837 some sorting criteria:
2841 @kindex G S a (Group)
2842 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2843 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2844 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2847 @kindex G S u (Group)
2848 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2849 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2850 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2853 @kindex G S l (Group)
2854 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2855 Sort the group buffer by group level
2856 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2859 @kindex G S v (Group)
2860 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2861 Sort the group buffer by group score
2862 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2865 @kindex G S r (Group)
2866 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2867 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2868 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2871 @kindex G S m (Group)
2872 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2873 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2874 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2878 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2879 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2881 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2882 commands will sort in reverse order.
2884 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2888 @kindex G P a (Group)
2889 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2890 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2891 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2894 @kindex G P u (Group)
2895 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2896 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2897 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2900 @kindex G P l (Group)
2901 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2902 Sort the groups by group level
2903 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2906 @kindex G P v (Group)
2907 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2908 Sort the groups by group score
2909 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2912 @kindex G P r (Group)
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2914 Sort the groups by group rank
2915 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2918 @kindex G P m (Group)
2919 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2920 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2921 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2927 @node Group Maintenance
2928 @section Group Maintenance
2929 @cindex bogus groups
2934 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2935 Find bogus groups and delete them
2936 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2940 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2941 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2942 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2943 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2944 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2948 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2949 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2950 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2951 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2954 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2955 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2956 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2957 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2962 @node Browse Foreign Server
2963 @section Browse Foreign Server
2964 @cindex foreign servers
2965 @cindex browsing servers
2970 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2971 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2972 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2973 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2976 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2977 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2978 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2979 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2981 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2986 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2987 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2991 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2992 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2995 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2996 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2997 Enter the current group and display the first article
2998 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3001 @kindex RET (Browse)
3002 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3003 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3007 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3008 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3009 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3015 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3016 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3020 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3021 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3022 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3027 @section Exiting Gnus
3028 @cindex exiting Gnus
3030 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3035 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3036 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3037 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3038 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3042 @findex gnus-group-exit
3043 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3044 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3048 @findex gnus-group-quit
3049 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3050 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3053 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3054 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3055 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3056 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3057 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3062 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3063 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3064 trying to customize meta-variables.
3069 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3070 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3071 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3077 @section Group Topics
3080 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3081 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3082 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3083 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3084 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3085 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3089 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3090 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3101 2: alt.religion.emacs
3104 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3106 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3107 13: comp.sources.unix
3110 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3112 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3113 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3114 is a toggling command.)
3116 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3117 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3118 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3119 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3122 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3123 the hook for the group mode:
3126 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3130 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3131 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3132 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3133 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3134 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3138 @node Topic Variables
3139 @subsection Topic Variables
3140 @cindex topic variables
3142 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3143 really neat, I think.
3145 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3146 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3147 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3160 Number of groups in the topic.
3162 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3164 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3167 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3168 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3169 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3172 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3173 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3175 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3176 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3177 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3180 @node Topic Commands
3181 @subsection Topic Commands
3182 @cindex topic commands
3184 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3185 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3186 definitions slightly.
3192 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3193 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3194 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3198 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3199 Move the current group to some other topic
3200 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3201 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3205 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3206 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3210 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3211 Copy the current group to some other topic
3212 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3213 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3217 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3218 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3219 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3220 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3221 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3222 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3223 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3226 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3227 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3231 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3232 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3233 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3237 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3238 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3239 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3243 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3244 Toggle hiding empty topics
3245 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3249 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3250 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3251 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3254 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3255 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3256 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3257 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3261 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3263 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3264 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3265 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3266 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3269 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3270 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3271 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3272 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3276 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3278 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3279 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3280 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3281 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3282 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3283 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3286 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3287 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3288 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3289 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3293 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3294 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3295 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3299 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3300 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3301 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3306 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3307 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3310 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3311 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3312 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3316 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3317 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3318 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3322 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3323 @cindex group parameters
3324 @cindex topic parameters
3326 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3327 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3333 @subsection Topic Sorting
3334 @cindex topic sorting
3336 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3342 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3343 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3344 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3345 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3348 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3349 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3350 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3351 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3354 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3355 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3356 Sort the current topic by group level
3357 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3360 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3361 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3362 Sort the current topic by group score
3363 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3366 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3367 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3368 Sort the current topic by group rank
3369 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3372 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3373 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3374 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3375 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3379 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3382 @node Topic Topology
3383 @subsection Topic Topology
3384 @cindex topic topology
3387 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3393 2: alt.religion.emacs
3396 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3398 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3399 13: comp.sources.unix
3402 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3403 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3404 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3409 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3410 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3414 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3415 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3416 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3417 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3418 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3419 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3421 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3422 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3423 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3426 @node Topic Parameters
3427 @subsection Topic Parameters
3428 @cindex topic parameters
3430 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3431 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3432 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3434 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3439 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3440 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3441 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3446 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3447 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3448 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3449 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3455 2: alt.religion.emacs
3459 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3461 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3462 13: comp.sources.unix
3466 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3467 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3468 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3469 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3470 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3471 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3473 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3474 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3475 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3476 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3477 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3479 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3480 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3481 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3482 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3483 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3484 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3485 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3486 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3489 @node Misc Group Stuff
3490 @section Misc Group Stuff
3493 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3494 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3495 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3496 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3503 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3504 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3505 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3509 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3510 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3511 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3515 @findex gnus-group-mail
3516 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3520 Variables for the group buffer:
3524 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3525 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3526 is called after the group buffer has been
3529 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3530 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3531 is called after the group buffer is
3532 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3535 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3536 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3537 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3538 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3540 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3541 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3542 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3543 whether they are empty or not.
3548 @node Scanning New Messages
3549 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3550 @cindex new messages
3551 @cindex scanning new news
3557 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3558 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3559 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3560 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3561 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3562 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3567 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3568 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3569 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3570 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3571 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3572 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3573 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3575 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3576 @cindex activating groups
3578 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3579 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3584 @findex gnus-group-restart
3585 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3586 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3587 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3591 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3592 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3594 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3595 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3599 @node Group Information
3600 @subsection Group Information
3601 @cindex group information
3602 @cindex information on groups
3609 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3610 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3613 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3614 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3615 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3616 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3617 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3618 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3619 for fetching the file.
3621 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3622 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3626 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3628 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3629 @cindex describing groups
3630 @cindex group description
3631 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3632 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3633 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3637 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3638 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3639 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3646 @findex gnus-version
3647 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3651 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3652 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3655 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3658 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3659 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3663 @node Group Timestamp
3664 @subsection Group Timestamp
3666 @cindex group timestamps
3668 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3669 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3670 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3673 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3676 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3678 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3679 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3682 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3683 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3686 This will result in lines looking like:
3689 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3690 0: custom 19961002T012713
3693 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3694 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3698 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3699 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3704 @subsection File Commands
3705 @cindex file commands
3711 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3712 @vindex gnus-init-file
3713 @cindex reading init file
3714 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3715 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3719 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3720 @cindex saving .newsrc
3721 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3722 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3723 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3726 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3727 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3728 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3733 @node The Summary Buffer
3734 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3735 @cindex summary buffer
3737 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3738 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3740 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3741 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3743 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3746 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3747 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3748 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3749 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3750 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3751 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3752 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3753 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3754 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3755 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3756 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3757 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3758 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3759 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3760 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3761 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3762 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3763 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3764 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3765 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3766 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3767 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3768 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3769 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3770 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3771 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3772 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3773 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3777 @node Summary Buffer Format
3778 @section Summary Buffer Format
3779 @cindex summary buffer format
3783 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3784 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3785 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3791 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3792 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3793 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3794 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3797 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3798 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3799 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3800 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3801 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3802 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3803 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3804 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3805 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3806 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3807 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3810 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3811 'mail-extract-address-components)
3814 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3815 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3816 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3817 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3820 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3821 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3823 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3824 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3825 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3826 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3827 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3829 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3831 The following format specification characters are understood:
3837 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3838 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3840 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3841 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3842 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3844 Full @code{From} header.
3846 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3848 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3849 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3851 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3852 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3853 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3854 may be more thorough.
3856 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3859 Number of lines in the article.
3861 Number of characters in the article.
3863 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3865 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3866 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3868 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3869 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3871 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3872 for adopted articles.
3874 One space for each thread level.
3876 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3881 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3882 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3886 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3888 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3889 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3890 default level. If the difference between
3891 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3892 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3900 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3902 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3908 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3909 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3911 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3912 article has any children.
3918 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3919 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3920 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3921 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3922 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3923 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3926 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3927 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3928 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3929 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3930 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3931 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3933 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3934 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3936 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3939 @node To From Newsgroups
3940 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3944 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3945 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3946 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3947 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3948 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3952 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3953 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3954 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3958 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3959 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3962 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3963 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3966 @findex gnus-extra-header
3967 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3968 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3969 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3972 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3976 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3977 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3978 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3979 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3980 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3981 headers are used instead.
3985 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3986 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3987 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3988 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3991 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3992 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3993 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3994 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3996 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3999 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4001 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4002 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4003 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4004 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4008 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4009 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4016 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4017 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4020 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4021 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4023 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4024 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4025 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4026 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4028 Here are the elements you can play with:
4034 Unprefixed group name.
4036 Current article number.
4038 Current article score.
4042 Number of unread articles in this group.
4044 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4047 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4048 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4049 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4050 and no unselected ones.
4052 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4053 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4055 Subject of the current article.
4057 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4059 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4061 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4063 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4065 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4067 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4071 @node Summary Highlighting
4072 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4076 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4077 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4078 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4079 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4080 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4082 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4083 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4084 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4085 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4087 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4088 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4089 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4090 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4092 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4093 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4094 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4095 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4096 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4097 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4100 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4101 ((> score default) . bold))
4103 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4104 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4108 @node Summary Maneuvering
4109 @section Summary Maneuvering
4110 @cindex summary movement
4112 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4113 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4115 None of these commands select articles.
4120 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4121 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4122 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4123 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4124 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4128 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4129 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4130 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4131 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4132 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4137 @kindex G j (Summary)
4138 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4139 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4140 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4143 @kindex G g (Summary)
4144 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4145 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4146 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4149 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4150 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4151 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4152 to the group buffer.
4154 Variables related to summary movement:
4158 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4159 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4160 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4161 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4162 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4163 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4164 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4165 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4166 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4167 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4168 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4169 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4170 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4171 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4173 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4174 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4175 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4176 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4177 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4178 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4179 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4181 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4183 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4184 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4185 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4186 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4187 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4189 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4190 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4191 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4192 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4193 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4194 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4195 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4196 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4199 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4200 the given number of lines from the top.
4205 @node Choosing Articles
4206 @section Choosing Articles
4207 @cindex selecting articles
4210 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4211 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4215 @node Choosing Commands
4216 @subsection Choosing Commands
4218 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4219 and they all select and display an article.
4223 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4224 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4225 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4226 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4231 @kindex G n (Summary)
4232 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4233 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4234 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4239 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4240 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4241 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4246 @kindex G N (Summary)
4247 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4248 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4253 @kindex G P (Summary)
4254 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4255 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4258 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4259 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4260 Go to the next article with the same subject
4261 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4264 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4265 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4266 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4267 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4271 @kindex G f (Summary)
4273 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4274 Go to the first unread article
4275 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4279 @kindex G b (Summary)
4281 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4282 Go to the article with the highest score
4283 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4288 @kindex G l (Summary)
4289 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4290 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4293 @kindex G o (Summary)
4294 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4296 @cindex article history
4297 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4298 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4299 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4300 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4301 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4302 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4306 @node Choosing Variables
4307 @subsection Choosing Variables
4309 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4312 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4313 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4314 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4315 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4316 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4317 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4319 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4320 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4321 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4322 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4324 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4325 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4326 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4327 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4328 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4329 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4330 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4331 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4332 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4333 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4334 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4335 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4336 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4337 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4342 @node Paging the Article
4343 @section Scrolling the Article
4344 @cindex article scrolling
4349 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4350 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4351 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4352 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4353 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4356 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4357 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4358 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4361 @kindex RET (Summary)
4362 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4363 Scroll the current article one line forward
4364 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4367 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4368 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4369 Scroll the current article one line backward
4370 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4374 @kindex A g (Summary)
4376 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4377 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4378 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4379 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4380 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4381 the way it came from the server.
4383 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4384 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4385 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4388 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4393 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4398 @kindex A < (Summary)
4399 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4400 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4401 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4406 @kindex A > (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4408 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4412 @kindex A s (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4415 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4416 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4420 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4421 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4426 @node Reply Followup and Post
4427 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4430 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4431 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4432 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4433 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4437 @node Summary Mail Commands
4438 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4440 @cindex composing mail
4442 Commands for composing a mail message:
4448 @kindex S r (Summary)
4450 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4451 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4453 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4454 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4459 @kindex S R (Summary)
4460 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4461 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4462 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4463 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4464 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4467 @kindex S w (Summary)
4468 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4469 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4470 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4471 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4472 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4475 @kindex S W (Summary)
4476 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4477 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4478 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4479 the process/prefix convention.
4482 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4484 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4485 Forward the current article to some other person
4486 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4487 headers of the forwarded article.
4492 @kindex S m (Summary)
4493 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4494 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4495 Send a mail to some other person
4496 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4499 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4500 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4501 @cindex bouncing mail
4502 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4503 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4504 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4505 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4506 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4507 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4508 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4509 very well fail, though.
4512 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4513 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4514 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4515 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4516 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4517 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4518 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4519 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4520 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4521 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4523 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4524 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4525 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4526 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4527 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4529 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4530 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4533 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4534 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4535 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4536 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4537 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4540 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4541 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4542 @cindex crossposting
4543 @cindex excessive crossposting
4544 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4545 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4547 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4548 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4549 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4550 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4551 command understands the process/prefix convention
4552 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4556 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4559 @node Summary Post Commands
4560 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4562 @cindex composing news
4564 Commands for posting a news article:
4570 @kindex S p (Summary)
4571 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4572 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4573 Post an article to the current group
4574 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4579 @kindex S f (Summary)
4580 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4581 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4582 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4586 @kindex S F (Summary)
4588 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4589 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4590 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4591 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4592 process/prefix convention.
4595 @kindex S n (Summary)
4596 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4597 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4598 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4601 @kindex S N (Summary)
4602 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4603 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4604 message through mail and include the original message
4605 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4606 the process/prefix convention.
4609 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4610 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4611 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4612 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4613 headers of the forwarded article.
4616 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4617 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4619 @cindex making digests
4620 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4621 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4622 process/prefix convention.
4625 @kindex S u (Summary)
4626 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4627 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4628 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4629 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4632 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4635 @node Summary Message Commands
4636 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4640 @kindex S y (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4642 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4643 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4644 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4645 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4650 @node Canceling and Superseding
4651 @subsection Canceling Articles
4652 @cindex canceling articles
4653 @cindex superseding articles
4655 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4656 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4658 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4660 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4662 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4663 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4664 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4665 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4666 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4667 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4669 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4670 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4673 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4674 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4675 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4677 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4678 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4679 your original article.
4681 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4683 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4684 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4685 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4688 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4689 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4690 have posted almost the same article twice.
4692 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4693 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4694 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4695 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4696 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4697 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4698 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4699 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4700 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4701 canceled/superseded.
4703 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4706 @node Marking Articles
4707 @section Marking Articles
4708 @cindex article marking
4709 @cindex article ticking
4712 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4714 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4715 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4716 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4718 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4721 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4722 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4723 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4727 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4731 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4732 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4733 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4737 @node Unread Articles
4738 @subsection Unread Articles
4740 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4745 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4746 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4748 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4749 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4750 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4751 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4752 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4756 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4757 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4759 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4760 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4761 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4764 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4765 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4767 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4772 @subsection Read Articles
4773 @cindex expirable mark
4775 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4780 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4781 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4782 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4785 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4786 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4789 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4790 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4791 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4794 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4795 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4798 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4799 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4802 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4803 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4806 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4807 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4810 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4811 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4814 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4815 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4818 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4819 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4823 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4824 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4825 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4829 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4830 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4832 One more special mark, though:
4836 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4837 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4839 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4840 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4841 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4842 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4848 @subsection Other Marks
4849 @cindex process mark
4852 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4858 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4859 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4860 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4861 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4862 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4865 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4866 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4867 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4868 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4871 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4872 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4873 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4876 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4877 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4878 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4879 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4882 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4883 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4884 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4885 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4886 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4889 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4890 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4891 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4892 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4893 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4894 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4898 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4899 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4900 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4902 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4903 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4904 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4908 @subsection Setting Marks
4909 @cindex setting marks
4911 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4916 @kindex M c (Summary)
4917 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4919 @cindex mark as unread
4920 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4921 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4927 @kindex M t (Summary)
4928 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4929 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4930 @xref{Article Caching}.
4935 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4937 Mark the current article as dormant
4938 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4942 @kindex M d (Summary)
4944 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4945 Mark the current article as read
4946 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4950 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4951 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4952 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4957 @kindex M k (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4959 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4960 and then select the next unread article
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4965 @kindex M K (Summary)
4966 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4967 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4968 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4969 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4972 @kindex M C (Summary)
4973 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4974 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4975 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4978 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4979 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4980 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4981 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4984 @kindex M H (Summary)
4985 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4986 Catchup the current group to point
4987 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4990 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4991 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4992 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4993 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4996 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4997 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4998 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4999 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5003 @kindex M e (Summary)
5005 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5006 Mark the current article as expirable
5007 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5010 @kindex M b (Summary)
5011 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5012 Set a bookmark in the current article
5013 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5016 @kindex M B (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5018 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5019 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5022 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5024 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5025 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5028 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5029 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5030 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5031 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5034 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5036 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5037 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5038 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5041 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5042 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5043 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5044 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5045 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5046 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5047 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5048 The default is @code{t}.
5051 @node Generic Marking Commands
5052 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5054 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5055 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5056 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5057 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5058 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5061 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5062 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5065 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5066 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5067 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5068 to list in this manual.
5070 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5071 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5072 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5073 article, you could say something like:
5076 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5077 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5078 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5084 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5085 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5089 @node Setting Process Marks
5090 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5091 @cindex setting process marks
5098 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5099 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5100 Mark the current article with the process mark
5101 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5102 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5106 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5107 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5108 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5109 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5112 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5113 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5114 Remove the process mark from all articles
5115 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5118 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5119 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5120 Invert the list of process marked articles
5121 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5124 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5125 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5126 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5127 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5130 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5131 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5132 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5133 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5136 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5137 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5138 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5141 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5142 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5143 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5144 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5147 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5148 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5149 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5150 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5153 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5155 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5156 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5159 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5160 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5161 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5164 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5166 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5167 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5170 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5171 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5172 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5175 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5177 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5178 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5181 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5182 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5183 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5184 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5187 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5189 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5190 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5193 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5195 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5196 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5205 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5206 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5207 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5210 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5211 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5212 additional articles.
5218 @kindex / / (Summary)
5219 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5220 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5221 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5224 @kindex / a (Summary)
5225 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5226 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5227 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5230 @kindex / x (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5232 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5233 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5234 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5238 @kindex / u (Summary)
5240 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5241 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5242 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5243 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5244 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5247 @kindex / m (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5249 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5250 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5253 @kindex / t (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5255 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5256 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
5257 articles younger than that number of days.
5260 @kindex / n (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5262 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5263 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5264 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5267 @kindex / w (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5269 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5270 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5274 @kindex / v (Summary)
5275 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5276 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5277 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5281 @kindex M S (Summary)
5282 @kindex / E (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5284 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5285 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5288 @kindex / D (Summary)
5289 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5290 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5291 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5294 @kindex / * (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5296 Include all cached articles in the limit
5297 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5300 @kindex / d (Summary)
5301 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5302 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5303 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5306 @kindex / M (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5308 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5311 @kindex / T (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5313 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5316 @kindex / c (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5318 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5319 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5322 @kindex / C (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5324 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5325 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5326 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5334 @cindex article threading
5336 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5337 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5338 hierarchical fashion.
5340 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5341 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5342 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5343 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5344 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5345 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5346 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5348 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5352 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5355 A tree-like article structure.
5358 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5361 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5362 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5363 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5364 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5365 called loose threads.
5367 @item thread gathering
5368 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5370 @item sparse threads
5371 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5372 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5378 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5379 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5383 @node Customizing Threading
5384 @subsection Customizing Threading
5385 @cindex customizing threading
5388 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5389 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5390 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5391 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5396 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5399 @cindex loose threads
5402 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5403 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5404 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5405 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5406 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5407 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5409 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5410 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5411 There are four possible values:
5415 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5416 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5417 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5418 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5419 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5424 @cindex adopting articles
5429 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5430 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5431 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5432 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5435 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5436 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5437 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5438 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5439 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5440 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5441 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5444 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5445 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5446 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5450 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5451 display them after one another.
5454 Don't gather loose threads.
5457 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5458 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5459 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5460 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5461 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5462 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5463 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5464 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5465 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5466 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5467 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5469 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5470 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5471 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5474 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5475 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5476 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5477 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5478 simplification is used.
5480 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5481 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5482 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5483 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5485 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5487 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5493 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5494 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5495 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5496 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5501 (mapconcat 'identity
5502 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5504 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5507 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5510 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5511 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5512 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5513 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5514 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5515 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5517 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5520 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5521 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5522 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5524 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5525 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5528 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5529 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5530 Remove excessive whitespace.
5533 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5536 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5537 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5538 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5539 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5540 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5541 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5542 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5543 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5545 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5546 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5547 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5548 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5549 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5550 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5551 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5552 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5553 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5557 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5558 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5559 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5560 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5562 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5563 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5564 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5567 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5571 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5572 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5578 @node Filling In Threads
5579 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5582 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5583 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5584 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5585 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5586 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5587 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5588 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5589 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5590 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5591 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5592 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5593 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5595 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5596 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5597 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5599 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5600 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5601 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5602 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5603 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5604 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5605 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5606 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5607 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5608 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5609 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5610 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5611 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5612 @code{nil} by default.
5617 @node More Threading
5618 @subsubsection More Threading
5621 @item gnus-show-threads
5622 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5623 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5624 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5625 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5626 slower and more awkward.
5628 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5629 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5630 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5633 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5634 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5635 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5636 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5637 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5638 threads are expunged.
5640 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5641 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5642 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5645 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5646 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5647 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5648 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5649 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5652 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5653 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5654 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5657 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5658 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5659 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5660 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5661 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5662 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5663 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5664 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5665 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5666 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5667 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5672 @node Low-Level Threading
5673 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5677 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5678 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5679 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5681 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5682 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5683 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5684 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5685 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5686 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5687 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5688 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5689 meaningful. Here's one example:
5692 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5694 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5695 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5697 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5699 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5706 @node Thread Commands
5707 @subsection Thread Commands
5708 @cindex thread commands
5714 @kindex T k (Summary)
5715 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5716 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5717 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5718 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5719 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5724 @kindex T l (Summary)
5725 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5726 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5727 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5728 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5731 @kindex T i (Summary)
5732 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5733 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5734 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5737 @kindex T # (Summary)
5738 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5739 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5740 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5743 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5745 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5746 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5749 @kindex T T (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5751 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5754 @kindex T s (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5756 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5757 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5760 @kindex T h (Summary)
5761 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5762 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5765 @kindex T S (Summary)
5766 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5767 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5770 @kindex T H (Summary)
5771 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5772 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5775 @kindex T t (Summary)
5776 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5777 Re-thread the current article's thread
5778 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5779 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5782 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5784 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5785 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5789 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5790 understand the numeric prefix.
5795 @kindex T n (Summary)
5796 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5797 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5800 @kindex T p (Summary)
5801 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5802 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5805 @kindex T d (Summary)
5806 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5807 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5810 @kindex T u (Summary)
5811 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5812 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5815 @kindex T o (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5817 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5820 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5821 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5822 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5823 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5824 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5825 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5826 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5827 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5828 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5829 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5830 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5831 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5838 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5839 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5840 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5841 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5842 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5843 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5844 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5845 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5846 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5847 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5848 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5850 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5851 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5852 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5853 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5854 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5856 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5857 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5858 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5860 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5861 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5862 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5863 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5864 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5865 ascending article order.
5867 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5868 by number, you could do something like:
5871 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5872 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5873 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5874 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5877 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5878 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5879 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5880 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5881 which the articles arrived.
5883 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5887 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5889 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5890 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5893 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5894 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5895 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5896 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5899 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5900 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5901 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5902 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5903 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5904 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5905 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5906 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5907 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5908 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5909 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5910 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5911 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5913 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5917 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5918 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5919 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5924 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5925 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5926 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5927 @cindex article pre-fetch
5930 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5931 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5932 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5933 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5934 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5936 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5937 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5939 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5940 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5941 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5942 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5943 connection is blocked.
5945 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5946 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5947 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5948 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5950 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5951 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5952 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5953 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5956 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5959 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5960 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5961 happen automatically.
5963 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5964 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5965 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5966 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5967 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5968 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5969 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5971 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5972 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5973 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5974 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5975 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5976 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5977 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5978 data structure as the only parameter.
5980 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5983 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5984 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5985 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5986 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5989 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5992 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5993 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5994 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5996 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5997 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5998 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5999 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6003 Remove articles when they are read.
6006 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6009 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6011 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6012 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6013 @c from the next group.
6016 @node Article Caching
6017 @section Article Caching
6018 @cindex article caching
6021 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6022 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6023 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6024 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6025 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6027 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6029 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6030 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6031 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6032 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6033 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6034 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6035 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6036 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6038 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6039 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6040 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6041 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6042 as dormant, and don't worry.
6044 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6046 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6047 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6048 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6049 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6050 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6051 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6052 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6053 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6054 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6055 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6057 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6058 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6059 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6060 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6061 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6062 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6063 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6064 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6065 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6066 not then be downloaded by this command.
6068 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6069 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6070 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6071 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6072 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6073 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6075 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6076 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6077 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6078 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6079 variables, the group is not cached.
6081 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6082 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6083 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6084 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6085 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6086 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6087 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6088 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6089 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6093 @node Persistent Articles
6094 @section Persistent Articles
6095 @cindex persistent articles
6097 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6098 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6099 useful in my opinion.
6101 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6102 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6103 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6104 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6105 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6106 the expiry going on at the news server.
6108 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6109 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6110 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6116 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6117 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6120 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6122 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6123 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6127 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6129 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6130 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6131 interested in persistent articles:
6134 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6138 @node Article Backlog
6139 @section Article Backlog
6141 @cindex article backlog
6143 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6144 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6145 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6146 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6147 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6148 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6149 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6150 increase memory usage some.
6152 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6153 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6154 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6155 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6156 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6157 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6158 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6160 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6163 @node Saving Articles
6164 @section Saving Articles
6165 @cindex saving articles
6167 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6168 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6169 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6170 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6171 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6173 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6174 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6175 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6177 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6178 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6179 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6180 deleted before saving.
6186 @kindex O o (Summary)
6188 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6189 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6190 Save the current article using the default article saver
6191 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6194 @kindex O m (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6196 Save the current article in mail format
6197 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6200 @kindex O r (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6202 Save the current article in rmail format
6203 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6206 @kindex O f (Summary)
6207 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6208 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6209 Save the current article in plain file format
6210 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6213 @kindex O F (Summary)
6214 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6215 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6216 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6219 @kindex O b (Summary)
6220 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6221 Save the current article body in plain file format
6222 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6225 @kindex O h (Summary)
6226 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6227 Save the current article in mh folder format
6228 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6231 @kindex O v (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6233 Save the current article in a VM folder
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6237 @kindex O p (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6239 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6240 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6243 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6244 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6245 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6246 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6247 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6248 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6249 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6250 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6251 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6252 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6253 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6254 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6258 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6259 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6260 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6261 functions below, or you can create your own.
6265 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6266 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6267 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6268 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6269 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6270 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6271 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6273 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6274 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6275 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6276 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6277 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6278 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6280 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6281 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6282 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6283 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6284 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6285 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6286 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6288 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6289 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6290 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6291 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6292 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6294 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6295 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6296 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6297 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6298 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6301 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6302 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6303 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6304 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6305 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6307 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6308 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6309 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6310 reader to use this setting.
6313 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6314 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6315 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6316 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6319 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6320 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6321 available functions that generate names:
6325 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6326 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6327 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6329 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6330 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6331 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6333 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6334 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6335 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6337 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6338 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6339 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6342 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6343 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6344 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6345 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6346 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6350 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6351 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6352 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6353 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6356 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6357 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6358 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6359 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6360 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6361 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6362 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6363 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6364 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6366 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6367 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6368 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6369 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6371 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6372 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6373 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6376 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6377 lots of mail groups called things like
6378 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6379 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6380 following will do just that:
6383 (defun my-save-name (group)
6384 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6385 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6387 (setq gnus-split-methods
6388 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6393 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6394 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6395 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6396 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6397 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6398 all the files in the top level directory
6399 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6400 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6401 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6402 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6404 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6405 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6406 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6407 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6408 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6411 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6415 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6416 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6419 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6420 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6421 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6422 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6425 @node Decoding Articles
6426 @section Decoding Articles
6427 @cindex decoding articles
6429 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6430 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6433 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6434 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6435 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6436 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6437 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6438 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6442 @cindex article series
6443 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6444 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6445 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6446 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6447 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6449 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6450 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6451 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6453 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6454 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6455 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6457 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6458 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6459 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6462 @node Uuencoded Articles
6463 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6465 @cindex uuencoded articles
6470 @kindex X u (Summary)
6471 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6472 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6473 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6476 @kindex X U (Summary)
6477 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6478 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6479 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6482 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6483 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6484 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6487 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6488 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6489 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6490 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6494 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6495 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6496 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6497 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6498 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6500 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6501 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6502 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6503 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6506 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6507 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6508 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6509 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6510 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6511 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6515 @node Shell Archives
6516 @subsection Shell Archives
6518 @cindex shell archives
6519 @cindex shared articles
6521 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6522 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6523 some commands to deal with these:
6528 @kindex X s (Summary)
6529 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6530 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6533 @kindex X S (Summary)
6534 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6535 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6538 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6539 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6540 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6543 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6545 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6546 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6550 @node PostScript Files
6551 @subsection PostScript Files
6557 @kindex X p (Summary)
6558 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6559 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6562 @kindex X P (Summary)
6563 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6564 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6565 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6568 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6569 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6570 View the current PostScript series
6571 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6574 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6575 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6576 View and save the current PostScript series
6577 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6582 @subsection Other Files
6586 @kindex X o (Summary)
6587 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6588 Save the current series
6589 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6592 @kindex X b (Summary)
6593 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6594 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6595 doesn't really work yet.
6599 @node Decoding Variables
6600 @subsection Decoding Variables
6602 Adjective, not verb.
6605 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6606 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6607 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6611 @node Rule Variables
6612 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6613 @cindex rule variables
6615 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6616 variables are of the form
6619 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6626 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6627 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6629 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6630 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6633 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6634 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6637 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6638 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6639 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6640 user and default view rules.
6642 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6643 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6644 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6649 @node Other Decode Variables
6650 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6653 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6655 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6656 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6657 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6658 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6659 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6663 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6664 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6667 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6668 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6669 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6672 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6673 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6674 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6675 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6676 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6679 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6680 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6681 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6683 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6684 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6685 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6686 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6687 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6690 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6691 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6692 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6694 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6695 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6696 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6697 looking for files to display.
6699 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6700 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6701 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6704 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6705 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6706 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6709 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6710 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6711 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6714 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6715 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6716 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6719 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6720 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6721 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6722 decoded articles as unread.
6724 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6725 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6726 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6727 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6729 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6730 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6731 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6733 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6734 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6736 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6737 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6738 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6739 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6741 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6742 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6743 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6744 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6745 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6746 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6747 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6748 simply dropped them.
6753 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6754 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6758 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6759 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6760 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6761 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6762 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6763 for you when you post the article.
6765 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6766 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6767 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6768 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6770 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6771 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6772 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6773 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6774 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6775 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6776 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6778 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6779 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6780 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6781 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6782 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6783 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6784 Default is @code{t}.
6790 @subsection Viewing Files
6791 @cindex viewing files
6792 @cindex pseudo-articles
6794 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6795 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6796 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6797 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6798 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6799 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6800 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6802 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6803 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6804 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6805 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6807 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6808 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6809 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6811 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6812 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6813 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6814 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6815 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6817 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6818 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6819 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6820 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6821 a list of parameters to that command.
6823 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6824 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6825 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6827 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6828 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6829 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6832 @node Article Treatment
6833 @section Article Treatment
6835 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6836 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6837 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6838 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6839 these articles easier.
6842 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6843 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6844 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6845 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6846 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6847 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6848 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6849 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6853 @node Article Highlighting
6854 @subsection Article Highlighting
6855 @cindex highlighting
6857 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6858 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6863 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6864 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6865 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6866 Do much highlighting of the current article
6867 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6868 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6871 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6872 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6873 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6874 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6875 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6876 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6877 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6878 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6879 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6880 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6881 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6882 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6885 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6886 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6887 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6889 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6892 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6894 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6895 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6896 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6898 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6899 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6900 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6902 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6903 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6904 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6906 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6907 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6908 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6909 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6910 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6911 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6913 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6914 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6915 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6917 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6918 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6919 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6921 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6922 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6923 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6924 that it's a citation.
6926 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6927 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6928 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6930 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6931 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6932 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6934 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6935 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6936 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6937 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6943 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6944 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6945 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6946 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6947 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6948 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6949 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6950 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6955 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6958 @node Article Fontisizing
6959 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6961 @cindex article emphasis
6963 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6964 @kindex W e (Summary)
6965 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6966 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6967 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6968 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6970 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6971 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6972 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6973 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6974 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6975 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6976 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6977 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6981 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6982 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6983 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6992 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6993 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6994 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6995 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6996 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6997 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6998 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6999 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7000 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7001 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7002 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7003 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7004 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7006 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7007 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7008 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7012 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7015 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7017 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7018 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7019 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7020 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7022 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7025 @node Article Hiding
7026 @subsection Article Hiding
7027 @cindex article hiding
7029 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7030 too much cruft in most articles.
7035 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7036 @findex gnus-article-hide
7037 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7038 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7039 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7042 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7043 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7044 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7048 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7049 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7050 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7051 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7054 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7055 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7056 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7060 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7061 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7062 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7063 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7064 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
7065 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
7069 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7070 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7071 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7072 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7077 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7078 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7079 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7080 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7081 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7082 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7083 articles that have signatures in them do:
7085 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7087 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7089 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7090 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7092 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7095 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7100 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7101 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7102 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7103 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7106 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7107 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7110 @cindex stripping advertisments
7111 @cindex advertisments
7112 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7113 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7114 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7115 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7116 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7117 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7118 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7119 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7120 signature should be removed.
7123 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7124 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7125 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7126 customizing the hiding:
7130 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7131 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7132 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7133 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7134 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7135 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7136 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7141 Starting point of the hidden text.
7143 Ending point of the hidden text.
7145 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7147 Number of lines of hidden text.
7150 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7151 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7152 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7153 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7154 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7159 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7160 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7162 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7163 following two variables:
7166 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7167 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7168 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7169 50), hide the cited text.
7171 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7172 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7173 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7178 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7180 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7181 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7182 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7183 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7187 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7188 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7189 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7191 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7192 citation customization.
7194 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7198 @node Article Washing
7199 @subsection Article Washing
7201 @cindex article washing
7203 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7204 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7206 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7207 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7213 @kindex W l (Summary)
7214 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7215 Remove page breaks from the current article
7216 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7220 @kindex W r (Summary)
7221 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7222 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7223 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7224 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7225 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7226 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7228 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7229 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7230 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7231 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7234 @kindex W t (Summary)
7235 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7236 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7237 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7240 @kindex W v (Summary)
7241 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7242 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7243 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7246 @kindex W o (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7248 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7251 @kindex W d (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7253 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7255 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7257 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7258 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7259 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7260 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7264 @kindex W w (Summary)
7265 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7266 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7268 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7272 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7274 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7277 @kindex W C (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7279 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7280 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7283 @kindex W c (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7285 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7286 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7287 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7288 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7291 @kindex W q (Summary)
7292 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7293 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7294 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7295 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7296 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7297 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7298 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7299 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7302 @kindex W f (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7305 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7306 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7307 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7313 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7314 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7315 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7316 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7317 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7318 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7319 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7320 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
7321 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
7322 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7323 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7324 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7325 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
7326 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7330 @kindex W b (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7332 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7333 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7336 @kindex W B (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7338 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7339 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7342 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7344 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7345 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7348 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7350 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7351 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7354 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7355 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7356 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7357 lines with a single empty line.
7358 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7361 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7362 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7363 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7364 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7367 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7369 Do all the three commands above
7370 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7373 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7375 Remove all blank lines
7376 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7379 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7380 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7381 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7382 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7385 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7386 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7387 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7388 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7392 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7395 @node Article Buttons
7396 @subsection Article Buttons
7399 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7400 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7401 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7402 button on these references.
7404 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7405 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7406 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7411 @item gnus-button-alist
7412 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7413 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7416 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7422 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7423 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7424 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7427 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7428 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7429 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7432 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7433 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7434 avoid false matches.
7437 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7440 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7441 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7445 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7448 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7451 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7452 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7453 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7454 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7455 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7458 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7461 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7463 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7464 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7465 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7466 default values of the variables above.
7468 @item gnus-article-button-face
7469 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7470 Face used on buttons.
7472 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7473 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7474 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7478 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7482 @subsection Article Date
7484 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7485 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7486 when the article was sent.
7491 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7492 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7493 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7494 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7497 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7498 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7500 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7501 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7504 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7505 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7506 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7509 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7510 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7511 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7512 @findex format-time-string
7513 Display the date using a user-defined format
7514 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7515 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7516 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7517 for a list of possible format specs.
7520 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7521 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7522 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7523 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7524 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7525 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7528 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7531 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7532 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7535 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7536 into wonderful absurdities.
7538 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7541 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7544 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7545 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7549 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7550 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7551 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7552 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7553 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7554 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7555 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7559 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7560 preferred format automatically.
7563 @node Article Signature
7564 @subsection Article Signature
7566 @cindex article signature
7568 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7569 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7570 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7571 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7572 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7573 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7574 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7575 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7576 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7579 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7580 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7581 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7582 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7583 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7584 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7585 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7586 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7589 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7592 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7593 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7594 signature when displaying articles.
7598 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7601 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7604 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7605 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7607 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7608 in question is not a signature.
7611 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7612 listed above. Here's an example:
7615 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7616 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7619 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7620 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7621 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7622 signature after all.
7625 @node Article Miscellania
7626 @subsection Article Miscellania
7630 @kindex A t (Summary)
7631 @findex gnus-article-babel
7632 Translate the article from one language to another
7633 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7639 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7640 @cindex MIME decoding
7642 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7643 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7649 @kindex K v (Summary)
7650 View the @sc{mime} part.
7653 @kindex K o (Summary)
7654 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7657 @kindex K c (Summary)
7658 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7661 @kindex K e (Summary)
7662 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7665 @kindex K i (Summary)
7666 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7669 @kindex K | (Summary)
7670 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7673 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7678 @kindex K b (Summary)
7679 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
7682 @kindex K m (Summary)
7683 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7684 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7685 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7686 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7687 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7690 @kindex X m (Summary)
7691 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7692 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7693 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7694 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7697 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7698 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7699 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7700 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7703 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7704 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7705 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7708 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7709 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7710 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7712 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7713 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7714 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7715 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7716 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7717 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7720 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7721 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7722 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7729 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7730 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7731 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7732 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7735 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7738 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7742 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7743 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7744 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7745 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7746 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7748 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7749 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7750 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7751 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7752 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7753 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7754 save all jpegs into some directory).
7756 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7759 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7760 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7762 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7763 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7764 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7765 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7766 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7769 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7770 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7771 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7780 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7781 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7782 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7783 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7784 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7785 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7786 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7788 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7789 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7790 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7791 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7793 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7794 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7795 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7796 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7797 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7798 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7799 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7800 something some agents insist on having in there.
7802 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7803 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7804 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7805 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7806 quoted-printable header encoding.
7808 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7809 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @var{(test header
7815 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7818 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7819 means encode all charsets),
7821 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7822 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7823 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7830 @cindex coding system aliases
7831 @cindex preferred charset
7833 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7835 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7836 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7839 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7840 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7843 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7844 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7846 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7849 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7852 This will almost do the right thing.
7854 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7858 (codepage-setup 1251)
7859 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7863 @node Article Commands
7864 @section Article Commands
7871 @kindex A P (Summary)
7872 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7873 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7874 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7875 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7876 run just before printing the buffer.
7881 @node Summary Sorting
7882 @section Summary Sorting
7883 @cindex summary sorting
7885 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7886 can't really see why you'd want that.
7891 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7892 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7893 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7896 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7897 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7898 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7901 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7902 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7903 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7906 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7907 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7908 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7911 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7912 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7913 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7916 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7917 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7918 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7921 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7922 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7923 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7926 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7927 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7928 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7929 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7930 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7934 @node Finding the Parent
7935 @section Finding the Parent
7936 @cindex parent articles
7937 @cindex referring articles
7942 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7943 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7944 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7945 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7946 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7947 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7948 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7949 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7950 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7952 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7953 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7954 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7955 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7956 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7960 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7961 @kindex A R (Summary)
7962 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7963 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7966 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7967 @kindex A T (Summary)
7968 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7969 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7970 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7971 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7972 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7973 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7974 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7976 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7977 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7978 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7979 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7980 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7981 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7984 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7985 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7987 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7988 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7989 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7990 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7991 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7992 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7993 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7996 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7997 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7998 by giving this command a prefix.
8000 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8001 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8002 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8003 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8004 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8005 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8008 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8009 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8010 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8013 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8014 then ask Deja if that fails:
8017 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8019 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8022 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8023 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8024 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8025 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8026 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8027 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8030 @node Alternative Approaches
8031 @section Alternative Approaches
8033 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8034 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8037 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8038 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8043 @subsection Pick and Read
8044 @cindex pick and read
8046 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8047 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8048 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8049 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8051 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8052 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8053 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8054 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8055 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8056 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8058 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8063 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8064 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8065 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8066 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8067 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8068 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8069 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8070 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8073 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8074 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8075 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8076 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8080 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8081 Unpick the thread or article
8082 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8083 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8084 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8085 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8086 the thread or article at that line.
8090 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8091 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8092 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8093 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8094 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8095 will still be visible when you are reading.
8099 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8100 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8101 which is mapped to the same function
8102 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8104 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8107 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8110 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8111 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8113 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8114 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8115 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8117 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8118 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8119 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8120 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8121 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8122 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8123 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8127 @subsection Binary Groups
8128 @cindex binary groups
8130 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8131 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8132 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8133 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8134 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8135 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8136 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8139 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8140 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8141 command, when you have turned on this mode
8142 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8144 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8145 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8149 @section Tree Display
8152 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8153 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8154 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8155 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8158 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8161 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8162 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8163 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8165 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8166 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8167 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8168 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8169 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8171 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8172 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8173 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8174 default is @code{modeline}.
8176 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8177 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8178 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8179 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8180 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8181 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8182 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8188 The name of the poster.
8190 The @code{From} header.
8192 The number of the article.
8194 The opening bracket.
8196 The closing bracket.
8201 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8203 Variables related to the display are:
8206 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8207 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8208 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8209 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8210 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8211 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8213 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8214 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8215 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8216 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8220 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8221 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8222 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8223 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8224 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8225 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8226 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8227 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8228 other windows displayed next to it.
8230 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8231 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8232 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8233 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8234 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8235 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8236 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8240 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8243 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8253 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8257 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8258 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8260 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8262 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8267 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8268 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8269 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8272 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8273 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8274 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8275 (gnus-add-configuration
8279 (summary 0.75 point)
8284 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8287 @node Mail Group Commands
8288 @section Mail Group Commands
8289 @cindex mail group commands
8291 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8292 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8294 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8295 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8300 @kindex B e (Summary)
8301 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8302 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8303 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8306 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8307 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8308 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8309 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8310 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8311 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8314 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8315 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8316 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8317 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8318 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8319 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8322 @kindex B m (Summary)
8324 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8325 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8326 Move the article from one mail group to another
8327 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8328 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8331 @kindex B c (Summary)
8333 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8334 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8335 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8336 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8337 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8340 @kindex B B (Summary)
8341 @cindex crosspost mail
8342 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8343 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8344 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8345 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8346 be properly updated.
8349 @kindex B i (Summary)
8350 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8351 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8352 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8353 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8356 @kindex B r (Summary)
8357 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8358 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8359 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8360 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8361 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8362 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8363 (which is the default).
8367 @kindex B w (Summary)
8369 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8370 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8371 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8372 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8373 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8374 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8377 @kindex B q (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8379 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8380 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8381 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8384 @kindex B t (Summary)
8385 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8386 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8387 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8390 @kindex B p (Summary)
8391 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8392 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8393 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8394 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8395 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8396 article from your news server (or rather, from
8397 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8398 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8399 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8400 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8401 just not have arrived yet.
8405 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8406 @cindex moving articles
8407 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8408 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8409 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8410 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8411 suggestions you find reasonable.
8414 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8415 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8416 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8417 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8421 @node Various Summary Stuff
8422 @section Various Summary Stuff
8425 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8426 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8427 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8428 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8432 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8433 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8434 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8436 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8437 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8438 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8439 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8440 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8441 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8444 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8445 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8446 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8447 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8448 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8450 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8451 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8452 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8455 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8456 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8457 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8458 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8459 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8460 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8461 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8462 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8463 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8464 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8469 @node Summary Group Information
8470 @subsection Summary Group Information
8475 @kindex H f (Summary)
8476 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8477 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8478 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8479 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8480 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8481 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8482 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8483 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8484 be used for fetching the file.
8487 @kindex H d (Summary)
8488 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8489 Give a brief description of the current group
8490 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8491 rereading the description from the server.
8494 @kindex H h (Summary)
8495 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8496 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8497 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8500 @kindex H i (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8502 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8506 @node Searching for Articles
8507 @subsection Searching for Articles
8512 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8514 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8515 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8518 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8520 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8521 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8525 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8526 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8527 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8528 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8532 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8533 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8534 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8535 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8538 @node Summary Generation Commands
8539 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8544 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8545 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8546 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8549 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8550 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8551 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8552 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8557 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8558 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8564 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8565 @kindex A D (Summary)
8566 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8567 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8568 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8569 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8570 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8571 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8572 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8573 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8577 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8578 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8579 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8580 several documents into one biiig group
8581 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8582 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8583 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8584 command understands the process/prefix convention
8585 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8588 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8589 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8590 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8591 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8592 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8593 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8597 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8598 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8599 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8602 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8603 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8604 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8605 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8608 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8610 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8611 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8616 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8617 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8618 @cindex summary exit
8619 @cindex exiting groups
8621 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8622 group and return you to the group buffer.
8628 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8630 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8631 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8632 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8633 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8634 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8635 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8636 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8637 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8638 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8639 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8640 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8644 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8646 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8647 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8648 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8652 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8654 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8655 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8656 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8657 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8660 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8661 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8662 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8663 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8666 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8667 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8668 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8669 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8672 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8673 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8674 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8675 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8676 all articles, both read and unread.
8680 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8681 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8683 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8684 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8685 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8686 articles, both read and unread.
8689 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8691 Exit the group and go to the next group
8692 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8695 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8696 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8697 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8698 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8701 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8702 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8703 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8704 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8705 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8706 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8709 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8710 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8711 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8712 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8714 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8715 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8716 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8717 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8718 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8719 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8720 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8721 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8722 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8723 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8724 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8725 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8727 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8729 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8730 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8731 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8732 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8733 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8734 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8735 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8736 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8737 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8740 @node Crosspost Handling
8741 @section Crosspost Handling
8745 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8746 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8747 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8748 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8749 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8750 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8753 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8754 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8755 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8756 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8757 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8759 @cindex cross-posting
8762 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8763 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8764 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8765 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8766 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8767 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8768 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8769 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8770 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8771 the cross reference mechanism.
8773 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8774 @cindex overview.fmt
8775 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8776 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8777 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8778 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8779 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8780 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8783 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8784 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8785 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8790 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8793 @node Duplicate Suppression
8794 @section Duplicate Suppression
8796 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8797 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8798 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8799 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8804 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8805 is evil and not very common.
8808 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8809 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8812 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8813 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8816 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8819 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8820 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8822 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8823 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8824 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8825 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8826 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8827 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8828 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8831 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8832 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8833 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8834 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8835 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8839 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8840 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8841 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8843 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8844 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8845 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8846 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8847 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8848 session are suppressed.
8850 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8851 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8852 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8853 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8855 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8856 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8857 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8858 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8861 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8862 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8863 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8864 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8865 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8866 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8867 to you to figure out, I think.
8870 @node The Article Buffer
8871 @chapter The Article Buffer
8872 @cindex article buffer
8874 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8875 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8876 tell Gnus otherwise.
8879 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8880 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8881 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8882 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8883 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8887 @node Hiding Headers
8888 @section Hiding Headers
8889 @cindex hiding headers
8890 @cindex deleting headers
8892 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8893 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8895 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8896 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8897 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8898 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8899 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8900 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8901 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8902 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8903 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8905 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8909 @item gnus-visible-headers
8910 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8911 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8912 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8913 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8915 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8916 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8919 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8922 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8925 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8926 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8927 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8928 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8929 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8930 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8932 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8933 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8936 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8939 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8942 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8943 variable will have no effect.
8947 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8948 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8949 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8950 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8951 the headers are to be displayed.
8953 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8954 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8957 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8960 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8961 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8963 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8964 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8965 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8966 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8967 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8968 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8969 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8972 These conditions are:
8975 Remove all empty headers.
8977 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8978 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8980 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8983 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8986 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8989 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8991 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8994 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8997 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8998 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9001 This is also the default value for this variable.
9005 @section Using @sc{mime}
9008 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9009 while people stand around yawning.
9011 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9012 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9014 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9015 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9016 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9018 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9019 @findex gnus-display-mime
9020 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9021 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9022 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9023 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9025 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9029 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9031 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9032 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9033 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9035 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9036 @item M-RET (Article)
9038 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9039 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9041 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9043 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9044 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9046 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9048 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9049 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9051 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9053 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9054 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9056 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9058 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9060 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9062 Insert the raw contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9063 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}).
9067 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9068 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9071 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9072 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9073 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9074 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9075 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9076 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9077 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9078 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9079 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9081 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9083 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9086 @node Customizing Articles
9087 @section Customizing Articles
9088 @cindex article customization
9090 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9091 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9092 called automatically when you select the articles.
9094 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9095 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9096 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9097 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9099 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9100 for sensible values.
9104 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9107 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9110 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9113 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9116 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9120 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9121 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9122 regexps in the list.
9125 A list where the first element is not a string:
9127 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9128 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9129 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9133 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9138 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9139 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9140 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9141 considered to contain just a single part.
9143 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9144 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9145 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9146 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9147 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9148 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9149 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9151 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9152 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9153 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9154 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9157 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9158 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9159 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9160 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9161 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9162 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9163 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9164 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9165 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9166 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9167 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9168 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9169 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9170 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9171 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9172 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9173 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9174 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9175 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9176 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9177 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9178 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9179 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9180 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9181 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9182 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9183 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9184 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9185 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9186 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9187 @item gnus-treat-translate
9190 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9191 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9192 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9193 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9194 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9198 @node Article Keymap
9199 @section Article Keymap
9201 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9202 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9203 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9204 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9207 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9212 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9213 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9214 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9217 @kindex DEL (Article)
9218 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9219 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9222 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9223 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9224 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9225 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9226 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9229 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9230 @findex gnus-article-mail
9231 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9232 given a prefix, include the mail.
9236 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9237 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9238 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9242 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9243 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9244 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9247 @kindex TAB (Article)
9248 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9249 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9250 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9253 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9254 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9255 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9261 @section Misc Article
9265 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9266 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9267 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9268 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9271 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9272 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9274 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9275 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9277 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9278 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9279 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9280 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9281 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9282 the contents of the article buffer.
9284 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9285 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9286 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9288 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9289 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9290 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9291 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9293 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9294 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9295 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9296 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9297 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9302 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9303 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9306 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9309 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9311 @item gnus-break-pages
9312 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9313 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9314 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9315 paging will not be done.
9317 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9318 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9319 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9324 @node Composing Messages
9325 @chapter Composing Messages
9326 @cindex composing messages
9329 @cindex sending mail
9334 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9335 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9336 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9337 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9338 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9339 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9342 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9343 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9344 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9345 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9346 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9347 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9348 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9349 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9352 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9353 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9359 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9362 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9363 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9364 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9365 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9367 @item gnus-add-to-list
9368 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9369 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9370 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9378 Variables for composing news articles:
9381 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9382 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9383 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9384 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9385 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9386 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9387 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9388 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9389 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
9392 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9393 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9394 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9395 file. It is 1000 by default.
9400 @node Posting Server
9401 @section Posting Server
9403 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9404 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9406 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9408 @vindex gnus-post-method
9410 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
9411 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9412 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9413 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9414 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9417 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9420 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9421 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9422 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9423 the ``current'' server for posting.
9425 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9426 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9428 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9429 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9432 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9433 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9434 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9439 @section Mail and Post
9441 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9445 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9446 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9447 @cindex mailing lists
9449 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9450 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9451 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9452 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9453 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9454 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9455 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9456 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9457 still a pain, though.
9461 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9462 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9463 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9466 @findex ispell-message
9468 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9471 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9472 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9475 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9478 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9479 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9481 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9484 Modify to suit your needs.
9487 @node Archived Messages
9488 @section Archived Messages
9489 @cindex archived messages
9490 @cindex sent messages
9492 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9493 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9494 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9495 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9498 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9499 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9500 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9504 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9505 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9506 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9507 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9510 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9511 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9512 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9513 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9516 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9517 '(nnfolder "archive"
9518 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9519 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9520 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9523 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9525 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9526 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9527 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9529 This variable can be used to do the following:
9533 Messages will be saved in that group.
9534 @item a list of strings
9535 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9536 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9537 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9539 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9544 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9546 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9549 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9551 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9554 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9556 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9557 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9558 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9559 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9564 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9565 '((if (message-news-p)
9570 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9571 messages in one file per month:
9574 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9575 '((if (message-news-p)
9577 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9580 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9581 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9583 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9584 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9585 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9586 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9587 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9588 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9589 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9590 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9591 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9592 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9594 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9595 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9596 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9597 this will disable archiving.
9600 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9601 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9602 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9603 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9604 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9607 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9608 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9609 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9612 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9613 but the latter is the preferred method.
9617 @node Posting Styles
9618 @section Posting Styles
9619 @cindex posting styles
9622 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9624 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9625 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9626 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9629 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9630 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9631 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9632 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9633 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9638 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9639 (organization "What me?"))
9641 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9642 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9643 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9646 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9647 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9648 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9649 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9650 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9651 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9652 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9653 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9655 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9656 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9657 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9658 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9659 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9660 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9661 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9662 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9665 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9666 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9667 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9668 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9669 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9670 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9671 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9672 and the result is thrown away.
9674 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9675 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9676 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9677 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9678 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9679 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9681 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9682 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9683 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9685 @findex message-mail-p
9686 @findex message-news-p
9688 So here's a new example:
9691 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9693 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9695 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9696 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9698 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9699 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9700 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9702 (signature my-news-signature))
9703 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9704 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9705 ((posting-from-work-p)
9706 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9707 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9708 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9709 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9711 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9719 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9720 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9721 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9722 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9723 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9725 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9726 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9727 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9728 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9729 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9733 @vindex nndraft-directory
9734 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9735 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9736 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9737 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9738 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9739 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9741 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9742 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9745 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9746 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9747 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9748 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9749 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9750 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9751 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9752 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9753 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9754 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9755 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9756 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9757 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9758 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9760 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9761 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9762 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9764 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9766 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9767 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9768 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9770 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9773 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9774 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9775 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9776 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9777 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9778 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9779 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9782 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9783 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9784 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9787 @node Rejected Articles
9788 @section Rejected Articles
9789 @cindex rejected articles
9791 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9792 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9793 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9794 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9796 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9797 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9798 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9799 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9800 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9802 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9803 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9804 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9807 @node Select Methods
9808 @chapter Select Methods
9809 @cindex foreign groups
9810 @cindex select methods
9812 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9813 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9814 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9815 personal mail group.
9817 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9818 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9819 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9820 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9821 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9822 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9824 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9825 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9827 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9830 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9831 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9832 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9833 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9834 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9836 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9839 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9840 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9841 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9842 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9843 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9844 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9845 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9849 @node The Server Buffer
9850 @section The Server Buffer
9852 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9853 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9854 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9855 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9856 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9857 backend represents a virtual server.
9859 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9860 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9861 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9862 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9864 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9865 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9866 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9867 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9868 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9869 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9870 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9872 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9873 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9876 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9877 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9878 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9879 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9880 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9881 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9882 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9885 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9886 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9889 @node Server Buffer Format
9890 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9891 @cindex server buffer format
9893 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9894 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9895 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9896 variable, with some simple extensions:
9901 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9904 The name of this server.
9907 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9910 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9913 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9914 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9915 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9916 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9926 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9929 @node Server Commands
9930 @subsection Server Commands
9931 @cindex server commands
9937 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9938 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9942 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9943 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9946 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9947 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9948 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9952 @findex gnus-server-exit
9953 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9957 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9958 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9962 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9963 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9967 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9968 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9972 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9973 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9977 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9978 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9979 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9984 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9985 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9986 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9987 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9992 @node Example Methods
9993 @subsection Example Methods
9995 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9998 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10001 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10007 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10008 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10011 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10012 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10014 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10015 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10019 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10022 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10023 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10025 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10026 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10027 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10031 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10034 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10037 Here's the method for a public spool:
10041 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10042 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10045 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10046 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10047 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10048 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10049 should probably look something like this:
10053 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10054 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10055 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10056 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10057 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10060 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10061 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10062 server that would look something like this:
10066 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10067 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10068 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10069 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10070 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10071 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10074 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10075 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10076 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10077 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10080 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10081 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10083 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10084 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10086 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10087 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10088 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10090 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10092 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10093 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10094 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10095 will contain the following:
10105 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10106 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10107 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10110 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10111 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10112 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10115 @node Server Variables
10116 @subsection Server Variables
10118 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10119 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10120 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10121 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10122 won't change the "derived" variables.
10124 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10125 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10126 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10127 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10128 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10129 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10130 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10131 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10132 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10136 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10137 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10138 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10142 @node Servers and Methods
10143 @subsection Servers and Methods
10145 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10146 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10147 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10148 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10152 @node Unavailable Servers
10153 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10155 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10156 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10157 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10158 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10159 actually the case or not.
10161 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10162 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10163 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10164 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10165 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10166 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10167 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10168 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10170 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10171 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10173 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10174 with the following commands:
10180 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10181 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10182 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10186 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10187 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10188 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10192 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10193 Mark the current server as unreachable
10194 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10197 @kindex M-o (Server)
10198 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10199 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10200 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10203 @kindex M-c (Server)
10204 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10205 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10206 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10210 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10211 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10212 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10218 @section Getting News
10219 @cindex reading news
10220 @cindex news backends
10222 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10223 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10224 or it can read from a local spool.
10227 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10228 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10233 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10236 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10237 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10238 server as the, uhm, address.
10240 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10241 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10242 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10243 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10245 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10246 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10247 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10249 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10254 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10255 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10256 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10258 @cindex authentification
10259 @cindex nntp authentification
10260 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10261 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10262 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10263 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10264 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10265 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10266 present in this hook.
10268 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10269 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10270 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10271 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10272 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10273 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10274 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10275 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10276 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10277 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10278 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10279 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10283 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10286 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10287 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10288 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
10289 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
10290 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10295 Here's an example file:
10298 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10299 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10302 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10303 have to be first, for instance.
10305 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10306 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10307 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10308 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10309 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10310 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10311 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10313 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10314 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10320 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10321 previously mentioned.
10323 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10325 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10326 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10327 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10328 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10329 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10332 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10333 '(("innd" (ding))))
10336 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10338 The default value is
10341 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10342 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10345 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10346 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10348 @item nntp-maximum-request
10349 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10350 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10351 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10352 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10353 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10354 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10355 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10357 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10358 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10359 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10360 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10361 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10362 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10363 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10364 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10365 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10366 no timeouts are done.
10368 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10369 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10370 @c @cindex PPP connections
10371 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10372 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10373 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10374 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10375 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10376 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10377 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10378 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10379 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10380 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10382 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10383 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10384 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10385 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10386 @c described above.
10388 @item nntp-server-hook
10389 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10390 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10393 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10394 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10395 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10396 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10397 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10398 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10399 functions are supplied:
10402 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10403 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10406 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10407 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10408 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10411 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10415 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10416 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10417 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10418 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10420 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10421 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10422 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10424 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10425 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10426 User name on the remote system.
10430 @item nntp-open-telnet
10431 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10432 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10434 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10437 @item nntp-telnet-command
10438 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10439 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10441 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10442 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10443 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10445 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10446 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10447 User name for log in on the remote system.
10449 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10450 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10451 Password to use when logging in.
10453 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10454 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10455 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10458 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10459 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10460 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10461 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10463 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10464 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10465 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10466 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10467 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10471 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10472 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10473 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10474 you must have SSLay installed
10475 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10476 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10477 define a server as follows:
10480 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10482 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10484 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10485 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10486 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10487 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10492 @item nntp-end-of-line
10493 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10494 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10495 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10496 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10498 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10499 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10500 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10504 @vindex nntp-address
10505 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10507 @item nntp-port-number
10508 @vindex nntp-port-number
10509 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10512 @item nntp-buggy-select
10513 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10514 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10516 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10517 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10518 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10519 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10522 @item nntp-xover-commands
10523 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10526 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10527 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10531 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10532 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10533 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10534 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10535 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10536 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10537 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10538 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10539 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10540 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10541 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10543 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10544 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10545 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10547 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10548 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10549 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10550 server closes connection.
10552 @item nntp-record-commands
10553 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10554 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10555 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10556 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10557 that doesn't seem to work.
10563 @subsection News Spool
10567 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10568 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10569 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10572 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10573 anything else) as the address.
10575 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10576 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10577 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10578 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10582 @item nnspool-inews-program
10583 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10584 Program used to post an article.
10586 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10587 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10588 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10590 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10591 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10592 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10593 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10595 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10596 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10597 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10598 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10600 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10601 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10602 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10604 @item nnspool-active-file
10605 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10606 The path to the active file.
10608 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10609 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10610 The path to the group descriptions file.
10612 @item nnspool-history-file
10613 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10614 The path to the news history file.
10616 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10617 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10618 The path to the active date file.
10620 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10621 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10622 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10625 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10626 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10628 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10629 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10630 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10636 @section Getting Mail
10637 @cindex reading mail
10640 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10644 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10645 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10646 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10647 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10648 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10649 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10650 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10651 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10652 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10653 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10654 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10655 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10656 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10660 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10661 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10663 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10664 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10665 of a culture shock.
10667 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10668 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10670 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10671 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10672 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10673 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10675 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10677 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10678 deleted? How awful!
10680 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10681 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10682 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10683 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10686 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10687 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10688 they want to treat a message.
10690 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10691 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10692 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10693 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10694 archived somewhere else.
10696 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10697 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10698 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10699 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10700 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10702 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10703 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10704 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10706 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10707 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10710 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10711 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10712 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10713 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10714 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10716 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10717 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10718 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10719 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10720 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10721 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10725 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10726 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10728 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10729 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10730 and things will happen automatically.
10732 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10733 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10736 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10737 '((nnml "private")))
10740 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10741 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10742 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10743 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10744 like any other group.
10746 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10749 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10750 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10751 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10755 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10756 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10757 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10760 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10761 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10762 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10765 @node Splitting Mail
10766 @subsection Splitting Mail
10767 @cindex splitting mail
10768 @cindex mail splitting
10770 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10771 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10772 to be split into groups.
10775 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10776 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10777 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10778 ("mail.other" "")))
10781 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10782 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10783 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10784 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10785 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10786 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10787 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10790 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10793 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10794 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10795 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10796 mail belongs in that group.
10798 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10799 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10800 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10801 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10802 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10803 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10805 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10806 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10807 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10808 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10809 thinks should carry this mail message.
10811 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10812 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10813 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10814 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10816 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10817 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10818 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10819 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10820 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10822 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10825 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10826 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10827 links. If that's the case for you, set
10828 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10829 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10831 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10832 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10833 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10834 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10836 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10837 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10838 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10839 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10840 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10841 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10842 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10843 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10844 month's rent money.
10848 @subsection Mail Sources
10850 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10851 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10855 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10856 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10857 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10861 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10862 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10864 @cindex mail server
10867 @cindex mail source
10869 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10870 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10875 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10878 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10879 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10880 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10883 The following mail source types are available:
10887 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10893 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10894 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10897 An example file mail source:
10900 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10903 Or using the default path:
10909 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10910 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10911 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10914 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10918 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10921 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10925 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10928 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10930 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10933 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10937 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10938 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10944 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10948 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10952 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10953 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10954 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10955 predicate are considered.
10959 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10963 An example directory mail source:
10966 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10971 Get mail from a POP server.
10977 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10978 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10981 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10984 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10988 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10992 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10993 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10996 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10999 The valid format specifier characters are:
11003 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11004 included in this string.
11007 The name of the server.
11010 The port number of the server.
11013 The user name to use.
11016 The password to use.
11019 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11020 corresponding keywords.
11023 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11024 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11027 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11028 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11031 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11032 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11035 @item :authentication
11036 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11037 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11042 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11043 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11045 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11046 default user name, and default fetcher:
11052 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11055 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11056 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11059 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11062 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11066 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11067 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11068 contains exactly one mail.
11074 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11075 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
11077 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11078 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11079 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11082 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11083 from locking problems).
11087 Two example maildir mail sources:
11090 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
11094 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
11098 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11099 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11100 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11101 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11107 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11108 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11111 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11112 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11115 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11119 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11123 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11124 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11125 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11127 @item :authenticator
11128 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11129 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11130 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11134 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11135 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11138 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11139 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11140 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11141 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11142 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11143 complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
11146 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11147 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11148 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11149 but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
11152 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11153 after finishing the fetch.
11157 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11160 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11164 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11165 mail.yahoo.com, www.netaddress.com and www.my-deja.com.
11167 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
11168 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
11170 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11176 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11177 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11180 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11184 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11188 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11189 folder after finishing the fetch.
11193 An example webmail source:
11196 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11201 @item Common Keywords
11202 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11208 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged.
11213 @node Mail Source Customization
11214 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11216 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11217 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11221 @item mail-source-crash-box
11222 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11223 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11224 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11226 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11227 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11228 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11230 @item mail-source-directory
11231 @vindex mail-source-directory
11232 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11233 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11234 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11237 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11238 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11239 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11244 @node Fetching Mail
11245 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11247 @vindex mail-sources
11248 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11249 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11250 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11251 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11253 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11254 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11257 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11258 mail server, you'd say something like:
11263 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11264 :password "secret")))
11267 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11271 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11272 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11275 :password "secret")))
11279 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11280 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11281 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11282 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11283 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11284 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11288 @node Mail Backend Variables
11289 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11291 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11295 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11296 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11297 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11298 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11300 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11301 @item nnmail-split-hook
11302 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11303 @findex RFC1522 decoding
11304 @findex RFC2047 decoding
11305 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11306 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11307 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11308 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11309 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11310 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11313 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11314 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11315 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11316 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11317 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11318 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11319 starting to handle the new mail) and
11320 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11321 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11322 default file modes the new mail files get:
11325 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11326 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11328 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11329 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11332 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11333 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11334 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11335 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11336 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11337 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11338 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11340 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11341 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11342 @findex delete-file
11343 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11345 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11346 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11347 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11348 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11349 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11354 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11355 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11356 @cindex mail splitting
11357 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11359 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11360 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11361 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11362 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11363 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11364 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11366 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11369 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11370 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11371 ;; from real errors.
11372 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11374 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11375 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11376 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11377 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11378 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11379 ;; Other mailing lists...
11380 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11381 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11382 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11383 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11384 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11385 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11386 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11387 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11389 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11390 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11394 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11395 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11396 the five possible split syntaxes:
11401 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11402 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11406 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11407 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11408 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11409 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11410 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11411 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11412 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11413 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11416 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11417 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11418 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11419 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11422 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11423 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11426 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11427 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11430 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11431 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11432 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11433 function should return a @var{split}.
11436 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11437 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11438 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11442 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11446 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11447 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11448 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11449 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11450 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11452 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11453 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11454 are expanded as specified by the variable
11455 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11456 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11459 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11460 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11461 when all this splitting is performed.
11463 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11464 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11465 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11468 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11471 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11472 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11474 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11475 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11476 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11477 groupings 1 through 9.
11480 @node Group Mail Splitting
11481 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11482 @cindex mail splitting
11483 @cindex group mail splitting
11485 @findex gnus-group-split
11486 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11487 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11488 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11489 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11490 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11491 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11492 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11493 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11495 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11496 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11497 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11498 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11500 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11501 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11502 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11503 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11504 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11505 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11506 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11508 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11509 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11510 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11511 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11512 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11513 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11514 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11516 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11517 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11518 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11519 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11520 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11521 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11522 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11523 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11524 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11526 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11531 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11532 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11534 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11535 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11536 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11537 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11539 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11542 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11543 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11544 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11547 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11548 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11549 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11553 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11554 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11555 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11559 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11562 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11563 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11564 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11565 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11566 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11567 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11568 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11569 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11570 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11572 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11573 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11574 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11575 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11576 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11577 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11578 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11579 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11580 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11582 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11583 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11584 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11585 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11586 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11587 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11590 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11593 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11594 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11595 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11596 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11597 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11600 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11601 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11602 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11603 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11605 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11606 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11608 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11609 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11610 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11613 Doing so can be quite easy.
11615 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11616 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11617 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11618 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11619 your @code{nnml} groups.
11625 Go to the group buffer.
11628 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11629 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11632 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11635 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11636 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11639 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11640 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11643 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11644 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11645 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11646 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11647 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11649 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11650 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11651 using the new mail backend.
11654 @node Expiring Mail
11655 @subsection Expiring Mail
11656 @cindex article expiry
11658 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11659 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11660 different approach to mail reading.
11662 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11663 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11664 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11665 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11666 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11667 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11670 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11671 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11672 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11673 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11674 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11675 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11676 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11677 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11679 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11680 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11681 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11682 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11683 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11684 column in the summary buffer.
11686 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11687 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11688 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11689 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11692 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11694 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11695 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11696 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11699 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11700 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11701 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11702 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11703 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11705 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11706 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11709 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11710 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11713 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11714 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11716 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11717 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11718 don't really mix very well.
11720 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11721 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11722 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11723 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11726 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11727 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11728 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11729 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11732 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11734 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11736 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11738 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11740 ((string= group "important")
11746 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11747 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11749 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11750 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11751 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11754 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11755 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11757 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11758 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11759 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11760 easier for procmail users.
11762 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11763 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11764 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11765 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11766 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11767 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11768 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11769 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11770 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11771 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11772 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11773 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11774 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11777 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11779 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11780 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11781 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11782 auto-expire turned on.
11786 @subsection Washing Mail
11787 @cindex mail washing
11788 @cindex list server brain damage
11789 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11791 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11792 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11793 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11794 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11795 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11796 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11798 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11799 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11800 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11803 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11804 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11805 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11806 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11809 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11810 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11811 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11812 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11813 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11816 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11817 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11818 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11819 Emacs running on MS machines.
11823 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11824 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11825 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11826 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11829 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11830 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11831 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11832 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11834 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11835 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11836 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11837 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11838 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11839 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11840 also be a list of regexp.
11842 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11843 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11846 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11847 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11850 This can also be done non-destructively with
11851 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11853 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11854 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11855 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11857 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11858 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11860 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11861 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11862 @code{References} headers.
11866 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11867 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11868 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11872 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11873 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11874 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11881 @subsection Duplicates
11883 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11884 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11885 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11886 @cindex duplicate mails
11887 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11888 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11889 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11890 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11891 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11892 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11893 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11894 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11895 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11896 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11897 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11898 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11899 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11901 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11902 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11903 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11904 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11906 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11909 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11910 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11914 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11915 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11916 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11917 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11918 (any mail "mail.misc")
11925 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11926 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11931 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11932 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11933 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11934 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11935 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11938 @node Not Reading Mail
11939 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11941 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11942 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11943 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11945 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11946 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11947 mail, which should help.
11949 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11950 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11951 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11952 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11953 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11954 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11955 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11956 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11957 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11958 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11959 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11961 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11962 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11966 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11967 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11969 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11970 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11971 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11973 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11974 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11975 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11976 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11979 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11980 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11981 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11982 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11983 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11984 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11988 @node Unix Mail Box
11989 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11991 @cindex unix mail box
11993 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11994 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11995 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11996 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11997 which group it belongs in.
11999 Virtual server settings:
12002 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12003 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12004 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12006 @item nnmbox-active-file
12007 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12008 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12010 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12011 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12012 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12018 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12022 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12023 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12024 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12025 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12026 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12028 Virtual server settings:
12031 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12032 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12033 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12035 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12036 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12037 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12039 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12040 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12041 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12046 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12048 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12050 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12051 format. It should be used with some caution.
12053 @vindex nnml-directory
12054 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12055 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12056 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12057 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12059 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12062 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12063 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12064 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12065 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12066 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12067 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12068 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12069 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12071 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12072 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12073 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12074 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12076 Virtual server settings:
12079 @item nnml-directory
12080 @vindex nnml-directory
12081 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12083 @item nnml-active-file
12084 @vindex nnml-active-file
12085 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12087 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12088 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12089 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12092 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12093 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12094 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12096 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12097 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12098 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12100 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12101 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12102 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12104 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12105 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12106 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12110 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12111 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12112 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12113 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12114 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12115 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12116 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12121 @subsubsection MH Spool
12123 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12125 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12126 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12127 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12128 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12130 Virtual server settings:
12133 @item nnmh-directory
12134 @vindex nnmh-directory
12135 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12137 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12138 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12139 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12142 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12143 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12144 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12145 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12146 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12147 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12148 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12153 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12155 @cindex mbox folders
12156 @cindex mail folders
12158 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12159 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12160 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12163 Virtual server settings:
12166 @item nnfolder-directory
12167 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12168 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12170 @item nnfolder-active-file
12171 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12172 The name of the active file.
12174 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12175 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12176 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12178 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12179 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12180 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12182 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12183 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12184 @cindex backup files
12185 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12186 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12187 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12188 your @file{.emacs} file:
12191 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12192 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12194 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12197 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12198 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12199 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12200 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12201 extract some information from it before removing it.
12206 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12207 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12208 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12209 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12210 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12211 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12214 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12215 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12217 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12218 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12219 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12220 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12221 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12223 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12224 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12225 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12226 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12227 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12228 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12229 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12230 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12233 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12234 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12235 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12236 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12241 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12242 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12243 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12244 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12245 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12246 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12247 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12248 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12249 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12250 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12251 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12252 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12253 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12258 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12259 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12260 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12261 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12262 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12263 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12264 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12265 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12266 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12267 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12268 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12269 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12270 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12271 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12273 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12274 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12279 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12280 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12281 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12282 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12283 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12284 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12285 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12286 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12287 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12288 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12289 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12290 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12291 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12292 provided by the active file and overviews.
12294 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12295 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12296 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12297 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12298 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12301 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12302 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12307 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12308 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12309 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12310 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12311 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12312 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12313 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12317 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12318 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12319 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12320 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12321 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12322 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12323 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12324 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12325 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12327 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12328 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12329 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12330 friendly mail backend all over.
12335 @node Browsing the Web
12336 @section Browsing the Web
12338 @cindex browsing the web
12342 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12343 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12344 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12345 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12346 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12347 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12348 even know what a news group is.
12350 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12351 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12352 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12353 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12354 you mad in the end.
12356 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12359 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12360 interfaces to these sources.
12363 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12364 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12365 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12366 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12367 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12370 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12372 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12373 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12374 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12375 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12376 though, you should be ok.
12378 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12379 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12380 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12381 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12382 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12386 @subsection Web Searches
12390 @cindex InReference
12391 @cindex Usenet searches
12392 @cindex searching the Usenet
12394 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12395 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12396 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12397 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12398 searches without having to use a browser.
12400 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12401 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12402 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12403 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12404 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12406 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12407 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12408 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12409 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12410 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12411 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12412 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12413 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12414 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12415 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12418 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12419 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12420 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12421 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12422 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12423 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12425 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12426 to use @code{nnweb}.
12428 Virtual server variables:
12433 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12434 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12438 @vindex nnweb-search
12439 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12441 @item nnweb-max-hits
12442 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12443 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12446 @item nnweb-type-definition
12447 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12448 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12449 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12454 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12458 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12461 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12464 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12468 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12475 @subsection Slashdot
12479 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12480 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12481 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12483 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12484 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12487 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12488 '((nnslashdot "")))
12491 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12492 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12493 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12494 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12495 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12498 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12499 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12501 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12502 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12503 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12504 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12505 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12506 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12509 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12512 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12513 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12514 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12515 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12516 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12517 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12518 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12520 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12521 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12522 The login name to use when posting.
12524 @item nnslashdot-password
12525 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12526 The password to use when posting.
12528 @item nnslashdot-directory
12529 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12530 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12531 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12533 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12534 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12535 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12536 news articles and comments. The default is
12537 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12539 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12540 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12541 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12543 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12545 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12546 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12547 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12549 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12551 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12552 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12553 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12555 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12556 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12557 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12558 updated. The default is 0.
12565 @subsection Ultimate
12567 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12569 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12570 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12571 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12572 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12574 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12575 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12576 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12577 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12578 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12579 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12580 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12582 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12585 @item nnultimate-directory
12586 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12587 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12588 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12593 @subsection Web Archive
12595 @cindex Web Archive
12597 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12598 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12599 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12600 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12603 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12604 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12605 gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12606 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12607 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12608 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12609 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12611 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12614 @item nnwarchive-directory
12615 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12616 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12617 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12619 @item nnwarchive-login
12620 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12621 The account name on the web server.
12623 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12624 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12625 The password for your account on the web server.
12629 @node Customizing w3
12630 @subsection Customizing w3
12636 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12637 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12638 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12640 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12641 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12642 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12645 (eval-after-load "w3"
12647 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12648 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12649 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12650 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12652 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12655 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12656 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12660 @node Other Sources
12661 @section Other Sources
12663 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12664 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12668 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12669 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12670 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12671 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12672 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12673 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12677 @node Directory Groups
12678 @subsection Directory Groups
12680 @cindex directory groups
12682 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12683 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12686 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12687 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12688 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12689 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12691 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12692 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12693 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12694 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12695 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12697 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12699 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12700 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12701 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12702 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12705 @node Anything Groups
12706 @subsection Anything Groups
12709 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12710 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12711 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12714 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12715 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12716 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12717 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12718 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12719 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12720 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12721 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12722 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12723 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12726 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12727 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12728 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12729 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12731 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12732 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12733 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12734 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12736 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12737 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12738 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12739 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12740 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12741 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12742 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12743 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12748 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12749 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12750 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12751 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12753 @item nneething-exclude-files
12754 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12755 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12756 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12758 @item nneething-include-files
12759 @vindex nneething-include-files
12760 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12761 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12763 @item nneething-map-file
12764 @vindex nneething-map-file
12765 Name of the map files.
12769 @node Document Groups
12770 @subsection Document Groups
12772 @cindex documentation group
12775 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12776 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12783 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12788 The standard Unix mbox file.
12790 @cindex MMDF mail box
12792 The MMDF mail box format.
12795 Several news articles appended into a file.
12798 @cindex rnews batch files
12799 The rnews batch transport format.
12800 @cindex forwarded messages
12803 Forwarded articles.
12806 Netscape mail boxes.
12809 MIME multipart messages.
12811 @item standard-digest
12812 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12815 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12818 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12819 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12820 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12823 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12824 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12825 group. And that's it.
12827 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12828 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12829 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12830 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12831 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12832 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12833 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12834 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12835 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12836 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12838 Virtual server variables:
12841 @item nndoc-article-type
12842 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12843 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12844 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12845 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12846 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12848 @item nndoc-post-type
12849 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12850 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12851 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12856 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12860 @node Document Server Internals
12861 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12863 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12864 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12865 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12866 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12868 First, here's an example document type definition:
12872 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12873 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12876 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12877 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12878 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12879 types can be defined with very few settings:
12882 @item first-article
12883 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12884 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12887 @item article-begin
12888 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12889 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12891 @item head-begin-function
12892 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12895 @item nndoc-head-begin
12896 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12899 @item nndoc-head-end
12900 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12901 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12903 @item body-begin-function
12904 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12908 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12911 @item body-end-function
12912 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12916 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12919 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12920 regexp will be totally ignored.
12924 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12925 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12926 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12927 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12928 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12931 @item prepare-body-function
12932 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12933 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12934 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12936 @item article-transform-function
12937 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12938 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12939 body of the article.
12941 @item generate-head-function
12942 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12943 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12944 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12945 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12949 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12954 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12955 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12956 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12957 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12958 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12959 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12960 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12961 (subtype digest guess))
12964 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
12965 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
12966 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
12967 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
12968 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
12970 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
12971 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
12972 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
12973 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
12974 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
12975 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
12976 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
12977 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
12978 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
12979 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
12987 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
12988 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
12989 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
12991 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
12992 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
12993 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
12996 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
12997 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
12998 that interested in doing things properly.
13000 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13001 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13004 First some terminology:
13009 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13010 get news and/or mail from.
13013 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13014 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13017 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13021 @item message packets
13022 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13023 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13024 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13026 @item response packets
13027 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13028 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13029 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13039 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13040 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13041 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13042 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13045 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13048 You put the packet in your home directory.
13051 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13052 the native or secondary server.
13055 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13056 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13059 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13063 You transfer this packet to the server.
13066 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13069 You then repeat until you die.
13073 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13074 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13077 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13078 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13079 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13083 @node SOUP Commands
13084 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13086 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13090 @kindex G s b (Group)
13091 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13092 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13093 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13094 process/prefix convention.
13097 @kindex G s w (Group)
13098 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13099 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13102 @kindex G s s (Group)
13103 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13104 Send all replies from the replies packet
13105 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13108 @kindex G s p (Group)
13109 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13110 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13113 @kindex G s r (Group)
13114 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13115 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13118 @kindex O s (Summary)
13119 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13120 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13121 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13122 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13127 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13132 @item gnus-soup-directory
13133 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13134 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13135 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13137 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13138 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13139 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13140 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13142 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13143 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13144 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13145 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13147 @item gnus-soup-packer
13148 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13149 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13150 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13152 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13153 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13154 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13155 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13157 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13158 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13159 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13161 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13162 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13163 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13164 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13170 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13173 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13174 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13175 you can read them at leisure.
13177 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13181 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13182 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13183 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13184 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13186 @item nnsoup-directory
13187 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13188 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13189 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13191 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13192 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13193 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13194 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13196 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13197 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13198 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13199 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13200 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13202 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13203 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13204 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13205 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13207 @item nnsoup-active-file
13208 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13209 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13210 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13211 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13212 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13214 @item nnsoup-packer
13215 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13216 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13217 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13219 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13220 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13221 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13222 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13224 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13225 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13226 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13229 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13230 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13231 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13234 @item nnsoup-always-save
13235 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13236 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13242 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13244 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13245 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13246 more for that to happen.
13248 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13249 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13250 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13253 In specific, this is what it does:
13256 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13257 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13260 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13261 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13262 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13265 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13266 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13267 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13270 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13271 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13272 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13274 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13280 @item nngateway-address
13281 @vindex nngateway-address
13282 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13284 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13285 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13286 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13287 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13288 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13289 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13290 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13293 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13294 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13295 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13298 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13301 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13304 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13307 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13309 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13312 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13313 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13314 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13316 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13318 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13319 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13320 @code{nngateway-address}.
13325 (setq gnus-post-method
13326 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13327 (nngateway-header-transformation
13328 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13336 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13339 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13345 @subsection @sc{imap}
13349 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13350 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13351 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13352 network address of the server.
13354 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13359 @item nnimap-address
13360 @vindex nnimap-address
13362 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13363 server name if not specified.
13365 @item nnimap-server-port
13366 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13367 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13369 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13370 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13371 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13372 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13373 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13374 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13375 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13377 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13378 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13379 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13385 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13388 @item nnimap-stream
13389 @vindex nnimap-stream
13390 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13391 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
13395 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
13397 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
13399 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13402 @item nnimap-authenticator
13403 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13405 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13406 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13410 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
13412 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13414 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13416 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13419 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13421 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13422 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13423 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13424 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13425 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13426 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13429 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13430 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13431 running in circles yet?
13433 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13434 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13437 The possible options are:
13442 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13445 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13446 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13447 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13448 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13450 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13457 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13458 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13459 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13464 @node Splitting in IMAP
13465 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13466 @cindex splitting imap mail
13468 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13469 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13470 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13471 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13472 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13476 Here are the variables of interest:
13480 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13481 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13483 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13485 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13486 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13488 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13490 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13491 @cindex splitting, inbox
13493 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13495 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13496 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13500 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13503 No nnmail equivalent.
13505 @item nnimap-split-rule
13506 @cindex Splitting, rules
13507 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13509 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13512 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13513 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13514 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13515 Neither did I, we need examples.
13518 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13519 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13520 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13521 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13524 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13525 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13526 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13528 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13529 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13533 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13536 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13537 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13538 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13539 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13541 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13542 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13543 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13544 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13545 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13546 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13548 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13549 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13550 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13552 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13553 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13554 thinks the article should be splitted to.
13556 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13558 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13560 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13562 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13564 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13565 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13567 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13568 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13569 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13572 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13573 @cindex splitting, fancy
13574 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13575 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13577 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13578 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13579 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13581 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13582 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13583 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13584 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13589 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13590 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13593 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13597 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13598 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13599 @cindex editing imap acls
13600 @cindex Access Control Lists
13601 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13603 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13605 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13606 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13607 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13610 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13611 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13612 editing window with detailed instructions.
13614 Some possible uses:
13618 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13619 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13620 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13622 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13623 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13624 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13628 @node Expunging mailboxes
13629 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13633 @cindex Manual expunging
13635 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13637 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13638 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13639 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13641 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13646 @node Combined Groups
13647 @section Combined Groups
13649 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13653 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13654 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13658 @node Virtual Groups
13659 @subsection Virtual Groups
13661 @cindex virtual groups
13662 @cindex merging groups
13664 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13667 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13668 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13669 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13671 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13672 regexp to match component groups.
13674 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13675 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13676 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13677 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13678 the virtual group.)
13680 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13681 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13684 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13687 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13688 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13690 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13691 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13692 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13693 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13696 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13699 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13700 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13701 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13703 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13704 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13705 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13706 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13707 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13709 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13710 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13711 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13713 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13714 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13715 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13716 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13717 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13718 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13719 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13720 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13721 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13722 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13723 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13725 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13726 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13727 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13728 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13729 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13730 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13731 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13733 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13734 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13738 @node Kibozed Groups
13739 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13743 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13744 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13745 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13746 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13748 @kindex G k (Group)
13749 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13752 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13753 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13754 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13755 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13757 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13758 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13759 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13761 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13762 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13763 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13764 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13765 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13766 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13767 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13768 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13770 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13771 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13772 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13773 Stranger things have happened.
13775 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13776 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13778 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13779 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13780 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13781 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13782 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13783 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13785 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13786 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13789 @node Gnus Unplugged
13790 @section Gnus Unplugged
13795 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13797 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13798 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13799 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13800 read news. Believe it or not.
13802 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13803 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13804 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13805 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13806 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13808 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13809 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13810 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13811 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13812 reading news on a machine.
13814 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13818 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13819 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13823 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13824 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13831 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13833 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13836 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13837 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13838 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13839 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13840 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13841 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13842 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13843 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13844 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13849 @subsection Agent Basics
13851 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13853 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13854 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13855 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13856 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13858 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13859 connected to the net continuously.
13861 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13862 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13864 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13869 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13870 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13871 already fetched while in this mode.
13874 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13875 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13876 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13879 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13880 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13881 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13882 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13885 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13886 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13887 then you read the news offline.
13890 And then you go to step 2.
13893 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13899 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13900 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13901 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13902 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13903 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13904 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13907 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13914 @node Agent Categories
13915 @subsection Agent Categories
13917 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13918 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13919 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13920 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13921 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13922 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13923 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13925 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13926 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13927 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13928 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13929 managing categories.
13932 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13933 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13934 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
13938 @node Category Syntax
13939 @subsubsection Category Syntax
13941 A category consists of two things.
13945 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
13946 are eligible for downloading; and
13949 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
13950 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
13951 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
13954 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
13955 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
13956 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
13957 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
13959 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
13960 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
13961 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
13963 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
13964 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
13965 operators sprinkled in between.
13967 Perhaps some examples are in order.
13969 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
13970 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
13976 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
13977 short (for some value of ``short'').
13979 Here's a more complex predicate:
13988 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
13989 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
13992 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
13993 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
13994 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
13996 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
13997 you want to do, you can write your own.
14001 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14002 lines; default 100.
14005 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14006 lines; default 200.
14009 True iff the article has a download score less than
14010 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14013 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14014 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14017 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14018 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14019 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14028 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14029 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14030 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14033 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14034 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14035 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14036 something along the lines of the following:
14039 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14040 "Say whether an article is old."
14041 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14042 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14045 with the predicate then defined as:
14048 (not my-article-old-p)
14051 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14052 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14053 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14054 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14057 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
14058 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14059 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14062 and simply specify your predicate as:
14068 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14069 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14070 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14071 just don't give a damm.
14073 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14074 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14075 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14076 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14077 parameters like so:
14080 (agent-predicate . short)
14083 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14084 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14085 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14087 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14090 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14093 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14094 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14095 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14098 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14099 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14100 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14101 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14102 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14103 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14105 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14106 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14107 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14108 if it's to be specific to that group.
14110 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14117 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14118 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14124 Category specification
14128 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14134 Group Parameter specification
14137 (agent-score ("from"
14138 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14143 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14149 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14156 Category specification
14159 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14165 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14169 Group Parameter specification
14172 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14175 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14180 Use @code{normal} score files
14182 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14183 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14184 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14185 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14187 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14188 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14189 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14190 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14194 Category Specification
14201 Group Parameter specification
14204 (agent-score . file)
14209 @node The Category Buffer
14210 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14212 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14213 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14214 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14216 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14220 @kindex q (Category)
14221 @findex gnus-category-exit
14222 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14225 @kindex k (Category)
14226 @findex gnus-category-kill
14227 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14230 @kindex c (Category)
14231 @findex gnus-category-copy
14232 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14235 @kindex a (Category)
14236 @findex gnus-category-add
14237 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14240 @kindex p (Category)
14241 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14242 Edit the predicate of the current category
14243 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14246 @kindex g (Category)
14247 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14248 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14249 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14252 @kindex s (Category)
14253 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14254 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14255 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14258 @kindex l (Category)
14259 @findex gnus-category-list
14260 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14264 @node Category Variables
14265 @subsubsection Category Variables
14268 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14269 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14270 Hook run in category buffers.
14272 @item gnus-category-line-format
14273 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14274 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14275 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14279 The name of the category.
14282 The number of groups in the category.
14285 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14286 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14287 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14289 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14290 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14291 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14293 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14294 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14295 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14297 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14298 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14299 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14302 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14303 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14304 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14310 @node Agent Commands
14311 @subsection Agent Commands
14313 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14314 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14315 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14319 * Group Agent Commands::
14320 * Summary Agent Commands::
14321 * Server Agent Commands::
14324 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14325 following incantation:
14327 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14329 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14334 @node Group Agent Commands
14335 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14339 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14340 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14341 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14342 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14345 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14346 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
14347 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
14350 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
14351 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
14352 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
14353 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
14356 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
14357 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
14358 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
14359 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
14362 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
14363 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
14364 Add the current group to an Agent category
14365 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
14366 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14369 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
14370 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
14371 Remove the current group from its category, if any
14372 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
14373 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14378 @node Summary Agent Commands
14379 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
14383 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
14384 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
14385 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
14388 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
14389 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
14390 Remove the downloading mark from the article
14391 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
14394 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
14395 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
14396 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
14399 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
14400 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
14401 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
14406 @node Server Agent Commands
14407 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
14411 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
14412 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
14413 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
14414 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
14417 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
14418 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
14419 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
14420 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
14426 @subsection Agent Expiry
14428 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
14429 @findex gnus-agent-expire
14430 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
14431 @cindex Agent expiry
14432 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
14435 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
14436 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
14437 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
14438 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
14439 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
14440 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
14442 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
14443 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
14444 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
14445 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
14446 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
14449 @node Outgoing Messages
14450 @subsection Outgoing Messages
14452 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
14453 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
14454 after posting, and edit them at will.
14456 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
14457 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
14458 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
14459 messages in the draft group.
14463 @node Agent Variables
14464 @subsection Agent Variables
14467 @item gnus-agent-directory
14468 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
14469 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
14470 @file{~/News/agent/}.
14472 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
14473 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
14474 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
14475 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
14476 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
14479 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14480 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14481 Hook run when connecting to the network.
14483 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14484 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14485 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
14490 @node Example Setup
14491 @subsection Example Setup
14493 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
14494 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
14495 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
14498 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
14499 ;;; from your ISP's server.
14500 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
14502 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
14503 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
14504 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
14506 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
14507 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14509 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
14513 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
14514 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
14517 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
14518 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
14519 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
14520 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
14521 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
14524 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
14525 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
14526 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
14527 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
14528 back all the killed groups.)
14530 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
14531 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
14532 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
14535 @node Batching Agents
14536 @subsection Batching Agents
14538 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
14539 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
14540 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
14544 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
14548 @node Agent Caveats
14549 @subsection Agent Caveats
14551 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14552 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14556 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14561 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14562 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14568 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14569 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14576 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14577 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14578 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14581 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14582 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14583 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14584 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14585 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14587 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14588 before generating the summary buffer.
14590 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14591 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14592 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14594 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14595 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14596 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14597 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14600 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14601 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14602 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14603 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14604 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14605 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14606 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14607 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14608 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14609 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14610 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14611 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14612 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14613 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14614 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14615 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14619 @node Summary Score Commands
14620 @section Summary Score Commands
14621 @cindex score commands
14623 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14624 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14625 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14626 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14627 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14629 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14630 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14631 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14632 score file the current one.
14634 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14639 @kindex V s (Summary)
14640 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14641 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14644 @kindex V S (Summary)
14645 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14646 Display the score of the current article
14647 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14650 @kindex V t (Summary)
14651 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14652 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14653 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14656 @kindex V R (Summary)
14657 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14658 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14659 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14660 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14661 effect you're having.
14664 @kindex V c (Summary)
14665 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14666 Make a different score file the current
14667 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14670 @kindex V e (Summary)
14671 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14672 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14673 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14677 @kindex V f (Summary)
14678 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14679 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14680 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14683 @kindex V F (Summary)
14684 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14685 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14686 after editing score files.
14689 @kindex V C (Summary)
14690 @findex gnus-score-customize
14691 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14692 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14696 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14701 @kindex V m (Summary)
14702 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14703 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14704 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14707 @kindex V x (Summary)
14708 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14709 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14710 expunge all articles below this score
14711 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14714 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14715 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14718 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14719 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14723 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14724 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14726 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14727 keys are available:
14731 Score on the author name.
14734 Score on the subject line.
14737 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14740 Score on the @code{References} line.
14746 Score on the number of lines.
14749 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14752 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14753 the followups to this author.
14767 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14768 what headers you are scoring on.
14780 Substring matching.
14783 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14812 Greater than number.
14817 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14818 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14819 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14823 Temporary score entry.
14826 Permanent score entry.
14829 Immediately scoring.
14834 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14835 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14836 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14837 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14839 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14840 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14841 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14842 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14843 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14845 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14846 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14847 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14848 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14849 current score file.
14851 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14852 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14853 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14856 @node Group Score Commands
14857 @section Group Score Commands
14858 @cindex group score commands
14860 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14865 @kindex W f (Group)
14866 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14867 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14868 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14869 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14873 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14875 @findex gnus-batch-score
14876 @cindex batch scoring
14878 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14882 @node Score Variables
14883 @section Score Variables
14884 @cindex score variables
14888 @item gnus-use-scoring
14889 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14890 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14891 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14893 @item gnus-kill-killed
14894 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14895 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14896 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14897 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14898 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14899 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14900 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14902 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14903 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14904 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14905 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14906 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14908 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14909 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14910 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14911 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14913 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14914 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14915 @cindex score cache
14916 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14917 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14918 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
14919 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14920 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14921 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14924 @item gnus-save-score
14925 @vindex gnus-save-score
14926 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14927 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14928 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14930 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14931 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14932 across group visits.
14934 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14935 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14936 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
14937 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
14938 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
14939 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
14940 manually entered data.
14942 @item gnus-summary-default-score
14943 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
14944 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
14946 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
14947 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
14948 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
14949 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
14950 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
14951 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
14953 @item gnus-score-over-mark
14954 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
14955 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
14956 default. Default is @samp{+}.
14958 @item gnus-score-below-mark
14959 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
14960 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
14961 default. Default is @samp{-}.
14963 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14964 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14965 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
14966 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
14968 Predefined functions available are:
14971 @item gnus-score-find-single
14972 @findex gnus-score-find-single
14973 Only apply the group's own score file.
14975 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
14976 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
14977 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
14978 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
14979 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
14980 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
14981 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
14982 then a regexp match is done.
14984 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
14985 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
14987 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
14988 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
14989 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
14990 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
14992 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14993 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14994 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
14995 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
14996 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
14999 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15000 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
15001 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
15002 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
15003 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
15004 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
15007 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15008 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15009 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15010 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15011 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15013 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15014 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15015 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15016 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15017 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15018 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15019 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15022 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15023 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15024 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15026 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15027 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15028 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15029 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15030 threading---according to the current value of
15031 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15032 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15033 simplified in this manner.
15038 @node Score File Format
15039 @section Score File Format
15040 @cindex score file format
15042 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15043 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15044 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15046 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15050 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15052 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15054 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15056 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15061 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15065 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15066 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15067 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15068 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15072 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15073 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15075 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15076 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15077 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15079 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15084 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15085 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15086 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15087 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15088 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15089 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15090 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15091 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15092 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15093 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15094 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15095 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15096 to articles that matches these score entries.
15098 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15099 score entry has one to four elements.
15103 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15104 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15108 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15109 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15110 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15111 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15112 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15113 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15116 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15117 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15118 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15119 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15120 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15123 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15124 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15125 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15126 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15129 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15130 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15131 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15132 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15133 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15134 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15135 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15136 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15137 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15138 instead, if you feel like.
15141 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15142 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15144 These predicates are true if
15147 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15150 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15151 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15158 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15159 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15160 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15161 it's not. I think.)
15163 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15164 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15165 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15166 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15169 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15170 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15171 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15172 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15173 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15174 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15175 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15179 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15180 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15181 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15182 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15183 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15184 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15185 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15186 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15189 @item Head, Body, All
15190 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15194 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15195 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15196 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15197 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15198 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15199 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15200 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15204 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15205 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15206 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15207 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15208 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15209 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15210 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15211 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15212 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15213 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15214 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15218 @cindex Score File Atoms
15220 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15221 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15224 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15225 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15227 @item mark-and-expunge
15228 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15229 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15232 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15233 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15234 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15235 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15236 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15239 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15240 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15243 @item exclude-files
15244 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15245 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15249 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15250 ignored when handling global score files.
15253 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15254 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15255 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15256 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15259 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15260 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15261 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15262 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15264 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15268 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15271 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15272 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15273 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15274 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15275 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15277 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15278 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15279 ordinary scoring rules.
15282 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
15283 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
15284 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
15285 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
15286 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
15287 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
15288 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15289 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
15290 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
15291 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
15292 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
15296 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
15297 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
15298 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
15299 file for a number of groups.
15302 @cindex local variables
15303 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
15304 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
15305 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
15306 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
15307 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
15311 @node Score File Editing
15312 @section Score File Editing
15314 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
15315 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
15316 with a mode for that.
15318 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
15319 additional commands:
15324 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
15325 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
15326 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
15327 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
15330 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
15331 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
15332 Insert the current date in numerical format
15333 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
15334 you were wondering.
15337 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
15338 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
15339 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
15340 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
15341 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
15346 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
15348 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
15349 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
15351 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
15352 e} to begin editing score files.
15355 @node Adaptive Scoring
15356 @section Adaptive Scoring
15357 @cindex adaptive scoring
15359 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
15360 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
15361 stupidity, to be precise.
15363 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
15364 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
15365 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
15366 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
15367 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15368 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
15369 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
15370 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
15371 variable to @code{(word line)}.
15373 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15374 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
15375 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
15376 might look something like this:
15379 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15380 '((gnus-unread-mark)
15381 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
15382 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
15383 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
15384 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
15385 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
15386 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
15387 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
15388 (gnus-ancient-mark)
15389 (gnus-low-score-mark)
15390 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
15393 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
15394 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
15395 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
15396 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
15397 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
15398 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
15401 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
15402 will be applied to each article.
15404 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
15405 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
15406 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
15407 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
15409 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
15410 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
15411 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
15412 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
15414 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
15415 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
15416 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
15417 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
15419 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
15420 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
15421 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
15422 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
15423 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
15424 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
15426 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
15427 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
15428 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
15429 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
15430 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
15431 aspirins afterwards.)
15433 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
15434 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
15435 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
15437 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
15438 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
15439 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
15441 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
15442 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
15443 let you use different rules in different groups.
15445 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
15446 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
15447 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
15450 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
15451 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
15452 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
15453 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
15454 the length of the match is less than
15455 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
15456 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
15459 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15460 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
15461 headers. If you adapt on words, the
15462 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
15463 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
15466 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15467 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
15468 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
15469 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
15470 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
15473 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
15474 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
15475 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
15476 score with 30 points.
15478 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
15479 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
15480 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
15481 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
15482 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
15484 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
15485 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
15486 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
15487 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
15489 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
15490 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
15491 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
15492 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
15494 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
15495 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
15496 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
15497 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
15498 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
15500 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
15501 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
15502 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
15504 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
15505 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
15506 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
15507 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
15510 @node Home Score File
15511 @section Home Score File
15513 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
15514 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
15515 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
15516 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
15518 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
15519 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
15520 could perhaps use the same home score file.
15522 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
15523 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
15528 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
15532 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
15533 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
15537 A list. The elements in this list can be:
15541 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
15542 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
15545 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
15546 the home score file.
15549 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15552 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15557 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15560 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15561 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15564 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15565 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15567 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15569 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15570 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15573 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15574 Other functions include
15577 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15578 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15579 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15580 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15584 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15585 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15586 their own home score files:
15589 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15590 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15591 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15592 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15593 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15596 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15597 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15598 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15599 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15600 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15602 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15603 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15604 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15605 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15606 precedence over this variable.
15609 @node Followups To Yourself
15610 @section Followups To Yourself
15612 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15613 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15614 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15615 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15616 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15617 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15621 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15622 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15623 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15626 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15627 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15628 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15632 @vindex message-sent-hook
15633 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15634 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15636 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15637 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15641 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15642 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15645 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15646 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15651 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15655 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15656 is system-dependent.
15660 @section Scoring Tips
15661 @cindex scoring tips
15667 @cindex scoring crossposts
15668 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15669 the @code{Xref} header.
15671 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15674 @item Multiple crossposts
15675 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15676 more than, say, 3 groups:
15678 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15681 @item Matching on the body
15682 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15683 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15684 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15685 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15686 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15687 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15688 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15691 @item Marking as read
15692 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15693 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15694 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15698 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15700 @item Negated character classes
15701 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15702 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15703 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15707 @node Reverse Scoring
15708 @section Reverse Scoring
15709 @cindex reverse scoring
15711 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15712 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15713 like this in your score file:
15717 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15722 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15723 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15726 @node Global Score Files
15727 @section Global Score Files
15728 @cindex global score files
15730 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15731 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15732 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15734 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15735 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15736 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15738 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15739 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15740 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15741 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15742 files are applicable to which group.
15744 Say you want to use the score file
15745 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15746 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15749 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15750 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15751 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15754 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15755 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15756 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15757 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15758 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15760 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15761 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15763 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15764 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15765 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15766 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15767 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15768 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15770 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15776 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15778 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15780 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15782 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15783 lowered out of existence.
15785 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15786 articles completely.
15789 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15790 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15791 old articles for a long time.
15794 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15795 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15796 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15797 holding our breath yet?
15801 @section Kill Files
15804 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15805 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15806 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15808 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15809 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15810 files into score files.
15812 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15813 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15814 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15815 that isn't a very good idea.
15817 Normal kill files look like this:
15820 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15821 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15825 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15826 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15828 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15829 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15832 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15837 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15838 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15839 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15842 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15843 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15844 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15847 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15852 @kindex M-k (Group)
15853 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15854 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15857 @kindex M-K (Group)
15858 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15859 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15862 Kill file variables:
15865 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15866 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15867 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15868 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15869 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15870 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15871 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15873 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15874 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15875 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15876 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15879 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15880 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15881 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15882 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15883 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15884 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15885 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15886 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15887 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15889 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15890 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15891 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15896 @node Converting Kill Files
15897 @section Converting Kill Files
15899 @cindex converting kill files
15901 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15902 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15903 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15906 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15907 You can fetch it from
15908 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15910 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15911 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15912 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15920 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15921 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15922 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15924 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15925 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15926 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15927 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15928 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15929 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15930 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15931 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15935 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
15936 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
15937 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
15938 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
15942 @node Using GroupLens
15943 @subsection Using GroupLens
15945 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
15947 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
15948 better bit in town at the moment.
15950 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
15954 @item gnus-use-grouplens
15955 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
15956 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
15957 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
15959 @item grouplens-pseudonym
15960 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
15961 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
15962 with the Better Bit Bureau.
15964 @item grouplens-newsgroups
15965 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
15966 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
15970 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
15971 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
15972 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
15973 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
15974 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
15975 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
15978 @node Rating Articles
15979 @subsection Rating Articles
15981 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
15982 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
15983 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
15984 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
15987 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
15992 @kindex r (GroupLens)
15993 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
15994 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
15997 @kindex k (GroupLens)
15998 @findex grouplens-score-thread
15999 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16000 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16001 threads in rec.humor.
16005 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16006 the score of the article you're reading.
16011 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16012 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16013 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16016 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16017 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16018 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16022 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16023 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16026 @node Displaying Predictions
16027 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16029 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16030 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16031 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16032 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16033 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16035 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16036 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16037 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16038 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16039 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16040 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16041 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16042 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16043 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16044 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16045 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16046 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16047 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16049 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16050 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16051 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16052 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16054 The following are valid values for that variable.
16057 @item prediction-spot
16058 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16061 @item confidence-interval
16062 A numeric confidence interval.
16064 @item prediction-bar
16065 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16067 @item confidence-bar
16068 Numerical confidence.
16070 @item confidence-spot
16071 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16073 @item prediction-num
16074 Plain-old numeric value.
16076 @item confidence-plus-minus
16077 Prediction +/- confidence.
16082 @node GroupLens Variables
16083 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16087 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16088 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16089 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16090 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16093 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16094 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16097 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16098 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16100 @item grouplens-score-offset
16101 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16102 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16105 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16106 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16107 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16112 @node Advanced Scoring
16113 @section Advanced Scoring
16115 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16116 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16117 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16118 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16119 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16121 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16125 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16126 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16127 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16131 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16132 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16134 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16135 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16136 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16137 non-@code{nil} value.
16139 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16140 operator, and various match operators.
16147 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16148 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16149 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16154 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16155 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16156 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16161 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16162 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16166 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16167 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16168 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16169 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16170 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16171 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16172 the ancestry you want to go.
16174 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16175 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16176 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16177 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16178 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16181 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16182 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16184 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16185 when he's talking about Gnus:
16189 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16190 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16196 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16200 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16207 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16208 really don't want to read what he's written:
16212 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16213 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16217 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16218 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16219 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16226 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16227 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16228 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16229 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16233 The possibilities are endless.
16236 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16237 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16239 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16240 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16241 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16242 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16243 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16244 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16245 @samp{subject}) first.
16247 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16248 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16259 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16260 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16266 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16273 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16274 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
16279 @section Score Decays
16280 @cindex score decays
16283 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
16284 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
16285 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
16286 use them in any sensible way.
16288 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
16289 @findex gnus-decay-score
16290 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
16291 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
16292 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
16293 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
16294 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
16295 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
16296 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
16297 definition of that function:
16300 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
16302 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
16303 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
16306 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
16308 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
16310 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
16313 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
16314 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
16315 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
16316 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
16320 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
16323 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
16326 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
16330 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
16331 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
16332 the new score, which should be an integer.
16334 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
16335 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
16342 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
16343 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
16344 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
16345 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
16346 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
16347 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
16348 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
16349 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
16350 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
16351 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
16352 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
16353 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
16354 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
16355 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
16356 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
16357 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
16358 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
16359 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
16363 @node Process/Prefix
16364 @section Process/Prefix
16365 @cindex process/prefix convention
16367 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
16368 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
16370 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
16371 command to be performed on.
16375 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
16376 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
16377 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
16378 with the current one.
16380 @vindex transient-mark-mode
16381 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
16382 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
16384 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
16385 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
16388 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
16389 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
16391 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
16394 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
16395 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
16396 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
16397 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16399 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
16400 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
16401 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
16402 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
16403 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
16404 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
16405 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
16406 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
16410 @section Interactive
16411 @cindex interaction
16415 @item gnus-novice-user
16416 @vindex gnus-novice-user
16417 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
16418 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
16419 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
16420 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
16423 @item gnus-expert-user
16424 @vindex gnus-expert-user
16425 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
16426 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
16427 matter how strange.
16429 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
16430 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
16431 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
16432 is @code{t} by default.
16434 @item gnus-interactive-exit
16435 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
16436 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16441 @node Symbolic Prefixes
16442 @section Symbolic Prefixes
16443 @cindex symbolic prefixes
16445 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
16446 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
16447 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
16448 rule of 900 to the current article.
16450 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
16451 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
16452 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
16453 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
16454 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
16455 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
16456 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
16458 @kindex M-i (Summary)
16459 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
16460 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
16461 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
16462 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
16463 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
16464 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
16465 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
16466 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
16468 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
16469 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
16470 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
16472 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
16476 @node Formatting Variables
16477 @section Formatting Variables
16478 @cindex formatting variables
16480 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
16481 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
16482 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
16483 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
16484 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
16487 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
16488 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
16489 lots of percentages everywhere.
16492 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
16493 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
16494 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
16495 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
16496 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
16499 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
16500 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
16501 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
16502 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
16503 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
16504 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
16505 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
16506 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
16508 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
16509 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
16511 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
16512 @findex gnus-update-format
16513 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
16514 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
16515 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
16516 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
16520 @node Formatting Basics
16521 @subsection Formatting Basics
16523 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
16524 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
16525 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
16527 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
16528 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
16529 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
16530 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
16531 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
16534 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
16535 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
16536 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
16537 less than 4 characters wide.
16540 @node Mode Line Formatting
16541 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
16543 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
16544 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
16545 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
16546 with the following two differences:
16551 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16554 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16555 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16556 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16557 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16558 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16559 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16560 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16565 @node Advanced Formatting
16566 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16568 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16569 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16570 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16571 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16573 These are the valid modifiers:
16578 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16582 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16587 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16590 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16595 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16598 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16601 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16604 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16608 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16609 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16610 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16611 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16612 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16613 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16614 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16616 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16617 last operation, padding.
16619 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
16620 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
16621 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
16622 @xref{Compilation}.
16625 @node User-Defined Specs
16626 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16628 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16629 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16630 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16631 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16632 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16633 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16634 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16635 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16636 should protect against that.
16638 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16639 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16640 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16641 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16645 @node Formatting Fonts
16646 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16648 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16649 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16650 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16651 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16654 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16655 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16656 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16657 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16658 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16659 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16661 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16662 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16663 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16664 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16665 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16666 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16667 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16668 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16670 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16673 ;; Create three face types.
16674 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16675 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16677 ;; We want the article count to be in
16678 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16679 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16680 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16682 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16683 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16685 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16686 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16687 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16690 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16691 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16693 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16694 mode-line variables.
16697 @node Windows Configuration
16698 @section Windows Configuration
16699 @cindex windows configuration
16701 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16703 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16704 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16705 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16706 @code{t} by default.
16708 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16709 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16711 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16712 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16713 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16716 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16717 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16718 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16722 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16723 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16724 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16725 possible names is listed below.
16727 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16728 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16731 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16735 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16736 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16737 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16738 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16739 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16740 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16741 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16742 size spec per split.
16744 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16745 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16746 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16747 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16748 present) gets focus.
16750 Here's a more complicated example:
16753 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16754 (summary 0.25 point)
16755 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16759 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16760 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16761 occupy, not a percentage.
16763 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16764 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16765 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16766 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16767 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16770 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16773 (article (horizontal 1.0
16778 (summary 0.25 point)
16783 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16784 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16786 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16787 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16788 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16789 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16790 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16792 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16793 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16794 lines from the splits.
16796 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16800 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16801 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16802 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16803 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16804 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16805 size = number | frame-params
16806 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16809 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16810 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16811 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16812 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16814 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16815 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16816 @cindex window height
16817 @cindex window width
16818 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16819 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16820 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16821 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16822 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16823 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16825 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16826 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16827 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16828 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16830 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16831 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16832 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16833 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16834 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16835 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16836 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16837 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16838 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16839 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16840 configuration list.
16843 (gnus-configure-frame
16847 (article 0.3 point))
16855 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16856 @code{frame} split:
16859 (gnus-configure-frame
16862 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16864 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16865 (user-position . t)
16866 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16871 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16872 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16873 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16874 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16875 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16876 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16877 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16878 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16880 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16881 be found in its default value.
16883 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16884 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16885 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16889 (message (horizontal 1.0
16890 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16892 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16897 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16898 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16899 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16902 (message (frame 1.0
16903 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16904 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16905 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16906 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16907 (name . "Message"))
16908 (message 1.0 point))))
16911 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16912 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16913 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16914 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16915 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16918 (gnus-add-configuration
16919 '(article (vertical 1.0
16921 (summary .25 point)
16925 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16926 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
16927 Gnus has been loaded.
16929 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
16930 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
16931 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
16932 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
16933 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
16935 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
16936 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
16937 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
16941 @node Faces and Fonts
16942 @section Faces and Fonts
16947 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
16948 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
16949 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
16954 @section Compilation
16955 @cindex compilation
16956 @cindex byte-compilation
16958 @findex gnus-compile
16960 Remember all those line format specification variables?
16961 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
16962 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
16963 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
16964 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
16965 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
16968 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
16969 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
16970 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
16971 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
16972 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
16973 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
16974 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
16978 @section Mode Lines
16981 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
16982 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
16983 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
16984 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
16985 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
16986 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
16987 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
16990 @cindex display-time
16992 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
16993 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
16994 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
16995 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
16996 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
16997 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
16998 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
16999 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17002 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17004 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17005 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17007 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17008 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17009 (length display-time-string)))))
17012 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17013 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17014 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17015 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17016 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17019 @node Highlighting and Menus
17020 @section Highlighting and Menus
17022 @cindex highlighting
17025 @vindex gnus-visual
17026 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17027 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17028 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17031 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17032 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17035 @item group-highlight
17036 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17037 @item summary-highlight
17038 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17039 @item article-highlight
17040 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17042 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17044 Create menus in the group buffer.
17046 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17048 Create menus in the article buffer.
17050 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17052 Create menus in the server buffer.
17054 Create menus in the score buffers.
17056 Create menus in all buffers.
17059 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17060 buffers, you could say something like:
17063 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17066 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17069 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17072 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17073 in all Gnus buffers.
17075 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17078 @item gnus-mouse-face
17079 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17080 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17081 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17085 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17089 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17090 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17091 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17093 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17094 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17095 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17097 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17098 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17099 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17101 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17102 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17103 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17105 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17106 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17107 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17109 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17110 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17111 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17122 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17123 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17124 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17125 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17126 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17130 @vindex gnus-carpal
17131 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17132 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17133 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17138 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17139 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17140 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17142 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17143 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17144 Face used on buttons.
17146 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17147 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17148 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17150 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17151 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17152 Buttons in the group buffer.
17154 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17155 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17156 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17158 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17159 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17160 Buttons in the server buffer.
17162 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17163 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17164 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17167 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17168 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17169 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17177 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17178 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17179 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17180 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17181 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17183 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17184 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17185 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17187 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17188 been idle for thirty minutes:
17191 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17194 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17198 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17201 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17202 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17203 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17205 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17206 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17207 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17208 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17210 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17211 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17212 @var{idle} minutes.
17214 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17215 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17218 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17219 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17220 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
17222 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
17223 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
17224 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
17225 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
17227 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
17228 your @file{.gnus} file:
17230 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
17232 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
17235 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
17236 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
17237 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
17238 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
17239 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
17240 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
17241 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
17242 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
17243 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
17244 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
17245 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
17247 @findex gnus-demon-init
17248 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
17249 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
17250 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
17251 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
17252 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
17254 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
17255 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
17256 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
17265 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
17266 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
17268 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
17269 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
17270 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
17271 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
17274 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
17275 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
17276 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
17277 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
17279 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
17280 this will make spam disappear.
17282 There are some variables to customize, of course:
17285 @item gnus-use-nocem
17286 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
17287 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
17290 @item gnus-nocem-groups
17291 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
17292 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
17293 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
17294 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
17296 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
17297 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
17298 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
17299 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
17300 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
17301 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
17302 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
17304 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
17307 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
17308 @cindex Chris Lewis
17309 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
17310 usenet abuse than anybody else.
17313 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
17314 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
17315 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
17317 @item jem@@xpat.com;
17319 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
17322 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
17323 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
17324 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
17327 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
17328 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
17329 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
17330 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
17331 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
17332 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
17333 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
17334 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
17335 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
17336 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
17338 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
17339 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
17342 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
17345 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
17346 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
17349 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
17352 The specs are applied left-to-right.
17355 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
17356 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
17358 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
17359 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
17360 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
17361 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
17363 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
17364 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
17367 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
17369 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
17377 This might be dangerous, though.
17379 @item gnus-nocem-directory
17380 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
17381 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
17382 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
17384 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17385 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17386 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
17387 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
17388 might then see old spam.
17392 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
17393 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
17394 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
17395 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
17402 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
17403 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
17404 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
17406 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
17407 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
17408 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
17409 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
17410 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
17411 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
17412 @code{undo} function.
17414 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
17415 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
17416 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
17417 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
17418 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
17419 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
17420 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
17421 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
17422 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
17423 never be totally undoable.
17425 @findex gnus-undo-mode
17426 @vindex gnus-use-undo
17428 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
17429 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
17430 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
17431 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
17436 @section Moderation
17439 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
17440 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
17441 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
17444 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
17448 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
17451 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17453 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
17458 You split your incoming mail by matching on
17459 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
17460 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
17463 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
17464 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
17467 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
17468 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
17472 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
17475 (setq gnus-moderated-list
17476 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
17480 @node XEmacs Enhancements
17481 @section XEmacs Enhancements
17484 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
17488 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
17489 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
17490 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
17491 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
17504 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
17505 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
17506 over your shoulder as you read news.
17509 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
17510 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
17511 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
17512 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
17513 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
17518 @subsubsection Picon Basics
17520 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
17529 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
17530 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
17531 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
17532 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
17533 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
17534 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
17535 @code{GIF} formats.
17538 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17539 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
17540 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
17541 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
17542 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
17544 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17545 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
17546 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
17547 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
17548 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17549 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17552 @node Picon Requirements
17553 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17555 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17556 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17559 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17560 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17561 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17563 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17564 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17565 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17566 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17567 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17571 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17573 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17574 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17577 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17578 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17581 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17582 containing the Picons databases.
17584 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17587 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17588 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17593 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17601 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17602 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17603 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17604 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17605 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17610 @item gnus-picons-database
17611 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17612 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17613 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17614 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17615 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17616 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17618 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17619 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17620 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17621 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17622 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17623 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17624 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17626 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17627 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17628 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17629 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17630 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17631 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17632 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17633 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17635 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17636 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17637 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17642 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17643 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17645 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17646 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17649 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17651 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17652 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17653 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17654 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17656 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17657 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17658 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17664 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17665 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17673 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17674 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17675 don't need to worry about.
17679 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17680 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17681 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17682 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17684 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17685 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17686 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17687 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17689 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17690 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17691 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17692 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17693 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17695 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17696 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17697 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17698 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17699 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17700 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17701 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17703 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17704 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17705 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17706 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17708 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17709 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17710 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17711 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17712 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17713 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17714 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17716 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17717 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17718 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17719 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17721 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17722 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17723 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17724 Defaults to @code{t}.
17726 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17727 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17728 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17729 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17731 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17732 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17733 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17735 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17736 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17737 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17738 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17740 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17741 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17743 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17744 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17745 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17746 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17747 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17748 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17749 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17750 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17761 @subsection Smileys
17766 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17771 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17772 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17774 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17775 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17778 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
17781 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17782 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17783 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17784 text and maps that to file names.
17786 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17787 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17788 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17789 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17790 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17791 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17793 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17794 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17796 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17797 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17798 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17800 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17801 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17805 @item smiley-data-directory
17806 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17807 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17809 @item smiley-flesh-color
17810 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17811 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17813 @item smiley-features-color
17814 @vindex smiley-features-color
17815 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17817 @item smiley-tongue-color
17818 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17819 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17821 @item smiley-circle-color
17822 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17823 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17825 @item smiley-mouse-face
17826 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17827 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17833 @subsection Toolbar
17843 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17844 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17845 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17846 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17847 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17849 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17850 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17851 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17853 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17854 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17855 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17857 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17858 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17859 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17865 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17868 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17869 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17870 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17871 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17872 unusual directory structure.
17874 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17875 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17876 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17877 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17879 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17880 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17881 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17882 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17883 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17884 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17886 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17887 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17888 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17902 @node Fuzzy Matching
17903 @section Fuzzy Matching
17904 @cindex fuzzy matching
17906 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17907 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17909 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17910 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17911 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17913 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17914 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17915 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17916 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17917 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
17920 @node Thwarting Email Spam
17921 @section Thwarting Email Spam
17925 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
17927 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
17928 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
17929 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
17930 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
17931 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
17932 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
17933 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
17934 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
17937 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
17938 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
17939 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
17940 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
17941 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
17942 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
17946 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
17947 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
17949 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
17950 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
17951 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
17952 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
17953 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
17954 part of the mail address.)
17957 (setq message-default-news-headers
17958 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
17961 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
17962 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
17967 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
17968 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
17969 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
17975 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
17976 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
17977 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
17978 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
17980 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
17981 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
17982 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
17983 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
17984 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
17985 your fancy split rule in this way:
17990 (to "larsi" "misc")
17994 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
17995 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
17996 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
17997 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
17998 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18000 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18001 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18002 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
18003 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18004 cosmic balance somewhat.
18006 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18007 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18008 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18009 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18012 @node Various Various
18013 @section Various Various
18019 @item gnus-home-directory
18020 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18021 defaults to @file{~/}.
18023 @item gnus-directory
18024 @vindex gnus-directory
18025 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18026 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18027 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18029 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18030 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18031 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18032 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18034 @item gnus-default-directory
18035 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18036 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18037 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18038 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18039 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18040 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18041 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18044 @vindex gnus-verbose
18045 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18046 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18047 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18048 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18049 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18051 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18052 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18053 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18054 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18056 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18057 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18058 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18059 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18060 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18061 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18062 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18063 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18064 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18065 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18067 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18068 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18069 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18070 read when doing the operation described above.
18072 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18073 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18075 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18076 @cindex characters in file names
18077 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18078 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18079 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18082 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18086 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18087 Windows (phooey) systems.
18089 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18090 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18091 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18092 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18093 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18095 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18096 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18097 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18098 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18099 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18101 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18102 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18103 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18112 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18113 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18115 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18117 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18123 Not because of victories @*
18126 but for the common sunshine,@*
18128 the largess of the spring.
18132 but for the day's work done@*
18133 as well as I was able;@*
18134 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18135 but at the common table.@*
18140 @chapter Appendices
18143 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18144 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18145 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18146 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18147 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18148 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18149 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18150 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18158 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18159 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18161 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18162 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18163 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
18164 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18165 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18167 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18168 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18169 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18170 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18171 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18172 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18174 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18175 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18176 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18177 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18180 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18181 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18182 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18183 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18184 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18185 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18186 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18187 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18188 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18189 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
18193 @node Gnus Versions
18194 @subsection Gnus Versions
18195 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18197 @cindex September Gnus
18198 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18200 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18201 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18202 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18204 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18205 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18207 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18208 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18210 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18211 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18213 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18214 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18217 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18218 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
18219 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
18220 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
18221 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
18225 @node Other Gnus Versions
18226 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
18229 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
18230 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
18231 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
18232 @sc{mime} capabilities.
18234 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
18235 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
18236 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
18237 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
18244 What's the point of Gnus?
18246 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
18247 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
18248 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
18249 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
18250 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
18251 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
18252 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
18253 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
18254 keep track of millions of people who post?
18256 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
18257 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
18258 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
18259 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
18260 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
18261 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
18262 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
18263 every one of you to explore and invent.
18265 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
18266 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
18269 @node Compatibility
18270 @subsection Compatibility
18272 @cindex compatibility
18273 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
18274 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
18275 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
18280 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
18284 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
18287 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
18290 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
18291 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
18292 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
18293 important variables have their values copied into their global
18294 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
18295 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
18297 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
18298 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
18299 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
18300 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
18301 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
18305 @cindex highlighting
18306 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
18307 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
18308 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
18309 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
18310 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
18311 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
18314 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
18315 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
18316 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
18317 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
18319 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
18320 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
18321 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
18322 to stop doing it the old way.
18324 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
18326 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18328 @cindex reporting bugs
18330 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
18331 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
18332 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
18334 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
18335 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
18336 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
18337 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
18342 @subsection Conformity
18344 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
18345 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
18352 There are no known breaches of this standard.
18356 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
18358 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
18359 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
18360 We do have some breaches to this one.
18366 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
18367 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
18368 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
18369 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
18370 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
18375 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
18376 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
18377 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
18378 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
18382 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
18383 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
18388 @subsection Emacsen
18394 Gnus should work on :
18402 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
18406 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
18407 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
18410 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
18411 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
18412 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
18416 @node Gnus Development
18417 @subsection Gnus Development
18419 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
18420 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
18421 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
18422 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
18423 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
18424 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
18425 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
18426 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
18428 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
18429 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
18430 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
18431 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
18432 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
18435 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
18436 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
18437 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
18438 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
18439 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
18441 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
18442 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
18443 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
18444 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
18445 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
18446 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
18447 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
18448 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
18449 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
18450 can't be assumed to do so.
18455 @subsection Contributors
18456 @cindex contributors
18458 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
18459 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
18460 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
18461 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
18462 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
18463 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
18464 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
18465 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
18466 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
18467 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
18469 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
18475 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
18478 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
18479 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
18480 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
18481 functionality and stuff.
18484 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
18485 well as numerous other things).
18488 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
18491 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
18494 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
18497 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
18498 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
18501 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
18504 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
18505 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18508 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
18511 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
18514 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
18517 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
18520 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
18521 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
18524 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
18527 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
18530 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
18533 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
18537 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
18540 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
18543 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
18546 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
18547 well as autoconf support.
18551 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18552 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18554 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18563 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18567 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18577 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18592 Massimo Campostrini,
18597 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18598 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18602 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18605 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18611 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18616 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18620 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18628 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18630 Michelangelo Grigni,
18634 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18636 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18638 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18645 François Felix Ingrand,
18646 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18647 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18649 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18660 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18661 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18663 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18664 Thor Kristoffersen,
18667 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18685 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18686 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18693 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18698 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18702 John McClary Prevost,
18708 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18713 Christian von Roques,
18716 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
18723 Philippe Schnoebelen,
18725 Randal L. Schwartz,
18739 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18744 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18760 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18765 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18766 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18767 (550kB and counting).
18769 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18772 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18773 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18777 @subsection New Features
18778 @cindex new features
18781 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18782 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18783 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18784 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18787 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18788 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18789 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18793 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18795 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18800 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18801 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18804 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18805 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18808 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18811 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18812 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18813 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18816 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18817 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18818 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18819 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18822 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18823 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18826 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18827 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18828 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18831 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18832 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18835 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18836 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18837 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18840 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18841 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18842 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18845 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18846 the @file{.emacs} file.
18849 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18850 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18853 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18854 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18857 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18858 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18861 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18862 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18865 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18866 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18869 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18872 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18873 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18876 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18877 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18880 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18881 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18884 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18887 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18888 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18891 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18895 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18899 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18900 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18903 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18909 @node September Gnus
18910 @subsubsection September Gnus
18914 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18918 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
18923 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
18924 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
18928 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
18929 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
18933 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
18937 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
18938 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
18941 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
18945 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18948 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
18951 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
18954 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
18958 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
18959 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
18962 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
18966 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
18970 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
18974 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
18978 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
18981 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
18982 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
18985 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
18989 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
18990 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
18993 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
18996 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
18997 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
18998 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19001 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19005 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19008 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19012 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19013 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19016 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19017 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19020 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19021 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19024 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19025 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19026 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19029 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19030 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19033 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19036 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19039 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19042 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19045 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19046 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19049 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19053 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19056 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19061 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19064 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19068 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19071 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19075 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19078 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19081 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19082 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19085 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19086 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19090 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19091 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19094 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19098 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19099 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19102 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19105 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19109 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19113 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19114 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19117 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19121 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19122 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19125 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19126 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19129 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19133 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19136 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19139 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19145 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19147 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19151 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19158 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19161 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19162 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19165 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19166 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19170 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19171 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19174 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19177 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19178 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19181 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19185 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19186 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19190 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19191 Server Internals}).
19194 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19198 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19201 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19202 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19205 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19206 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19207 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19210 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19211 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19214 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19215 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
19218 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
19222 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
19223 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19226 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
19227 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19230 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
19234 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
19237 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
19241 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
19242 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19245 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
19246 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19249 A new command for reading collections of documents
19250 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
19251 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
19254 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
19258 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
19259 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
19262 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
19263 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
19264 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
19267 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
19268 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
19272 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
19276 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
19280 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
19285 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
19289 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
19293 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
19294 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
19297 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
19303 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
19305 New features in Gnus 5.6:
19310 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
19311 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
19312 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
19315 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
19316 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
19317 group, which is created automatically.
19320 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
19324 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
19327 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
19328 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
19331 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
19335 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
19338 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
19339 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
19342 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
19345 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
19346 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
19349 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
19350 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
19353 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
19354 control over simplification.
19357 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
19360 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
19364 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
19367 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
19370 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
19371 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
19372 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
19375 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
19376 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
19379 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
19383 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
19384 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
19387 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
19388 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
19391 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
19395 A history of where mails have been split is available.
19398 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
19401 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
19402 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
19405 A new function for citing in Message has been
19406 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
19409 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
19412 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
19416 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
19417 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
19420 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
19421 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
19424 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
19427 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
19432 @node Newest Features
19433 @subsection Newest Features
19436 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
19439 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
19441 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
19442 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
19445 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
19450 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
19451 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
19454 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
19457 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
19460 facep is not declared.
19463 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
19464 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
19467 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
19472 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
19473 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
19474 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
19475 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
19476 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
19477 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
19478 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
19483 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
19486 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
19489 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
19491 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
19492 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
19494 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
19496 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
19498 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
19499 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
19501 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
19503 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
19504 be marked as unread.
19506 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
19508 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
19510 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
19511 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
19513 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
19515 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
19517 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
19518 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
19520 topics that contain just groups with ticked
19521 articles aren't displayed.
19523 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
19525 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
19526 make the mail groups killed.
19528 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
19530 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
19531 and articles have to be removed.
19533 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
19536 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
19538 finding short score file names takes forever.
19540 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19542 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
19544 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
19546 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
19548 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19550 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19552 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19553 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19557 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19559 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19560 bar and the Gnus bar.
19563 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19564 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19565 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19566 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19567 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19568 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19573 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19577 postponed commands.
19579 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19581 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19584 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19585 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19587 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19588 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19590 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19592 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19593 for backends that support that.
19595 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19597 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19598 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19600 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19601 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19603 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19605 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19607 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19609 server mode command: close/open all connections
19611 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19612 has been changed before using it.
19614 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19616 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19618 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19620 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19622 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19623 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19625 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19626 contain groups that match a regexp.
19628 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19631 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19634 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19635 from subject lines.
19637 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19639 nntp-ping-before-connect
19641 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19643 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19644 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19646 message annotations.
19648 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19650 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19651 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19653 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19658 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19660 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19662 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19664 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19665 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19667 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19669 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19671 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19672 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19674 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19675 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19677 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19679 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19681 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19682 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19684 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19686 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19688 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19689 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19692 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19694 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19696 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19697 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19699 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19702 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19703 should be marker as expirable.
19705 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19707 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19708 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19710 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19711 Also consult Date headers.
19713 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
19715 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
19717 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
19718 Message-ID, delete the "original".
19720 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
19721 into a See-Also header.
19723 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
19725 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19727 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19728 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19730 generate font names dynamically.
19732 score file mode auto-alist.
19734 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19735 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19737 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19738 absolutely all headers there is.
19740 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19741 and pipe them to the process.
19743 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19744 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19745 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19747 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19748 the current mail group.
19750 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19752 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19753 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19755 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19756 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19758 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19760 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19761 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19763 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19764 groups it has been mailed to.
19766 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19768 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19770 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19772 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19773 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19775 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19776 newlines) should be ignored.
19778 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19779 groups in subtopics as well.
19781 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19783 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19786 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19788 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19790 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19792 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19794 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19796 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19798 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19799 or the formatted article.
19801 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19803 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19804 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19806 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19808 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19810 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19812 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19813 even unread articles.
19815 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19817 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19819 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19821 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19823 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19825 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19828 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19829 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19831 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19832 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19834 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19836 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19838 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19839 from a particular server? Hm.
19841 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19842 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19844 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19846 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19847 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19849 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19850 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19852 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19853 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19854 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19857 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19858 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19860 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19862 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19864 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19866 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19869 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19872 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19873 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19875 command to show and edit group scores
19877 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19880 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19882 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19884 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19885 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19888 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19889 that are of that length.
19891 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19893 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19895 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19897 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19899 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19901 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19903 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19904 a score lower than this number.
19906 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19908 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19910 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19911 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19913 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19915 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19916 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19918 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
19921 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
19922 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
19923 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
19924 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
19926 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
19929 command to remove all topic stuff.
19931 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
19932 and splitting the resulting digests.
19934 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
19936 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
19938 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
19939 matches an alist -- before saving.
19941 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
19943 variable to activate each group before entering them
19944 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
19946 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
19947 starting Gnus first if necessary.
19949 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
19950 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
19952 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
19954 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
19955 of several groups at once.
19957 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
19958 matches some regexp(s).
19960 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
19962 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
19964 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
19966 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
19968 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
19970 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
19972 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
19974 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
19975 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
19976 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
19977 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
19979 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
19980 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
19982 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
19984 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
19985 recently cited text.
19987 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
19989 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
19992 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
19993 server and just read the articles in the server
19995 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
19996 value of nnoo variables.
19998 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
20000 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
20001 listed in each group info.
20003 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
20006 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
20007 should only be applied to some groups.
20009 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
20010 mail-copies-to: never.
20012 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
20013 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
20015 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
20017 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
20020 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
20023 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
20025 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
20028 group user-defined meta-parameters.
20032 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
20034 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
20035 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
20036 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
20037 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
20038 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
20040 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
20041 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
20048 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
20049 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
20051 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
20052 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
20054 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
20055 "Return the date the group was last read."
20056 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
20061 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
20062 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
20063 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
20064 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
20068 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
20069 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
20071 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
20074 They could be used like this:
20078 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
20079 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
20080 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
20082 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
20084 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
20087 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
20090 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
20091 affect the summary line format.
20095 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
20097 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
20098 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
20100 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
20103 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
20105 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
20107 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
20109 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
20111 - For other files, just find them normally.
20113 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
20114 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
20117 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
20118 tell him what you are doing.
20121 Currently, I get prompted:
20125 decend into sci.something ?
20129 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
20130 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
20131 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
20132 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
20135 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
20136 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
20137 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
20138 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
20141 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
20142 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
20148 more than n blank lines
20150 more than m identical lines
20151 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
20153 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
20157 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
20158 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
20159 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
20160 "same" subject for threading purposes.
20163 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
20164 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
20165 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
20166 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
20169 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
20172 soup - bowl of soup
20173 score below - dim light bulb
20174 score over - bright light bulb
20177 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
20182 show-list-of-articles-in-group
20183 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20184 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
20185 if (articles-selected)
20186 start-reading-selected-articles;
20187 junk-unread-articles;
20192 else if (key-pressed = '.')
20193 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
20194 select-thread-under-cursor;
20196 select-article-under-cursor;
20200 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20201 if (more-pages-in-article)
20203 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
20210 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
20211 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
20212 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
20215 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
20216 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
20217 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
20218 the wildcard expression).
20221 It would be nice if it also handled
20223 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
20225 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
20230 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
20231 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
20232 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
20233 article versions) variable.
20235 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
20237 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
20238 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
20242 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
20245 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
20246 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
20247 (message-sent-hook).
20249 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
20252 * Enhancements to Gnus:
20256 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
20257 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
20260 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
20261 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
20262 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
20265 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
20266 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
20270 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
20273 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
20277 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
20278 the nnmail duplicate checking.
20281 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
20282 value of the signature file.
20285 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
20286 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
20289 (setq message-tab-alist
20290 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
20291 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
20293 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
20297 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
20300 a command to import a buffer into a group.
20303 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
20306 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
20307 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
20310 a command to process mark all unread articles.
20313 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
20314 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
20315 do more gathering by subject.
20318 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
20319 article numerical order.
20322 (gnus-thread-total-score
20323 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
20327 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
20330 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
20331 in the summary buffer.
20334 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
20335 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
20338 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
20339 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
20340 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
20341 and/or newsgroup name.
20344 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
20347 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
20350 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
20353 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
20354 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
20355 will automatically get the process mark.
20358 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
20359 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
20360 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
20363 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
20367 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
20368 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
20371 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
20372 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
20376 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
20377 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
20380 be able to post via DejaNews.
20383 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
20386 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
20387 allow them to be displayed separately.
20390 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
20391 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
20394 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
20395 articles that match a certain From header.
20398 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
20399 saving living summary buffers.
20402 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
20403 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
20406 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
20407 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
20410 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
20411 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
20414 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
20415 (goto-char (point-min))
20416 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
20417 (replace-match "`" t t))
20418 (goto-char (point-min))
20419 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
20420 (replace-match "'" t t))
20421 (goto-char (point-min))
20422 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
20423 (replace-match "\"" t t))
20424 (goto-char (point-min))
20425 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
20426 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
20431 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
20433 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
20434 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
20435 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
20436 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
20440 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
20443 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
20444 numbers and match on the age of the article.
20448 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
20449 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
20450 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
20452 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
20453 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
20455 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
20456 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
20461 all commands that react to the process mark should push
20462 the current process mark set onto the stack.
20465 gnus-article-hide-pgp
20466 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
20468 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
20470 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
20471 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
20474 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
20475 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
20478 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
20482 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
20483 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
20486 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
20489 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
20492 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
20495 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
20499 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
20505 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
20508 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
20512 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
20513 X characters in the body.
20516 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
20519 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
20522 format spec to "tab" to a position.
20525 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
20528 command to display all dormant articles.
20531 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
20534 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
20535 to something someone else has said.
20538 Read Netscape discussion groups:
20539 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
20542 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
20543 the displayed version.
20546 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20550 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20553 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20554 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20555 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20559 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20560 in the head or body.
20563 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20566 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20569 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20570 in a special, unique buffer.
20573 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20576 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20577 is less than a certain number of days old.
20580 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20583 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20586 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20587 file, for instance.
20590 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20591 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
20592 dummy root instead of the first article.
20595 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20596 topics for displaying.
20599 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20600 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20603 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20606 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20607 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20608 summary buffer for each article.
20611 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20614 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20618 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20621 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20625 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20628 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20631 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20632 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20635 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20636 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20639 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20640 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20643 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20644 timeout for all commands.
20647 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20648 It should go somewhere else.
20651 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20652 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20653 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20655 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20656 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20658 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20659 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20666 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20667 --text follows this line--
20668 Sorry I killfiled you...
20670 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20672 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20677 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20681 - Edit article's summary line.
20683 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20685 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20691 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20695 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20696 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20700 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20703 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20706 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20707 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
20708 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
20709 turn into a [-] button.)
20712 Solve the halting problem.
20721 @section The Manual
20725 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20726 either @code{texi2dvi}
20728 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20729 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20731 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20733 The following conventions have been used:
20738 This is a @samp{string}
20741 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20744 This is a @file{file}
20747 This is a @code{symbol}
20751 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20755 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20758 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20761 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20764 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20765 ever get them confused.
20769 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20770 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20771 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20772 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20773 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20774 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20775 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20781 @node On Writing Manuals
20782 @section On Writing Manuals
20784 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20785 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20786 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20787 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20788 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20789 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20792 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20793 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20794 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20797 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20798 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20803 @section Terminology
20805 @cindex terminology
20810 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20811 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20812 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20813 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20814 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20818 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20819 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20820 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20821 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20825 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20829 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20834 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20835 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20836 is all done by the backends.
20840 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20841 default, way of getting news.
20845 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20846 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20851 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20852 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20856 A message that has been posted as news.
20859 @cindex mail message
20860 A message that has been mailed.
20864 A mail message or news article
20868 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20873 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20878 A line from the head of an article.
20882 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20883 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20887 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20888 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20889 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20890 normal @sc{head} format.
20894 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20895 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20896 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20897 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20898 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20899 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20901 @item killed groups
20902 @cindex killed groups
20903 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20904 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20906 @item zombie groups
20907 @cindex zombie groups
20908 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20911 @cindex active file
20912 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20913 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20914 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20917 @cindex bogus groups
20918 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20919 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20920 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20923 @cindex activating groups
20924 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20925 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20926 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20930 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20932 @item select method
20933 @cindex select method
20934 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20937 @item virtual server
20938 @cindex virtual server
20939 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20940 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20941 whole is a virtual server.
20945 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20946 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20949 @item ephemeral groups
20950 @cindex ephemeral groups
20951 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20952 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20953 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20956 @cindex solid groups
20957 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20958 group buffer are solid groups.
20960 @item sparse articles
20961 @cindex sparse articles
20962 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20963 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20967 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20968 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20972 @cindex thread root
20973 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20974 articles in the thread.
20978 An article that has responses.
20982 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20986 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20987 specified by RFC1153.
20993 @node Customization
20994 @section Customization
20995 @cindex general customization
20997 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20998 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20999 for some quite common situations.
21002 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21003 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21004 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21005 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21009 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21010 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21012 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21013 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21014 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21018 @item gnus-read-active-file
21019 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21020 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21021 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21022 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21023 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21025 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21026 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21027 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21028 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21032 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21033 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21035 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21036 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21037 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21041 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21042 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21043 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21044 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21045 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21047 @item gnus-visible-headers
21048 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21049 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21050 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21051 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21053 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21055 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21056 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21057 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21060 @item gnus-use-full-window
21061 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21062 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21063 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21064 want to read them anyway.
21066 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21067 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21070 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21071 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21072 lines, which might save some time.
21076 @node Little Disk Space
21077 @subsection Little Disk Space
21080 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21081 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21085 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21086 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21087 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21088 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21091 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21092 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21093 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21094 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21097 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21098 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21099 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21100 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21101 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21107 @subsection Slow Machine
21108 @cindex slow machine
21110 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21111 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21113 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21114 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21116 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21117 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21118 summary buffer faster.
21122 @node Troubleshooting
21123 @section Troubleshooting
21124 @cindex troubleshooting
21126 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21134 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21137 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21138 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21142 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21143 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
21144 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
21145 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21148 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21152 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21153 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21154 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21155 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21156 something like that.
21159 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21162 @cindex reporting bugs
21164 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21166 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21167 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21168 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21169 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21171 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21172 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21173 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21174 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21177 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21178 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21179 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21180 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21181 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21182 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21184 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21185 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21186 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21189 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21190 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21192 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21193 @cindex ding mailing list
21194 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21195 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21199 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21200 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21202 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21203 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21204 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21205 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21208 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21209 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21210 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21211 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21212 and general methods of operation.
21215 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21216 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21217 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21218 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21219 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21220 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21221 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21222 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21223 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21227 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21228 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21229 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21230 @cindex utility functions
21232 @cindex internal variables
21234 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21235 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21236 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21240 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21241 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21242 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21244 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21245 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21246 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21248 @item gnus-group-real-name
21249 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21250 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21253 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21254 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21255 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21256 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21258 @item gnus-get-info
21259 @findex gnus-get-info
21260 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21262 @item gnus-group-unread
21263 @findex gnus-group-unread
21264 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21268 @findex gnus-active
21269 The active entry for @var{group}.
21271 @item gnus-set-active
21272 @findex gnus-set-active
21273 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21275 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21276 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21277 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21280 @item gnus-continuum-version
21281 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21282 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21283 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21286 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21287 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21288 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21290 @item gnus-news-group-p
21291 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21292 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21294 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21295 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21296 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21298 @item gnus-server-to-method
21299 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21300 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21302 @item gnus-server-equal
21303 @findex gnus-server-equal
21304 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21306 @item gnus-group-native-p
21307 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21308 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21310 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21311 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21312 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21314 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21315 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21316 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21318 @item group-group-find-parameter
21319 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21320 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21321 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21323 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21324 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21325 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21327 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21328 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21329 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21331 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21332 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21333 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21334 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21337 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21341 @item gnus-read-method
21342 @findex gnus-read-method
21343 Prompts the user for a select method.
21348 @node Backend Interface
21349 @subsection Backend Interface
21351 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21352 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21353 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21354 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21355 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21356 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21358 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21359 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21360 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21361 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21362 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21363 been opened, the function should fail.
21365 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21366 name. Take this example:
21370 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21371 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21374 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21375 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21377 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21378 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21379 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21381 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21382 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21383 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21385 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21386 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21387 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21388 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21389 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21390 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21393 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21394 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21395 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21396 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21399 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21402 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21405 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21406 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21407 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21408 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21409 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21410 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21414 @node Required Backend Functions
21415 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21419 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21421 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21422 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21423 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21424 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21426 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21427 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21428 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21429 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21431 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21432 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21433 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21434 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21435 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21436 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21437 number, do maximum fetches.
21439 Here's an example HEAD:
21442 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21443 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21444 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21445 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21446 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21447 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21448 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21450 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21451 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21452 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21456 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21457 these in the data buffer.
21459 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21463 head = error / valid-head
21464 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21465 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21466 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21467 header = <text> eol
21470 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21471 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21475 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21476 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21477 field = <text except TAB>
21480 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21484 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21486 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21487 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21489 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21490 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21491 server. In fact, it should do so.
21493 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21494 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21497 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21499 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21500 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21503 There should be no data returned.
21506 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21508 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21509 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21510 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21511 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21513 There should be no data returned.
21516 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21518 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21519 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21520 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21521 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21523 There should be no data returned.
21526 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21528 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21530 There should be no data returned.
21533 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21535 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21536 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21537 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21538 it would be nice if that were possible.
21540 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21541 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21542 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21543 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21544 into its article buffer.
21546 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21547 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21548 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21549 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21550 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21551 on successful article retrieval.
21554 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21556 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21557 making @var{group} the current group.
21559 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21562 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21565 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21568 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21569 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21570 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21571 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21572 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21573 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21574 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21575 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21578 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21579 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21580 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21584 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21586 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21587 a no-op on most backends.
21589 There should be no data returned.
21592 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21594 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21597 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21600 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21601 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21604 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21605 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21608 active-file = *active-line
21609 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21611 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21614 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21615 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21616 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21619 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21621 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21622 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21623 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21624 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21625 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21626 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21628 There should be no result data from this function.
21633 @node Optional Backend Functions
21634 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21638 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21640 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21641 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21642 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21644 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21645 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21646 former is in the same format as the data from
21647 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21648 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21651 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21655 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21657 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21658 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21659 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21660 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21661 should return the (altered) group info.
21663 There should be no result data from this function.
21666 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21668 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21669 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21670 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21671 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21672 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21673 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21674 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21675 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21677 There should be no result data from this function.
21680 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21682 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21683 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21684 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21685 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21686 propagate the mark information to the server.
21688 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21691 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21694 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21695 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21696 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21697 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21698 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21699 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21700 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21701 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21702 not limit itself to these.
21704 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21705 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21706 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21707 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21709 An example action list:
21712 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21713 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21714 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21717 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21718 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21720 There should be no result data from this function.
21722 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21724 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21725 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21726 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21727 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21728 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21730 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21731 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21732 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21735 There should be no result data from this function.
21738 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21740 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21741 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21742 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21743 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21744 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21745 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21746 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21748 There should be no result data from this function.
21751 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21753 The result data from this function should be a description of
21757 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21759 description = <text>
21762 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21764 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21765 groups available on the server.
21768 description-buffer = *description-line
21772 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21774 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21775 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21776 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21779 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21781 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21783 There should be no return data.
21786 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21788 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21789 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21790 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21791 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21792 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21795 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21798 There should be no result data returned.
21801 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21804 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21805 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21807 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21808 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21809 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21810 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21811 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21812 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21814 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21815 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21818 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21819 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21821 There should be no data returned.
21824 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21826 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21827 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21828 this function in short order.
21830 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21831 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21833 There should be no data returned.
21836 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21838 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21839 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21841 There should be no data returned.
21844 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21846 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21847 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21848 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21850 There should be no data returned.
21853 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21855 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21856 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21858 There should be no data returned.
21863 @node Error Messaging
21864 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21866 @findex nnheader-report
21867 @findex nnheader-get-report
21868 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21869 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21870 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21871 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21872 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21873 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21876 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21878 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21881 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21882 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21883 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21884 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21886 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21887 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21888 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21891 @node Writing New Backends
21892 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21894 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21895 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21896 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21897 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21898 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21901 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21902 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21903 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21905 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21906 package called @code{nnoo}.
21908 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21909 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21915 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21916 parameters. For instance:
21919 (nnoo-declare nndir
21923 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21924 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21927 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21928 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21929 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21931 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21932 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21933 a function in those backends.
21936 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21937 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21938 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21941 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21942 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21943 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21945 @item nnoo-define-basics
21946 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21950 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21954 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21955 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21956 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21958 @item nnoo-map-functions
21959 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21960 functions from the parent backends.
21963 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21964 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21965 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21968 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21969 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21970 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21971 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21974 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21975 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21976 haven't already been defined.
21982 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21986 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21987 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21988 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21993 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21996 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21997 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22001 (require 'nnheader)
22005 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22007 (nnoo-declare nndir
22010 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22011 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22012 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22014 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22015 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22018 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22019 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22020 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22022 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22023 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22025 ;;; Interface functions.
22027 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22029 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22030 (setq nndir-directory
22031 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22033 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22034 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22035 (push `(nndir-current-group
22036 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22038 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22039 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22041 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22043 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22044 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22045 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22046 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22047 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22051 nnmh-status-message
22053 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22059 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22060 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22062 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22063 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
22064 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22065 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22067 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
22068 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22073 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22076 The abilities can be:
22080 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22082 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22084 This backend supports both mail and news.
22086 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22089 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22090 articles and groups.
22092 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22093 true for almost all backends.
22094 @item prompt-address
22095 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22096 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22097 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22101 @node Mail-like Backends
22102 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22104 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22105 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22106 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22107 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22110 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22111 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22112 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22115 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22116 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22119 This function takes four parameters.
22123 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22126 @item exit-function
22127 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22129 @item temp-directory
22130 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22133 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22134 performed for one group only.
22137 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22138 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22139 find the article number assigned to this article.
22141 The function also uses the following variables:
22142 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22143 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22144 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22145 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22149 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22150 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22154 @node Score File Syntax
22155 @subsection Score File Syntax
22157 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22158 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22159 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22161 Here's a typical score file:
22165 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22172 BNF definition of a score file:
22175 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22176 element = rule / atom
22177 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22178 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22179 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22180 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22182 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22183 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22184 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22185 date-header = "date"
22186 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22187 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22188 score = "nil" / <integer>
22189 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22190 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22191 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22192 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22193 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22194 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22195 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22196 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22197 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22198 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22199 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22200 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22201 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22202 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22203 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22204 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22205 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22206 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22207 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22208 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22209 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22210 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22211 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22212 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22213 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22214 eval = "eval" space <form>
22215 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22218 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22221 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22222 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22223 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22224 one looong line, then that's ok.
22226 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22227 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22231 @subsection Headers
22233 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22234 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22235 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22236 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22238 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22239 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22240 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22241 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22242 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22243 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22244 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22246 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22247 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22248 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22249 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22250 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22252 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22253 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22259 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22260 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22262 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22263 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22264 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22265 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22267 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22271 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22274 is transformed into
22277 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22280 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22281 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22284 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22287 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22288 is slightly tricky:
22291 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22297 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22300 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22306 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22313 and is equal to the previous range.
22315 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22316 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22317 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22321 range = simple-range / normal-range
22322 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22323 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22324 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22325 number *[ " " contents ]
22328 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22329 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22330 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22331 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22332 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22337 @subsection Group Info
22339 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22340 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22341 describes the group.
22343 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22344 second is a more complex one:
22347 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22349 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22350 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22352 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22355 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22356 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22357 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22358 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22359 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22360 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22361 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22362 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22363 this section is about.
22365 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22366 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22367 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22369 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22372 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22373 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22374 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22375 group = quote <string> quote
22376 ralevel = rank / level
22377 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22378 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22379 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22381 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22382 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22383 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22384 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22387 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22388 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22391 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22392 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22395 @item gnus-info-group
22396 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22397 @findex gnus-info-group
22398 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22399 Get/set the group name.
22401 @item gnus-info-rank
22402 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22403 @findex gnus-info-rank
22404 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22405 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22407 @item gnus-info-level
22408 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22409 @findex gnus-info-level
22410 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22411 Get/set the group level.
22413 @item gnus-info-score
22414 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22415 @findex gnus-info-score
22416 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22417 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22419 @item gnus-info-read
22420 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22421 @findex gnus-info-read
22422 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22423 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22425 @item gnus-info-marks
22426 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22427 @findex gnus-info-marks
22428 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22429 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22431 @item gnus-info-method
22432 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22433 @findex gnus-info-method
22434 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22435 Get/set the group select method.
22437 @item gnus-info-params
22438 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22439 @findex gnus-info-params
22440 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22441 Get/set the group parameters.
22444 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22445 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22447 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22448 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22449 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22450 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22453 @node Extended Interactive
22454 @subsection Extended Interactive
22455 @cindex interactive
22456 @findex gnus-interactive
22458 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22459 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22460 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22463 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22464 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22469 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22470 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22471 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22472 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22473 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22474 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22475 @code{interactive}.
22477 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22482 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22483 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22487 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22488 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22489 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22492 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22496 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22500 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22506 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22507 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22511 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22512 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22513 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22515 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22516 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22517 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22518 Gnus, that's very useful.
22520 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22521 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22522 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22523 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22524 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22525 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22526 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22527 following function:
22530 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22534 (,function ,@@args))
22538 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22539 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22540 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22543 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22544 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22545 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22547 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22548 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22549 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22552 @node Various File Formats
22553 @subsection Various File Formats
22556 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22557 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22561 @node Active File Format
22562 @subsubsection Active File Format
22564 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22565 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22568 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22571 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22572 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22573 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22574 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22575 no.general 1000 900 y
22578 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22581 active = *group-line
22582 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22583 group = <non-white-space string>
22585 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22586 low-number = <positive integer>
22587 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22590 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22591 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22594 @node Newsgroups File Format
22595 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22597 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22598 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22599 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22602 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22603 Here's the definition:
22607 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22608 group = <non-white-space string>
22610 description = <string>
22615 @node Emacs for Heathens
22616 @section Emacs for Heathens
22618 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22619 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22620 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22621 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22622 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22623 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22624 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22628 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22629 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22634 @subsection Keystrokes
22638 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22641 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22644 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22645 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22646 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22647 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22648 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22649 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22651 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22652 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22653 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22654 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22655 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22656 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22657 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22659 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22660 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22661 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22662 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22663 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22664 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22665 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22667 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22668 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22669 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22670 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22671 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22677 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22679 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22680 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22681 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22682 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22684 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22685 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22686 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22687 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22688 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22689 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22690 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22693 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22694 write the following:
22697 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22700 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22701 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22702 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22705 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22706 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22707 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22708 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22709 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22711 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22712 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22713 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22717 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22721 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22724 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22725 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22728 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22731 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22732 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22735 @include gnus-faq.texi