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4 @settitle Gnus 5.4.42 Manual
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233 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
240 \thispagestyle{empty}
242 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
244 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
245 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
246 are preserved on all copies.
248 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
249 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
250 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
251 permission notice identical to this one.
253 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
254 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
263 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
265 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
267 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
268 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
269 are preserved on all copies.
272 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
273 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
274 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
275 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
278 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
279 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
280 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
281 permission notice identical to this one.
283 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
284 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
290 @title Gnus 5.4.42 Manual
292 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
295 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
296 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
302 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
303 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
304 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
305 permission notice identical to this one.
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
308 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
317 @top The Gnus Newsreader
321 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
322 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
323 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
326 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.4.42.
337 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
338 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
340 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
341 being accused of plagiarism:
343 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
344 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
345 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
346 even read news with it!
348 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
349 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
350 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
351 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
352 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
359 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
360 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
361 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
362 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
363 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
364 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
365 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
366 * Various:: General purpose settings.
367 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
368 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
369 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
370 * Key Index:: Key Index.
374 @chapter Starting Gnus
379 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
380 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
383 @findex gnus-other-frame
384 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
385 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
386 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
388 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
392 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
393 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
394 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
395 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
396 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
397 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
398 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
399 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
400 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
401 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
402 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
406 @node Finding the News
407 @section Finding the News
410 @vindex gnus-select-method
412 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
413 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
414 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
415 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
418 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
419 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
422 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
425 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
428 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
431 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
432 certainly be much faster.
434 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
436 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
437 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
438 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
439 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
440 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
441 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
442 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
444 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
445 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
446 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
447 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
449 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
450 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
451 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
452 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
453 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
454 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
456 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
458 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
459 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
460 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
461 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
462 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
463 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
465 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
467 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
468 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
469 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
470 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
471 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
472 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
475 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
476 would typically set this variable to
479 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
484 @section The First Time
485 @cindex first time usage
487 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
488 be subscribed by default.
490 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
491 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
492 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
493 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
496 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
497 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
498 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
500 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
501 help you with most common problems.
503 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
504 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
508 @node The Server is Down
509 @section The Server is Down
510 @cindex server errors
512 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
513 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
514 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
516 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
517 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
518 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
519 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
520 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
521 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
522 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
524 @findex gnus-no-server
525 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
527 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
528 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
529 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
530 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
531 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
532 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
537 @section Slave Gnusae
540 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
541 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
542 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
543 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
545 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
548 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
549 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
550 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
551 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
552 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
553 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
554 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
556 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
557 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
558 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
559 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
560 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
561 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
562 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
563 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
565 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
566 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
569 @node Fetching a Group
570 @section Fetching a Group
571 @cindex fetching a group
573 @findex gnus-fetch-group
574 It it sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
575 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
576 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
577 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
578 It takes the group name as a parameter.
586 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
587 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
588 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
589 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
590 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
591 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
592 is @code{t} by default. If you set this variable to @code{always}, then
593 Gnus will query the backends for new groups even when you do the @kbd{g}
594 command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
597 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
598 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
599 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
603 @node Checking New Groups
604 @subsection Checking New Groups
606 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
607 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
608 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
609 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
610 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
611 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
612 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
613 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
614 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
615 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
617 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
618 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
619 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
620 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
621 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
622 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
623 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
624 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
625 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
626 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
627 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
629 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
630 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
631 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
632 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
633 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
634 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
637 @node Subscription Methods
638 @subsection Subscription Methods
640 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
641 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
642 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
644 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
645 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
647 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
651 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
652 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
653 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
654 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
655 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
657 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
658 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
659 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
661 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
662 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
663 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
665 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
666 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
667 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
668 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
669 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
670 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
671 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
672 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
673 up. Or something like that.
675 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
676 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
677 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
678 you about @strong{all} new groups.
680 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
681 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
686 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
687 A closely related variable is
688 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
689 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
690 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
691 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
694 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
695 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
696 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
699 @node Filtering New Groups
700 @subsection Filtering New Groups
702 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
703 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
704 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
707 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
710 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
711 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
712 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
713 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
714 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
715 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
716 subscribing these groups.
717 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
718 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
720 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
721 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
722 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
723 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
724 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
725 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
726 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
727 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
729 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
730 Yet another variable that meddles here is
731 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
732 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
733 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
734 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
735 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
736 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
737 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
738 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
740 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
741 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
744 @node Changing Servers
745 @section Changing Servers
746 @cindex changing servers
748 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
749 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
750 very flaky and you want to use another.
752 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
753 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
757 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
758 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
759 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
760 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
763 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
764 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
765 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
766 functions more than absolutely necessary.
768 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
769 @findex gnus-change-server
770 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
771 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
772 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
773 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
774 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
776 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
777 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
778 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
779 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
780 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
782 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
783 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
784 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
785 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
786 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
787 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
791 @section Startup Files
792 @cindex startup files
797 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
798 information is traditionally stored in this file.
800 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
801 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
802 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
803 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
804 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
805 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
806 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
808 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
809 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
810 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
811 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
813 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
814 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
815 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
816 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
817 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
818 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
820 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
821 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
822 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
823 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
824 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
825 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
826 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
827 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
828 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
829 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
830 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
831 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
833 @vindex gnus-startup-file
834 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
835 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
836 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
838 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
839 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
840 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
841 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
842 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
843 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
844 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
845 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
846 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
847 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
850 (defun turn-off-backup ()
851 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
853 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
854 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
857 @vindex gnus-init-file
858 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
859 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
860 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
861 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
862 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
863 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
864 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
865 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
866 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
875 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
876 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
877 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
878 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
879 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
882 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
883 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
886 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
887 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
888 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
890 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
891 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
892 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
893 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
894 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
895 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
898 @node The Active File
899 @section The Active File
901 @cindex ignored groups
903 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
904 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
905 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
907 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
908 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
909 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
910 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
911 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
912 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
913 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
916 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
917 @c if you set it to anything else.
919 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
921 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
922 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
923 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
925 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
926 you actually subscribe to.
928 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
929 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
930 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
931 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
933 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
934 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
935 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
936 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
937 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
938 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
940 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
941 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
942 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
943 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
944 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
945 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
947 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
948 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
950 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
951 secondary select methods.
954 @node Startup Variables
955 @section Startup Variables
960 @vindex gnus-load-hook
961 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
962 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
963 times you start Gnus.
965 @item gnus-startup-hook
966 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
967 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
969 @item gnus-started-hook
970 @vindex gnus-started-hook
971 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
974 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
975 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
976 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
977 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
978 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
979 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
980 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
981 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
983 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
984 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
985 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
986 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
987 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
988 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
990 @item gnus-no-groups-message
991 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
992 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
994 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
995 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
996 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
998 @item gnus-startup-jingle
999 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1000 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1001 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1006 @node The Group Buffer
1007 @chapter The Group Buffer
1008 @cindex group buffer
1010 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1011 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1012 long as Gnus is active.
1015 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1016 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1017 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1018 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1019 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1020 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1021 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1022 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1023 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1024 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1025 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1026 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1027 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1028 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1029 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1030 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1031 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1035 @node Group Buffer Format
1036 @section Group Buffer Format
1039 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1040 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1041 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1045 @node Group Line Specification
1046 @subsection Group Line Specification
1047 @cindex group buffer format
1049 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1050 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1052 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1055 25: news.announce.newusers
1056 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1061 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1062 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1063 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1064 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
1066 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1067 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1068 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1069 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1070 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1071 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1073 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1075 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1076 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1077 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1078 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1081 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1082 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1083 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1085 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1090 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1093 Whether the group is subscribed.
1096 Level of subscribedness.
1099 Number of unread articles.
1102 Number of dormant articles.
1105 Number of ticked articles.
1108 Number of read articles.
1111 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1112 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1115 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1118 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1127 Newsgroup description.
1130 @samp{m} if moderated.
1133 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1142 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1146 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1149 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1150 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1151 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1152 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1153 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1156 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1158 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1162 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1166 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1167 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1168 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1169 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1170 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1171 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1176 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1177 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1178 group, or a bogus native group.
1181 @node Group Modeline Specification
1182 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1183 @cindex group modeline
1185 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1186 The mode line can be changed by setting
1187 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1188 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1192 The native news server.
1194 The native select method.
1198 @node Group Highlighting
1199 @subsection Group Highlighting
1200 @cindex highlighting
1201 @cindex group highlighting
1203 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1204 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1205 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1206 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1207 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1209 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1213 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1215 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1216 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1217 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1219 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1221 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1223 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))))
1226 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1233 The number of unread articles in the group.
1237 Whether the group is a mail group.
1239 The level of the group.
1241 The score of the group.
1243 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1245 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1248 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1249 topic being inserted.
1252 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1253 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1254 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1256 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1257 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1258 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1259 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1260 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1263 @node Group Maneuvering
1264 @section Group Maneuvering
1265 @cindex group movement
1267 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1268 expected, hopefully.
1274 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1275 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1276 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1282 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1283 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1284 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1288 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1289 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1293 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1294 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1298 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1299 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1300 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1304 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1305 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1306 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1309 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1315 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1316 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1317 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1322 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1323 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1324 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1328 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1329 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1330 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1333 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1334 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1335 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1336 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1340 @node Selecting a Group
1341 @section Selecting a Group
1342 @cindex group selection
1347 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1348 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1349 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1350 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1351 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1352 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1353 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1354 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1355 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1356 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1360 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1361 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1362 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1363 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1364 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1368 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1369 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1370 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1371 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1372 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1373 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1374 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1375 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer.
1376 This might be useful if you want to toggle threading before entering the
1380 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1381 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1382 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1383 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1384 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1387 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1388 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1389 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1390 doing any processing of its contents
1391 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1392 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1393 manner will have no permanent effects.
1397 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1398 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1399 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1400 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1401 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1402 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1403 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1404 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1407 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1408 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1409 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1410 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1415 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1416 full summary buffer.
1419 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1422 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1426 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1427 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1428 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1432 @node Subscription Commands
1433 @section Subscription Commands
1434 @cindex subscription
1442 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1443 Toggle subscription to the current group
1444 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1450 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1451 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1452 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1453 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1459 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1460 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1466 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1467 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1470 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1471 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1472 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1473 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1474 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1480 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1481 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1485 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1486 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1489 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1490 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1491 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1492 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1493 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1494 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1495 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1496 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1497 @file{.newsrc} file.
1501 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1511 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1512 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1513 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1514 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1515 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1520 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1521 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1522 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1526 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1527 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1528 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1530 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1531 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1532 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1533 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1534 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1535 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1542 @section Group Levels
1546 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1547 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1548 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1549 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1550 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1552 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1558 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1559 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1560 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1561 prompted for a level.
1564 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1565 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1566 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1567 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1568 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1569 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1570 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1571 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1572 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1573 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1574 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1575 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1576 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1577 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1578 for reasons of efficiency.
1580 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1581 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1583 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1584 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1585 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1587 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1588 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1589 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1590 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1591 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1592 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1593 relevant legal ranges.
1595 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1596 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1597 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1598 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1599 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1600 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1603 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1604 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1605 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1608 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1609 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1610 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1611 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1614 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1615 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1616 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1617 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1619 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1620 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1621 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1622 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1623 5. The default is 6.
1627 @section Group Score
1630 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1631 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1632 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1635 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1636 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1637 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1638 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1639 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1640 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1641 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1643 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1644 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1645 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1646 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1647 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1648 action after each summary exit, you can add
1649 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1650 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1651 slow things down somewhat.
1654 @node Marking Groups
1655 @section Marking Groups
1656 @cindex marking groups
1658 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1659 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1660 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1661 bidding on those groups.
1663 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1664 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1665 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1673 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1674 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1680 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1681 Remove the mark from the current group
1682 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1686 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1687 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1691 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1692 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1696 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1697 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1701 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1702 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1703 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1706 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1708 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1709 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1710 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1711 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1712 the command to be executed.
1715 @node Foreign Groups
1716 @section Foreign Groups
1717 @cindex foreign groups
1719 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1720 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1721 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1722 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1729 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1730 @cindex making groups
1731 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1732 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1733 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1737 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1738 @cindex renaming groups
1739 Rename the current group to something else
1740 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1741 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1747 @findex gnus-group-customize
1748 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1752 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1753 @cindex renaming groups
1754 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1755 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1759 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1760 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1761 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1765 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1766 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1767 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1771 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1773 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1774 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1779 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1780 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1784 @cindex (ding) archive
1785 @cindex archive group
1786 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1787 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1788 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1789 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1790 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1791 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1792 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1796 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1798 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1799 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1800 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1801 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1805 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1807 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1808 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1809 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1813 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1814 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1816 Make a group based on some file or other
1817 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1818 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1819 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1820 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1821 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1822 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1823 @xref{Document Groups}.
1827 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1832 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1833 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1834 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1835 search engine type and the search string. Legal search engine types
1836 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1837 @xref{Web Searches}.
1840 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1841 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1842 This function will delete the current group
1843 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1844 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1845 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1846 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1850 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1851 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1852 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1856 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1857 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1858 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1861 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1864 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1865 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1866 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1867 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1868 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1871 @node Group Parameters
1872 @section Group Parameters
1873 @cindex group parameters
1875 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1880 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1881 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1882 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1883 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1884 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1885 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1886 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1887 copies of your followups.
1889 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1890 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1891 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1892 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1893 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1894 list address instead.
1898 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1899 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1900 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1901 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1902 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1904 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
1905 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
1906 sending the message.
1908 @item broken-reply-to
1909 @cindex broken-reply-to
1910 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1911 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1912 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1913 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1914 broken behavior. So there!
1918 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
1919 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
1923 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, Gnus will treat
1924 all responses as if they were responses to news articles. This can be
1925 useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a news group.
1929 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1930 @code{t}, new composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1931 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1932 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1933 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence over
1934 any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later).
1938 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
1939 . t)}, , all articles that are read will be marked as expirable. For an
1940 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1943 @cindex total-expire
1944 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
1945 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
1946 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1951 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1952 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1953 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1954 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1955 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1956 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1959 @cindex score file group parameter
1960 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1961 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1962 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1965 @cindex adapt file group parameter
1966 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
1967 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
1968 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
1971 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1972 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1973 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1974 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1977 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} says which articles to
1978 display on entering the group. Legal values are:
1982 Display all articles, both read and unread.
1985 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
1990 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
1991 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
1992 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
1995 @item @var{(variable form)}
1996 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1997 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
1998 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
1999 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2000 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2001 @code{eval}ed there.
2003 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2004 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2005 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2006 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2007 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2011 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
2013 Also @pxref{Topic Parameters}.
2015 Here's an example group parameter list:
2018 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2023 @node Listing Groups
2024 @section Listing Groups
2025 @cindex group listing
2027 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
2035 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2036 List all groups that have unread articles
2037 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2038 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2039 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2040 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2047 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2048 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2049 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2050 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2051 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2052 unsubscribed groups).
2056 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2057 List all unread groups on a specific level
2058 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2059 with no unread articles.
2063 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2064 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2065 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2066 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2071 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2072 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2076 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2077 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2078 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2082 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2083 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2087 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2088 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
2089 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2090 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2091 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2092 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list group that
2093 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they are killed groups.
2094 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2098 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2099 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2100 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2104 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2105 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2106 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2110 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2111 @cindex visible group parameter
2112 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2113 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2114 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2115 get the same effect.
2117 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2118 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2119 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2120 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2121 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2124 @node Sorting Groups
2125 @section Sorting Groups
2126 @cindex sorting groups
2128 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2129 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2130 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2131 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2132 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2133 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2138 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2139 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2140 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2142 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2143 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2144 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2146 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2147 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2148 Sort by group level.
2150 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2151 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2152 Sort by group score.
2154 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2155 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2156 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2157 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
2159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2161 Sort by number of unread articles.
2163 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2164 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2165 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2170 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2171 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2175 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2176 some sorting criteria:
2180 @kindex G S a (Group)
2181 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2182 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2183 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2186 @kindex G S u (Group)
2187 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2188 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2189 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2192 @kindex G S l (Group)
2193 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2194 Sort the group buffer by group level
2195 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2198 @kindex G S v (Group)
2199 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2200 Sort the group buffer by group score
2201 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2204 @kindex G S r (Group)
2205 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2206 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2207 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2210 @kindex G S m (Group)
2211 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2212 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2213 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2217 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2219 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2223 @kindex G P a (Group)
2224 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2225 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2226 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2229 @kindex G P u (Group)
2230 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2231 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2232 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2235 @kindex G P l (Group)
2236 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2237 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2238 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2241 @kindex G P v (Group)
2242 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2243 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2244 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}).
2247 @kindex G P r (Group)
2248 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2249 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2250 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}).
2253 @kindex G P m (Group)
2254 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2255 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2256 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2262 @node Group Maintenance
2263 @section Group Maintenance
2264 @cindex bogus groups
2269 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2270 Find bogus groups and delete them
2271 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2275 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
2276 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
2277 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2281 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2282 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2283 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2284 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2287 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2288 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2289 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2290 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2295 @node Browse Foreign Server
2296 @section Browse Foreign Server
2297 @cindex foreign servers
2298 @cindex browsing servers
2303 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2304 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2305 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2306 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2309 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2310 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2311 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2312 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2314 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2319 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2320 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2324 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2325 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2328 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2329 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2330 Enter the current group and display the first article
2331 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2334 @kindex RET (Browse)
2335 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2336 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2340 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2341 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2342 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2348 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2349 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2353 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2354 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2355 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2360 @section Exiting Gnus
2361 @cindex exiting Gnus
2363 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2368 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2369 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2370 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2371 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2375 @findex gnus-group-exit
2376 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2380 @findex gnus-group-quit
2381 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2382 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2385 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2386 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2387 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2388 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2389 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2394 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2395 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2396 trying to customize meta-variables.
2401 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2402 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2403 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2409 @section Group Topics
2412 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2413 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2414 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2415 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2416 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2417 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2425 2: alt.religion.emacs
2428 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2430 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2431 13: comp.sources.unix
2434 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2436 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2437 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2438 is a toggling command.)
2440 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2441 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2442 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2443 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2446 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2447 the hook for the group mode:
2450 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2454 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2455 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2456 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2457 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2458 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2462 @node Topic Variables
2463 @subsection Topic Variables
2464 @cindex topic variables
2466 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2467 really neat, I think.
2469 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2470 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2471 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2484 Number of groups in the topic.
2486 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2488 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2491 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2492 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2493 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2496 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2497 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2499 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2500 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2501 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2504 @node Topic Commands
2505 @subsection Topic Commands
2506 @cindex topic commands
2508 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2509 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2510 definitions slightly.
2516 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2517 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2518 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2522 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2523 Move the current group to some other topic
2524 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2525 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2529 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2530 Copy the current group to some other topic
2531 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2532 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2536 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2537 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2538 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2539 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2543 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2544 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2545 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2549 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2550 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2551 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2555 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2556 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2557 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2560 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2561 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2562 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2563 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2567 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2569 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2570 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2571 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2572 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2573 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2574 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2577 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2578 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2579 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2580 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2581 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2585 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2586 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2587 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2591 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2592 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2593 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2598 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2599 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2602 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2603 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2604 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2608 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2609 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2610 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2614 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2615 @cindex group parameters
2616 @cindex topic parameters
2618 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2619 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2625 @subsection Topic Sorting
2626 @cindex topic sorting
2628 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2634 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2635 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2636 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2637 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2640 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2641 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2642 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2643 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2646 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2647 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2648 Sort the current topic by group level
2649 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2652 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2653 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2654 Sort the current topic by group score
2655 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}).
2658 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2659 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2660 Sort the current topic by group rank
2661 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2664 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2665 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2666 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2667 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2671 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2674 @node Topic Topology
2675 @subsection Topic Topology
2676 @cindex topic topology
2679 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2685 2: alt.religion.emacs
2688 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2690 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2691 13: comp.sources.unix
2694 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2695 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2696 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2701 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2702 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2706 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2707 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2708 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2709 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2710 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2711 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2713 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2714 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2715 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2718 @node Topic Parameters
2719 @subsection Topic Parameters
2720 @cindex topic parameters
2722 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2723 ancestor) topic parameters. All legal group parameters are legal topic
2724 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2726 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2727 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2728 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2729 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2735 2: alt.religion.emacs
2739 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2741 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2742 13: comp.sources.unix
2746 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2747 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2748 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2749 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2750 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2751 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2753 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2754 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2755 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2756 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2757 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2759 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2760 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2761 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2762 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2763 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2764 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2765 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2766 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2769 @node Misc Group Stuff
2770 @section Misc Group Stuff
2773 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2774 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2775 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2776 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2783 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2784 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2785 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2789 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2790 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2791 group name will be used as the default.
2795 @findex gnus-group-mail
2796 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2800 Variables for the group buffer:
2804 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2805 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2806 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2809 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2810 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2811 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2812 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2815 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2816 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2817 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2818 whether they are empty or not.
2823 @node Scanning New Messages
2824 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2825 @cindex new messages
2826 @cindex scanning new news
2832 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2833 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2834 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2835 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2836 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2841 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2842 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2843 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2844 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2845 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2846 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2848 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2849 @cindex activating groups
2851 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2852 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2857 @findex gnus-group-restart
2858 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2859 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2860 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2864 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2865 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2867 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2868 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2872 @node Group Information
2873 @subsection Group Information
2874 @cindex group information
2875 @cindex information on groups
2882 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2883 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2886 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2887 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2888 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2889 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2890 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2891 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
2892 for fetching the file.
2894 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2895 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2900 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
2901 @cindex describing groups
2902 @cindex group description
2903 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2904 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2905 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2909 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2910 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2911 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2916 @findex gnus-version
2917 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2921 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2922 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2925 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2928 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2929 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2933 @node Group Timestamp
2934 @subsection Group Timestamp
2936 @cindex group timestamps
2938 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
2939 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
2940 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
2943 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
2946 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
2948 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
2949 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
2952 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2953 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
2956 This will result in lines looking like:
2959 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
2960 0: custom 19961002T012713
2963 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
2964 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
2968 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2969 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
2974 @subsection File Commands
2975 @cindex file commands
2981 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2982 @vindex gnus-init-file
2983 @cindex reading init file
2984 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2985 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2989 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2990 @cindex saving .newsrc
2991 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2992 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2993 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2996 @c @kindex Z (Group)
2997 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2998 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3003 @node The Summary Buffer
3004 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3005 @cindex summary buffer
3007 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3008 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3010 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3011 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3013 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3016 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3017 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3018 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3019 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3020 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3021 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3022 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3023 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3024 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3025 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3026 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3027 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3028 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3029 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3030 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3031 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3032 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3033 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3034 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3035 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3036 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3037 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3038 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3039 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3040 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3041 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3042 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3046 @node Summary Buffer Format
3047 @section Summary Buffer Format
3048 @cindex summary buffer format
3051 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3052 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3053 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3056 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3057 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3058 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3059 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3060 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3061 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
3062 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3063 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3064 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3065 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3066 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3068 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3069 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3070 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3071 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
3074 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3075 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3077 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3078 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3079 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3080 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3081 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3083 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3085 The following format specification characters are understood:
3093 Subject if the article is the root or the previous article had a
3094 different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3095 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
3097 Full @code{From} header.
3099 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3101 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3102 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3103 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3104 may be more thorough.
3106 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3109 Number of lines in the article.
3111 Number of characters in the article.
3113 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3115 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3116 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3118 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3119 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3121 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3122 for adopted articles.
3124 One space for each thread level.
3126 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3134 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3135 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3136 default level. If the difference between
3137 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3138 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3146 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3148 The @code{Date} in @code{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS} format.
3154 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3155 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3157 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3158 article has any children.
3162 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3163 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
3164 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3165 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3166 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3167 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3170 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3171 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3172 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3173 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
3174 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3175 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3177 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3178 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3180 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3183 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3184 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3186 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3187 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3188 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3189 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3191 Here are the elements you can play with:
3197 Unprefixed group name.
3199 Current article number.
3203 Number of unread articles in this group.
3205 Number of unselected articles in this group.
3207 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3208 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3209 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3210 and no unselected ones.
3212 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3213 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3215 Subject of the current article.
3219 Name of the current score file.
3221 Number of dormant articles.
3223 Number of ticked articles.
3225 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3227 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3231 @node Summary Highlighting
3232 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3236 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3237 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3238 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3239 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3240 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3242 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3243 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3244 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3245 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3247 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3248 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3249 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
3250 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3252 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3253 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3254 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3255 list where the elements are on the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3256 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3257 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3259 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3260 ((> score default) . bold))
3262 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3263 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3267 @node Summary Maneuvering
3268 @section Summary Maneuvering
3269 @cindex summary movement
3271 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3272 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3274 None of these commands select articles.
3279 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3280 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3281 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3282 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3283 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3287 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3288 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3289 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3290 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3291 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3296 @kindex G j (Summary)
3297 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3298 Ask for an article number and then go to that article
3299 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3302 @kindex G g (Summary)
3303 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3304 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
3305 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3308 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3309 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3310 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3311 to the group buffer.
3313 Variables related to summary movement:
3317 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3318 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3319 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3320 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3321 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3322 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3323 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3324 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3325 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3326 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3327 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3328 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3329 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3330 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3332 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3333 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3334 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3335 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3336 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3337 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3338 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3340 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3341 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3342 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3343 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3344 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3346 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3347 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3348 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3349 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3350 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3351 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3352 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3353 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3359 @node Choosing Articles
3360 @section Choosing Articles
3361 @cindex selecting articles
3364 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3365 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3369 @node Choosing Commands
3370 @subsection Choosing Commands
3372 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3373 and they all select and display an article.
3377 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3378 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3379 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3380 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3385 @kindex G n (Summary)
3386 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3387 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3392 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3393 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3398 @kindex G N (Summary)
3399 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3400 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3405 @kindex G P (Summary)
3406 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3407 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3410 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3411 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3412 Go to the next article with the same subject
3413 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3416 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3417 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3418 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3419 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3423 @kindex G f (Summary)
3425 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3426 Go to the first unread article
3427 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3431 @kindex G b (Summary)
3433 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3434 Go to the article with the highest score
3435 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3440 @kindex G l (Summary)
3441 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3442 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3445 @kindex G p (Summary)
3446 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3447 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3448 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3449 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3450 history as you like.
3454 @node Choosing Variables
3455 @subsection Choosing Variables
3457 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3460 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3461 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3462 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3463 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3464 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3465 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3467 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3468 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3469 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3470 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3472 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3473 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3474 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3475 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3476 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3477 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3478 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3479 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3480 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3481 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3482 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3483 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3484 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3485 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3490 @node Paging the Article
3491 @section Scrolling the Article
3492 @cindex article scrolling
3497 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3498 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3499 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3500 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3501 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3504 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3505 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3506 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3509 @kindex RET (Summary)
3510 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3511 Scroll the current article one line forward
3512 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3516 @kindex A g (Summary)
3518 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3519 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3520 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3521 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3522 the way it came from the server.
3527 @kindex A < (Summary)
3528 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3529 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3530 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3535 @kindex A > (Summary)
3536 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3537 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3541 @kindex A s (Summary)
3543 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3544 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3545 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3550 @node Reply Followup and Post
3551 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3554 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3555 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3559 @node Summary Mail Commands
3560 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3562 @cindex composing mail
3564 Commands for composing a mail message:
3570 @kindex S r (Summary)
3572 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3573 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3574 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3579 @kindex S R (Summary)
3580 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3581 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3582 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3583 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3586 @kindex S w (Summary)
3587 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3588 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3589 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}).
3592 @kindex S W (Summary)
3593 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3594 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3595 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3596 the process/prefix convention.
3599 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3600 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3601 Forward the current article to some other person
3602 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3603 headers of the forwarded article.
3608 @kindex S m (Summary)
3609 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3610 Send a mail to some other person
3611 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3614 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3615 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3616 @cindex bouncing mail
3617 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3618 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3619 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3620 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3621 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3622 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3623 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3624 very well fail, though.
3627 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3628 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3629 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3630 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3631 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3632 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3633 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3634 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3635 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3636 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3638 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3639 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3640 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3641 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3642 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3644 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3645 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3648 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3649 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3650 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3651 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3652 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3655 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3656 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3657 @cindex crossposting
3658 @cindex excessive crossposting
3659 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3660 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3662 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3663 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3664 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3665 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3666 command understands the process/prefix convention
3667 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3672 @node Summary Post Commands
3673 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3675 @cindex composing news
3677 Commands for posting a news article:
3683 @kindex S p (Summary)
3684 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3685 Post an article to the current group
3686 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3691 @kindex S f (Summary)
3692 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3693 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3697 @kindex S F (Summary)
3699 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3700 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3701 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3702 process/prefix convention.
3705 @kindex S n (Summary)
3706 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3707 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3708 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3711 @kindex S n (Summary)
3712 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3713 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3714 message through mail and include the original message
3715 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3716 the process/prefix convention.
3719 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3720 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3721 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3722 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3723 headers of the forwarded article.
3726 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3728 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3729 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3732 @kindex S u (Summary)
3733 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3734 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3735 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3739 @node Canceling and Superseding
3740 @section Canceling Articles
3741 @cindex canceling articles
3742 @cindex superseding articles
3744 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3745 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3747 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3749 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3751 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3752 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3753 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3754 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3756 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3757 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3760 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3761 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3762 your original article.
3764 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3766 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3767 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3768 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3771 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3772 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3773 have posted almost the same article twice.
3775 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3776 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3777 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3778 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3779 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3780 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3781 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3782 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3783 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3784 canceled/superseded.
3786 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3789 @node Marking Articles
3790 @section Marking Articles
3791 @cindex article marking
3792 @cindex article ticking
3795 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3797 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3798 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3799 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3801 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3804 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3805 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3806 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3810 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3814 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3815 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3819 @node Unread Articles
3820 @subsection Unread Articles
3822 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
3827 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3828 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
3830 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3831 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3832 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3833 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3834 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
3838 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3839 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
3841 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
3842 are followups to it.
3845 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3846 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
3848 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
3853 @subsection Read Articles
3854 @cindex expirable mark
3856 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3861 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3862 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
3863 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
3866 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3867 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3870 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3871 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
3872 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3875 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3876 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3879 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3880 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3883 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3884 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3887 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3888 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3891 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3892 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3895 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3896 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
3899 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3900 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
3904 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
3905 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
3906 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
3910 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3911 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
3913 One more special mark, though:
3917 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3918 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3920 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
3921 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
3922 control the expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
3923 articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
3929 @subsection Other Marks
3930 @cindex process mark
3933 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3939 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3940 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3941 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3942 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3943 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
3946 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3947 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3948 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3949 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3952 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3953 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3954 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3957 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3958 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3959 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3960 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3963 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3964 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3965 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3966 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3967 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3970 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3971 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3972 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3973 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3974 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3975 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3979 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3980 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3981 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3983 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3984 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3985 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3989 @subsection Setting Marks
3990 @cindex setting marks
3992 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3998 @kindex M t (Summary)
3999 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4000 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4005 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4006 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4007 Mark the current article as dormant
4008 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
4012 @kindex M d (Summary)
4014 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4015 Mark the current article as read
4016 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4020 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4021 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4022 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4027 @kindex M k (Summary)
4028 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4029 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4030 and then select the next unread article
4031 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4035 @kindex M K (Summary)
4036 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4037 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4038 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4039 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4042 @kindex M C (Summary)
4043 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4044 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4047 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4048 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4049 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4050 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4053 @kindex M H (Summary)
4054 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4055 Catchup the current group to point
4056 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4059 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4060 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4061 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4062 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4065 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4066 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4067 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4068 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4072 @kindex M c (Summary)
4073 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4074 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4075 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4076 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
4080 @kindex M e (Summary)
4082 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4083 Mark the current article as expirable
4084 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4087 @kindex M b (Summary)
4088 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4089 Set a bookmark in the current article
4090 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4093 @kindex M B (Summary)
4094 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4095 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4096 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4099 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4100 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4101 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4102 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4105 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4106 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4107 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4108 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4111 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4112 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4113 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4114 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4118 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4119 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4120 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4121 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4122 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4123 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4124 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4125 The default is @code{t}.
4128 @node Setting Process Marks
4129 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4130 @cindex setting process marks
4137 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4138 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4139 Mark the current article with the process mark
4140 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4141 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4145 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4146 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4147 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4148 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4151 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4152 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4153 Remove the process mark from all articles
4154 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4157 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4158 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4159 Invert the list of process marked articles
4160 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4163 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4164 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4165 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4168 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4169 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4170 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4173 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4174 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4175 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4176 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4179 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4180 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4181 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4182 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4185 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4186 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4187 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4188 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4191 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4192 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4193 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4196 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4197 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4198 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4199 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4202 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4203 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4204 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4207 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4208 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4209 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4210 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4213 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4214 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4215 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4216 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4219 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4220 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4221 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4222 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4225 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4226 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4227 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4228 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4237 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4238 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4239 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4246 @kindex / / (Summary)
4247 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4248 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4249 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4252 @kindex / a (Summary)
4253 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4254 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4255 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4259 @kindex / u (Summary)
4261 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4262 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
4263 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4264 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4265 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4268 @kindex / m (Summary)
4269 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4270 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4271 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4274 @kindex / t (Summary)
4275 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4276 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles that are
4277 older than (or equal to) that number of days
4278 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4279 articles that are younger than that number of days.
4282 @kindex / n (Summary)
4283 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4284 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4285 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4286 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4289 @kindex / w (Summary)
4290 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4291 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4292 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4296 @kindex / v (Summary)
4297 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4298 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4299 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4303 @kindex M S (Summary)
4304 @kindex / E (Summary)
4305 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4306 Display all expunged articles
4307 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4310 @kindex / D (Summary)
4311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4312 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4315 @kindex / d (Summary)
4316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4317 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4320 @kindex / c (Summary)
4321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4322 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4323 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4326 @kindex / C (Summary)
4327 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4328 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4329 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4330 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4338 @cindex article threading
4340 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4341 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4342 hierarchical fashion.
4345 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4346 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4350 @node Customizing Threading
4351 @subsection Customizing Threading
4352 @cindex customizing threading
4358 @item gnus-show-threads
4359 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4360 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4361 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4362 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4363 slower and more awkward.
4365 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4366 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4367 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4368 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
4369 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4370 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4371 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4372 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4373 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4374 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4375 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4376 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4378 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4379 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4380 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4381 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4382 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4383 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
4384 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4385 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4386 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4387 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4388 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4389 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4390 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4391 @code{nil} by default.
4393 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4394 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4395 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4396 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4397 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4398 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4399 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
4400 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4401 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4402 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4403 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4405 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4406 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4407 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4410 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4411 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4412 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4413 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4414 simplification is used.
4416 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4417 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4418 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4419 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4421 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4423 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4429 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4430 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4431 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4432 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4437 (mapconcat 'identity
4438 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4440 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4443 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4446 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4447 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4448 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4449 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4450 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4451 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4452 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
4453 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4455 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4456 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4457 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4458 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4459 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4460 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4461 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
4462 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
4463 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4467 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4468 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4469 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4470 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4472 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4473 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4474 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4477 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4481 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4482 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4485 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4486 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4487 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4488 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4489 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4490 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4492 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4493 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4494 There are four possible values:
4496 @cindex adopting articles
4501 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4502 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4503 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4504 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4507 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4508 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4509 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4510 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4511 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4512 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4513 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4516 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4517 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4518 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4522 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4523 display them after one another.
4526 Don't gather loose threads.
4529 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4530 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4531 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4534 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4535 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4536 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4537 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4538 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4539 threads are expunged.
4541 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4542 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4543 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4546 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4547 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4548 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4549 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4550 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4553 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4554 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4555 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4558 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4559 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4560 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4561 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4562 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4563 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4568 @node Thread Commands
4569 @subsection Thread Commands
4570 @cindex thread commands
4576 @kindex T k (Summary)
4577 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4578 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4579 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4580 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4581 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4586 @kindex T l (Summary)
4587 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4589 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4590 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4593 @kindex T i (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4595 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4596 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4599 @kindex T # (Summary)
4600 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4601 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4602 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4605 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4606 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4607 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4608 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4611 @kindex T T (Summary)
4612 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4613 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4616 @kindex T s (Summary)
4617 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4618 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4619 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4622 @kindex T h (Summary)
4623 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4624 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4627 @kindex T S (Summary)
4628 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4629 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4632 @kindex T H (Summary)
4633 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4634 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4637 @kindex T t (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4639 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4640 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4641 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4644 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4646 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4647 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4651 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4652 understand the numeric prefix.
4657 @kindex T n (Summary)
4658 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4659 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4662 @kindex T p (Summary)
4663 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4664 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4667 @kindex T d (Summary)
4668 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4669 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4672 @kindex T u (Summary)
4673 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4674 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4677 @kindex T o (Summary)
4678 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4679 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4682 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4683 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4684 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4685 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4686 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4687 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4688 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4689 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4690 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4691 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4692 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4693 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
4700 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4701 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4702 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4703 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4704 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4705 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4706 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4707 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4708 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4709 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4710 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4711 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4712 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4713 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4715 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4716 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4717 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4718 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4719 in the list. You should probably always include
4720 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4721 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4722 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4723 ascending article order.
4725 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4726 number, you could do something like:
4729 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4730 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4731 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4732 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
4735 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4736 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4737 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4738 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4739 which the articles arrived.
4741 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4745 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4747 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4748 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4751 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4752 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4753 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4754 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4757 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4758 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4759 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4760 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4761 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4762 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4763 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4764 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4765 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4766 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4767 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4768 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4769 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4771 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4775 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4776 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4777 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4782 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4783 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4784 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4785 @cindex article pre-fetch
4788 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4789 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4790 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4791 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4792 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4794 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4795 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4797 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4798 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4799 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4800 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4801 connection is blocked.
4803 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4804 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4805 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4806 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4808 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4809 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4810 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4811 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4814 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4817 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4818 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4819 happen automatically.
4821 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
4822 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4823 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
4824 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
4825 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
4826 pre-fetch all the articles that it can without bound. If it is
4827 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be made.
4829 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
4830 @findex gnus-async-read-p
4831 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
4832 articles, for instance. Which articles to pre-fetch is controlled by
4833 the @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable. This function should
4834 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
4835 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
4836 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
4837 data structure as the only parameter.
4839 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles that are
4840 shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
4843 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
4844 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
4845 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
4846 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
4849 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
4852 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
4853 preferrably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
4854 It's also probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
4856 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
4857 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
4858 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
4859 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
4863 Remove articles when they are read.
4866 Remove articles when exiting the group.
4869 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
4871 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
4872 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
4873 from the next group.
4876 @node Article Caching
4877 @section Article Caching
4878 @cindex article caching
4881 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4882 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4883 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4884 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4885 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4887 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4889 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4890 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4891 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4892 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4893 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4894 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4895 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4896 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4898 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4899 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4900 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4901 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4902 as dormant, and don't worry.
4904 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4906 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4907 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4908 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4909 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4910 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4911 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4912 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4913 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4914 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4915 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4917 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4918 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4919 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4920 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4921 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4922 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4923 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4925 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4926 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4927 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4928 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4929 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4930 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4931 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4934 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4935 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4936 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4937 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4938 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4939 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4940 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4941 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4942 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4946 @node Persistent Articles
4947 @section Persistent Articles
4948 @cindex persistent articles
4950 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4951 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4952 useful in my opinion.
4954 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4955 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4956 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4957 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4958 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4959 the expiry going on at the news server.
4961 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4962 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4963 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4969 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4970 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4973 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4974 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4975 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4976 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4980 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4982 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4983 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4984 interested in persistent articles:
4987 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4991 @node Article Backlog
4992 @section Article Backlog
4994 @cindex article backlog
4996 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4997 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4998 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4999 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5000 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5001 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5002 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5003 increase memory usage some.
5005 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5006 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5007 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5008 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5009 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5010 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5011 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5013 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5016 @node Saving Articles
5017 @section Saving Articles
5018 @cindex saving articles
5020 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5021 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5022 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5023 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5024 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5026 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5027 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5028 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5030 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5031 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5032 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5033 deleted before saving.
5039 @kindex O o (Summary)
5041 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5042 Save the current article using the default article saver
5043 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5046 @kindex O m (Summary)
5047 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5048 Save the current article in mail format
5049 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5052 @kindex O r (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5054 Save the current article in rmail format
5055 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5058 @kindex O f (Summary)
5059 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5060 Save the current article in plain file format
5061 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5064 @kindex O F (Summary)
5065 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5066 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5067 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5070 @kindex O b (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5072 Save the current article body in plain file format
5073 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5076 @kindex O h (Summary)
5077 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5078 Save the current article in mh folder format
5079 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5082 @kindex O v (Summary)
5083 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5084 Save the current article in a VM folder
5085 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5088 @kindex O p (Summary)
5089 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5090 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5091 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5094 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5095 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5096 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5097 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5098 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5099 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5100 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5101 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5102 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5103 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5104 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5105 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5109 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5110 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5111 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5112 functions below, or you can create your own.
5116 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5117 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5118 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5119 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5120 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5121 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5122 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5124 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5125 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5126 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5127 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5128 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5129 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5131 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5132 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5133 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5134 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5135 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5136 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5137 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5139 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5140 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5141 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5142 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5143 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5145 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5146 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5147 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5148 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5149 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5152 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5153 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5154 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5155 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5156 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
5157 the latter does not.
5159 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5160 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5161 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5162 reader to use this setting.
5165 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5166 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5167 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5168 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5171 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5172 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5173 available functions that generate names:
5177 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5178 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5179 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5181 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5182 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5183 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5185 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5186 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5187 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5189 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5190 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5191 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5194 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5195 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5196 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5197 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5198 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5202 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5203 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5204 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5205 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5208 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5209 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5210 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5211 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5212 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5213 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5214 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5215 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5216 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5218 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5219 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5220 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5221 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5223 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5224 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5225 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5228 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5229 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5230 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5231 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5232 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5233 all the files in the toplevel directory
5234 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5235 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5236 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5237 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5239 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5240 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5241 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5242 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5243 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5246 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5250 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5251 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5254 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5255 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5256 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5257 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5260 @node Decoding Articles
5261 @section Decoding Articles
5262 @cindex decoding articles
5264 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5265 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5268 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5269 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
5270 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5271 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5272 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5275 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5276 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5277 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5278 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5279 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5281 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5282 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5283 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5285 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5286 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5287 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5289 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5290 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5291 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5294 @node Uuencoded Articles
5295 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5297 @cindex uuencoded articles
5302 @kindex X u (Summary)
5303 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5304 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5307 @kindex X U (Summary)
5308 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5309 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5310 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5313 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5314 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5315 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5318 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5320 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5321 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5324 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5325 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5326 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5327 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5328 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5330 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5331 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5332 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5333 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5336 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5337 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5338 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5339 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5340 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5341 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5345 @node Shared Articles
5346 @subsection Shared Articles
5348 @cindex shared articles
5353 @kindex X s (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5355 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5358 @kindex X S (Summary)
5359 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5360 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5363 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5364 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5365 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5368 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5369 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5370 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5371 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5375 @node PostScript Files
5376 @subsection PostScript Files
5382 @kindex X p (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5384 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5387 @kindex X P (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5389 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5390 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5393 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5394 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5395 View the current PostScript series
5396 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5399 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5400 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5401 View and save the current PostScript series
5402 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5406 @node Decoding Variables
5407 @subsection Decoding Variables
5409 Adjective, not verb.
5412 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5413 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5414 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5418 @node Rule Variables
5419 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5420 @cindex rule variables
5422 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5423 variables are on the form
5426 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5433 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5434 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5436 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5437 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5440 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5441 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5444 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5445 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5446 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5447 user and default view rules.
5449 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5450 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5451 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5456 @node Other Decode Variables
5457 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5460 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5462 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5463 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
5464 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5465 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5466 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5470 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5471 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5474 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5475 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5476 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5479 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5480 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5481 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5482 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5483 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5486 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5487 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5488 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5490 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5491 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5492 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5493 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5494 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5497 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5498 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5499 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5501 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5502 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5503 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5504 looking for files to display.
5506 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5507 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5508 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5511 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5512 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5513 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5516 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5517 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5518 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5521 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5522 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5523 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5526 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5527 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5528 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
5529 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
5531 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5532 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5533 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5534 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5536 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5537 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5539 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5540 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5541 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5542 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5544 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5545 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5546 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5547 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5548 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5549 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5550 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5551 simply dropped them.
5556 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5557 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5561 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5562 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5563 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5564 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5565 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5566 for you when you post the article.
5568 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5569 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5570 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5571 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5573 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5574 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5575 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5576 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
5577 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5578 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5579 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5581 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5582 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5583 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5584 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5585 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5586 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5587 Default is @code{t}.
5593 @subsection Viewing Files
5594 @cindex viewing files
5595 @cindex pseudo-articles
5597 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5598 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5599 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5600 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5601 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5602 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5603 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5605 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5606 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5607 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5608 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5610 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5611 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5612 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5614 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5615 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5616 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5617 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5618 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5620 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5621 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5622 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5623 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5624 a list of parameters to that command.
5626 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5627 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5628 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5630 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5631 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5632 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5635 @node Article Treatment
5636 @section Article Treatment
5638 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5639 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
5640 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5641 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5642 these articles easier.
5645 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5646 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look niced.
5647 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5648 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5649 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5650 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5651 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5655 @node Article Highlighting
5656 @subsection Article Highlighting
5659 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5660 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5665 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5666 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5667 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5670 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5671 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5672 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5673 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5674 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5675 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5676 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5677 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5678 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5679 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5680 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5683 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5684 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5685 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5687 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5690 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5692 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5693 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5694 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5696 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5697 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5698 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5700 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5701 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5702 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5704 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5705 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5706 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5707 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5708 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5711 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5712 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5713 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5715 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5716 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5717 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5719 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5720 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5721 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5722 that it's a citation.
5724 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5725 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5726 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5728 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5729 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5730 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5732 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5733 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5734 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5735 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5741 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5742 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5743 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5744 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5745 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5746 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5747 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5748 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5754 @node Article Fontisizing
5755 @subsection Article Fontisizing
5757 @cindex article emphasis
5759 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
5760 @kindex W e (Summary)
5761 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
5762 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
5763 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
5764 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
5766 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
5767 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
5768 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
5769 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
5770 that says what regular expression grouping used to find the entire
5771 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
5772 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
5773 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
5777 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
5778 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
5779 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
5782 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
5783 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
5784 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
5785 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
5786 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
5787 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
5788 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
5789 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
5790 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
5791 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
5792 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
5793 @code{gnus-emphasis-undeline-bold}, and
5794 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
5796 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
5797 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
5798 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
5802 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
5806 @node Article Hiding
5807 @subsection Article Hiding
5808 @cindex article hiding
5810 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5811 too much cruft in most articles.
5816 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5817 @findex gnus-article-hide
5818 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5821 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5822 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5823 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5827 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5829 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5830 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5833 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5834 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5835 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5839 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5840 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5841 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5844 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5845 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5846 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) gruft
5847 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5850 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5852 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5853 customizing the hiding:
5857 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5858 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5859 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5860 50), hide the cited text.
5862 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5863 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5864 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5867 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5868 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5869 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5870 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5871 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
5876 Start point of the hidden text.
5878 End point of the hidden text.
5880 Length of the hidden text.
5883 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5884 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5885 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5890 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5892 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5893 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5894 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5895 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5899 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5900 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5901 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5903 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5904 citation customization.
5907 @node Article Washing
5908 @subsection Article Washing
5910 @cindex article washing
5912 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5913 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5915 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5916 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5922 @kindex W l (Summary)
5923 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5924 Remove page breaks from the current article
5925 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5928 @kindex W r (Summary)
5929 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5930 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5931 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5934 @kindex W t (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5936 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5940 @kindex W v (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5942 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5946 @kindex W m (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5948 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5949 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5952 @kindex W o (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5954 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5957 @kindex W w (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5959 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5960 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5961 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5963 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
5967 @kindex W c (Summary)
5968 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5969 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5972 @kindex W q (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5974 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5977 @kindex W f (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5980 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5981 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5982 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5983 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5984 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5985 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
5986 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
5987 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
5988 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
5989 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5990 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
5991 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
5992 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
5993 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
5994 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
5995 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
5996 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6000 @kindex W b (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6002 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6005 @kindex W B (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6007 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6008 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6011 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6012 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6013 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6014 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6017 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6019 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6020 lines with a single empty line.
6021 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6024 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6025 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6026 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6027 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6030 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6031 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6032 Do all the three commands above
6033 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6036 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6037 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6038 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6039 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6044 @node Article Buttons
6045 @subsection Article Buttons
6048 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6049 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6050 with the minimum of fuzz.
6052 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6053 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6054 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6059 @item gnus-button-alist
6060 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6061 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6064 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6070 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6071 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
6072 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6075 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
6076 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
6077 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6080 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6081 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6082 avoid false matches.
6085 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6088 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6089 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6093 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6096 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6099 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6100 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6101 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6102 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6103 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6106 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6109 @var{header} is a regular expression.
6111 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6112 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6113 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6114 default values of the variables above.
6116 @item gnus-article-button-face
6117 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6118 Face used on buttons.
6120 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6121 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6122 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6128 @subsection Article Date
6130 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6131 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6132 when the article was sent.
6137 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6138 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6139 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6140 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6143 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6145 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6148 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6149 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6150 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6151 @findex format-time-string
6152 Display the date using a user-defined format
6153 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6154 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6155 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6156 for a list possible format specs.
6159 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6161 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
6162 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
6165 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6166 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6167 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6168 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
6169 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6170 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6171 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6176 @node Article Signature
6177 @subsection Article Signature
6179 @cindex article signature
6181 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6182 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6183 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6184 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6185 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6186 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6187 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6188 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6189 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6192 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6193 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6194 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6195 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6196 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6197 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6198 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6199 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6202 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6205 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6206 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6211 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6214 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6217 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6218 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6220 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6221 in question is not a signature.
6224 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6228 @node Article Commands
6229 @section Article Commands
6236 @kindex A P (Summary)
6237 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6238 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6239 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6240 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6241 run just before printing the buffer.
6246 @node Summary Sorting
6247 @section Summary Sorting
6248 @cindex summary sorting
6250 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6251 can't really see why you'd want that.
6256 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6257 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6258 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6261 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6263 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6266 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6267 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6268 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6271 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6272 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6273 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6276 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6278 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6281 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6282 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6283 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6286 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6287 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6288 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6289 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6290 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6294 @node Finding the Parent
6295 @section Finding the Parent
6296 @cindex parent articles
6297 @cindex referring articles
6299 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6301 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6302 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6303 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6304 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6305 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6306 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6307 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6308 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6310 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6311 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6312 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6313 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6314 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6317 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6318 @kindex A R (Summary)
6319 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
6320 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
6321 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6323 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6324 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6326 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6327 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6328 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6329 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6330 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6331 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6332 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6334 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6335 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6336 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6337 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6338 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
6339 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
6340 not really necessary.
6342 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6343 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6344 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6345 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6346 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6347 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6350 @node Alternative Approaches
6351 @section Alternative Approaches
6353 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6354 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6357 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6358 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6363 @subsection Pick and Read
6364 @cindex pick and read
6366 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
6367 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
6368 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
6369 an article buffer displayed.
6371 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6372 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6373 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6374 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6375 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6376 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
6379 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6384 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6385 Pick the article on the current line
6386 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6387 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
6388 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6391 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6392 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6393 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6394 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6398 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6399 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6403 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6404 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6408 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6409 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6413 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6414 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6418 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6419 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6423 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6424 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6428 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6429 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6433 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6434 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6438 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6439 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6443 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6444 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6448 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6449 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6450 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6451 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6452 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6453 will still be visible when you are reading.
6457 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6460 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6463 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6464 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6466 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6467 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6468 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6470 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6471 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
6472 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6473 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6474 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6475 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6476 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6480 @subsection Binary Groups
6481 @cindex binary groups
6483 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6484 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6485 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6486 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6487 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6488 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6489 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6492 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6493 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
6494 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6496 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6497 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6501 @section Tree Display
6504 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6505 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6506 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6507 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6510 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6513 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6514 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6515 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6517 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6518 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6519 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6520 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
6523 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6524 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6525 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6526 default is @code{modeline}.
6528 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6529 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6530 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6531 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6532 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6533 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6534 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
6540 The name of the poster.
6542 The @code{From} header.
6544 The number of the article.
6546 The opening bracket.
6548 The closing bracket.
6553 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6555 Variables related to the display are:
6558 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6559 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6560 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6561 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6562 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6563 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6565 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6566 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6567 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6568 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6572 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6573 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6574 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6575 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6576 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6577 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
6579 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6580 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6581 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6582 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6583 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6584 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6585 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6589 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6592 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6602 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6606 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6607 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6609 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6611 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6617 @node Mail Group Commands
6618 @section Mail Group Commands
6619 @cindex mail group commands
6621 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6622 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6624 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6625 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6630 @kindex B e (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6632 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6633 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6636 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6638 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
6639 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6640 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
6641 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6644 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6646 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6647 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6648 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6651 @kindex B m (Summary)
6653 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6654 Move the article from one mail group to another
6655 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6658 @kindex B c (Summary)
6660 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6661 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6662 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6665 @kindex B C (Summary)
6666 @cindex crosspost mail
6667 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6668 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6669 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6670 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
6671 be properly updated.
6674 @kindex B i (Summary)
6675 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
6676 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
6677 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
6678 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
6681 @kindex B r (Summary)
6682 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
6683 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6684 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
6685 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
6686 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
6690 @kindex B w (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
6693 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
6694 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
6695 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
6696 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
6699 @kindex B q (Summary)
6700 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
6701 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
6702 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
6703 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
6706 @kindex B p (Summary)
6707 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
6708 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
6709 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
6710 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
6711 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
6712 article from your news server (or rather, from
6713 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
6714 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
6715 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
6716 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
6717 just not have arrived yet.
6721 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
6722 @cindex moving articles
6723 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
6724 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
6725 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
6726 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
6727 suggestions you find reasonable.
6730 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
6731 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
6732 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
6733 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
6737 @node Various Summary Stuff
6738 @section Various Summary Stuff
6741 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
6742 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
6743 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
6744 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
6748 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
6749 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
6750 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
6752 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
6753 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
6754 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
6755 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
6756 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
6757 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
6760 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6761 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6762 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
6763 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
6764 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
6766 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
6767 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
6768 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
6769 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
6770 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
6771 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
6772 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
6773 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
6774 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
6775 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
6780 @node Summary Group Information
6781 @subsection Summary Group Information
6786 @kindex H f (Summary)
6787 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
6788 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
6789 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
6790 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
6791 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
6792 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
6793 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
6794 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
6798 @kindex H d (Summary)
6799 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
6800 Give a brief description of the current group
6801 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
6802 rereading the description from the server.
6805 @kindex H h (Summary)
6806 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
6807 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
6808 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
6811 @kindex H i (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-info-find-node
6813 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
6817 @node Searching for Articles
6818 @subsection Searching for Articles
6823 @kindex M-s (Summary)
6824 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
6825 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
6826 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6829 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6830 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6831 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6832 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6836 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6837 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6838 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6839 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6842 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6844 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6845 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6848 @node Summary Generation Commands
6849 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
6854 @kindex Y g (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
6856 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
6859 @kindex Y c (Summary)
6860 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
6861 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
6862 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
6867 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6868 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6873 @kindex C-d (Summary)
6874 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6875 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6876 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6877 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6878 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6879 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6880 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6881 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
6885 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
6886 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
6887 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
6888 several documents into one biiig group
6889 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
6890 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
6891 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
6892 command understands the process/prefix convention
6893 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6896 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6897 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6898 Toggle truncation of summary lines
6899 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
6900 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
6901 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
6905 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6906 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6907 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6912 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6913 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6914 @cindex summary exit
6915 @cindex exiting groups
6917 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6918 group and return you to the group buffer.
6924 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6926 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6927 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6928 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6929 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6930 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6931 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6932 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6933 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6934 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
6935 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
6939 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6941 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6942 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6943 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6947 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6949 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6950 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6951 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6954 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6955 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6956 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6957 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6960 @kindex Z n (Summary)
6961 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
6962 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
6963 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
6966 @kindex Z R (Summary)
6967 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
6968 Exit this group, and then enter it again
6969 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
6970 all articles, both read and unread.
6974 @kindex Z G (Summary)
6975 @kindex M-g (Summary)
6976 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
6977 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
6978 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
6979 articles, both read and unread.
6982 @kindex Z N (Summary)
6983 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
6984 Exit the group and go to the next group
6985 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6988 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6989 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6990 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6991 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6994 @kindex Z s (Summary)
6995 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
6996 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
6997 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
6998 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
6999 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7002 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7003 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7006 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7007 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7008 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7009 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7010 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7011 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7012 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7013 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7014 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7015 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7016 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7017 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7019 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7021 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7022 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7023 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7024 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7025 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7026 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7027 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7028 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7029 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7032 @node Crosspost Handling
7033 @section Crosspost Handling
7037 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7038 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7039 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7040 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7041 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7042 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7045 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7046 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7047 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7048 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7049 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7051 @cindex cross-posting
7054 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7055 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7056 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7057 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7058 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7059 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7060 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7061 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7062 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7063 the cross reference mechanism.
7065 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7066 @cindex overview.fmt
7067 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7068 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7069 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7070 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7071 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7072 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7075 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7076 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7077 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7082 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7085 @node Duplicate Suppression
7086 @section Duplicate Suppression
7088 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7089 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7090 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7091 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
7096 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7097 is evil and not very common.
7100 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7101 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7104 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7105 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7108 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7111 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
7112 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7114 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7115 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7116 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7117 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7118 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7119 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7120 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7123 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7124 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7125 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7126 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7127 article as read the the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7131 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7132 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7133 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7135 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7136 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7137 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7138 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7139 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
7140 single Gnus session are suppressed.
7142 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7143 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7144 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7145 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7147 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7148 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7149 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
7150 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7153 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7154 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7155 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7156 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7157 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7158 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7159 to you to figure out, I think.
7162 @node The Article Buffer
7163 @chapter The Article Buffer
7164 @cindex article buffer
7166 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7167 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7168 tell Gnus otherwise.
7171 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7172 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7173 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7174 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7175 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7179 @node Hiding Headers
7180 @section Hiding Headers
7181 @cindex hiding headers
7182 @cindex deleting headers
7184 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7185 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7187 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7188 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7189 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7190 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7191 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7192 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7193 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7194 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7195 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7197 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7201 @item gnus-visible-headers
7202 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7203 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7204 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7205 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7207 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7208 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7211 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7214 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7217 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7218 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7219 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7220 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7221 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7222 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7224 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7225 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7228 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7231 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7234 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7235 variable will have no effect.
7239 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7240 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7241 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7242 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7243 the headers are to be displayed.
7245 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7246 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7249 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7252 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7253 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
7254 are listed in this variable.
7256 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7257 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7258 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7259 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7260 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7261 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7262 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7263 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7264 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7266 These conditions are:
7269 Remove all empty headers.
7271 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7274 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7275 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7277 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7280 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7284 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7287 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7288 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7291 This is also the default value for this variable.
7295 @section Using @sc{mime}
7298 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7299 while people stand around yawning.
7301 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7302 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7304 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7305 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7306 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7308 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7309 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7310 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7311 @findex metamail-buffer
7312 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7313 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7314 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7315 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7316 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7317 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7318 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7319 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7321 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7322 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7323 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7324 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7325 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7326 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7327 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7328 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7329 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7331 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7334 @node Customizing Articles
7335 @section Customizing Articles
7336 @cindex article customization
7338 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7339 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7340 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7341 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7343 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7344 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7345 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7346 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7347 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7348 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7349 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7350 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7351 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7353 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7354 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7355 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7356 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7357 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7360 @node Article Keymap
7361 @section Article Keymap
7363 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7364 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7365 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7366 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7369 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7374 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7375 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7376 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7379 @kindex DEL (Article)
7380 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7381 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7384 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7385 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7386 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7387 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7388 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7391 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7392 @findex gnus-article-mail
7393 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7394 given a prefix, include the mail.
7398 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7399 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7400 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7404 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7405 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7406 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7409 @kindex TAB (Article)
7410 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7411 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
7412 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7415 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7416 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7417 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
7423 @section Misc Article
7427 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7428 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7429 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7430 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7433 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7434 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7435 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7436 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7437 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7438 the contents of the article buffer.
7440 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7441 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7442 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7443 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7444 hiding headers, and the like.
7446 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7447 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7448 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7450 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7451 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7452 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7453 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7455 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7456 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7457 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7458 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7459 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7463 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7464 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7468 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7470 @item gnus-break-pages
7471 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7472 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7473 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7474 paging will not be done.
7476 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7477 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7478 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7483 @node Composing Messages
7484 @chapter Composing Messages
7489 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7490 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7491 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7492 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
7493 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
7494 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
7495 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7498 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7499 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7500 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7501 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7502 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7503 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
7504 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7505 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7508 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7509 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7515 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7518 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7519 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7520 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7521 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7523 @item gnus-add-to-list
7524 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
7525 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
7526 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
7534 Variables for composing news articles:
7537 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7538 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7539 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7540 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7541 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7542 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
7543 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7544 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7545 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7548 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7549 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7550 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7551 file. It is 1000 by default.
7556 @node Posting Server
7557 @section Posting Server
7559 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7560 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7562 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7564 @vindex gnus-post-method
7566 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7567 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7568 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7569 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7570 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7573 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7576 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7577 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7578 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7579 the ``current'' server for posting.
7581 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7582 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7584 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7585 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7590 @section Mail and Post
7592 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
7596 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7597 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7598 @cindex mailing lists
7600 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
7601 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7602 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7603 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7604 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7605 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
7606 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7607 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7608 still a pain, though.
7612 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7613 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7614 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7617 @findex ispell-message
7619 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7623 @node Archived Messages
7624 @section Archived Messages
7625 @cindex archived messages
7626 @cindex sent messages
7628 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
7629 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
7630 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
7631 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
7634 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7635 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7636 use to store sent messages. The default is:
7640 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))
7643 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
7644 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
7645 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
7646 directory chosen, you could say something like:
7649 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7650 '(nnfolder "archive"
7651 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7652 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7653 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7656 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7658 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7659 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7660 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7662 This variable can be:
7666 Messages will be saved in that group.
7667 @item a list of strings
7668 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7669 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7670 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7672 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
7677 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7679 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7682 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7684 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7687 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7689 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7690 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7691 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7692 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7697 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7698 '((if (message-news-p)
7703 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7704 messages in one file per month:
7707 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7708 '((if (message-news-p)
7710 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7711 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7714 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7715 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7716 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7717 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7718 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7719 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7720 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7721 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
7722 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7723 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7725 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus also a
7726 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
7727 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
7728 this will disable archiving.
7730 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
7731 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
7734 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7735 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7736 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7737 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7738 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7741 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7742 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7743 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7746 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
7747 but the latter is the preferred method.
7751 @c @node Posting Styles
7752 @c @section Posting Styles
7753 @c @cindex posting styles
7756 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
7758 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7759 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7760 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7763 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7764 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7765 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7766 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7767 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7772 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7773 @c (organization . "What me?"))
7775 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7776 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7777 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7780 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7781 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7782 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7783 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7784 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7785 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7786 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7787 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7789 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7790 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7791 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7792 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7793 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7794 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7797 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7798 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7799 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7800 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7801 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7804 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7805 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7806 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7808 @c So here's a new example:
7811 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
7813 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
7814 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7815 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7816 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7818 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7819 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7820 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7821 @c (posting-from-work-p
7822 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7823 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7824 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7826 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7833 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7834 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7835 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7836 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7837 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7839 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7840 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7841 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7842 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7843 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7847 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7848 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7849 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7850 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7851 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7852 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7853 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7854 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7856 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7859 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7860 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7861 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7862 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7863 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7864 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7865 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7866 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7867 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7868 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7869 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7870 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7871 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7872 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7874 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
7875 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7876 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7878 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7879 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
7880 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7881 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7882 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7884 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7887 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7888 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7889 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7890 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7891 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7894 @c @node Rejected Articles
7895 @c @section Rejected Articles
7896 @c @cindex rejected articles
7898 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7899 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7900 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7901 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7903 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7904 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7905 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7906 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7907 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7909 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7910 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7911 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7914 @node Select Methods
7915 @chapter Select Methods
7916 @cindex foreign groups
7917 @cindex select methods
7919 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7920 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7921 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7922 personal mail group.
7924 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7925 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7926 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
7927 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7928 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7929 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7931 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7932 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7934 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7937 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7938 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7939 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
7940 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
7941 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7943 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7946 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7947 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7948 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7949 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7950 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7954 @node The Server Buffer
7955 @section The Server Buffer
7957 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7958 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7959 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7960 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7961 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7962 backend represents a virtual server.
7964 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7965 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7966 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7967 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7969 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7970 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7971 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
7972 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7973 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7974 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7975 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7977 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7978 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7981 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7982 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7983 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7984 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7985 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
7986 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7987 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7990 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7991 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7994 @node Server Buffer Format
7995 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7996 @cindex server buffer format
7998 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7999 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8000 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8001 variable, with some simple extensions:
8006 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8009 The name of this server.
8012 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8015 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8018 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8019 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8020 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
8031 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8034 @node Server Commands
8035 @subsection Server Commands
8036 @cindex server commands
8042 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8043 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8047 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8048 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8051 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8052 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8053 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8057 @findex gnus-server-exit
8058 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8062 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8063 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8067 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8068 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8072 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8073 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8077 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8078 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8082 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8083 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8084 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8089 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8090 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8091 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8092 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8097 @node Example Methods
8098 @subsection Example Methods
8100 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8103 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8106 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8112 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8113 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8116 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
8117 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8119 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8120 port 15 from that machine. This is what the select method should
8124 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8127 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8128 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
8130 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8131 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8132 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8136 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8139 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8142 Here's the method for a public spool:
8146 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8147 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8150 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8151 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8152 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8153 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8154 should probably look something like this:
8158 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8159 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8160 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8161 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8162 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8167 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8168 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8170 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8171 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8173 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8174 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8175 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8177 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8179 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8180 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8181 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8182 will contain the following:
8192 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8193 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8194 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8197 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8198 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8199 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8202 @node Server Variables
8203 @subsection Server Variables
8205 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8206 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8207 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8208 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8209 won't change the "derived" variables.
8211 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8212 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8213 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8214 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8215 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8216 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8217 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8218 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8219 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8223 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8224 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8225 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8229 @node Servers and Methods
8230 @subsection Servers and Methods
8232 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8233 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8234 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8235 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8239 @node Unavailable Servers
8240 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8242 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8243 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8244 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8245 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8246 actually the case or not.
8248 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8249 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
8250 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8251 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8252 to find out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to
8253 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8254 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8255 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8257 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8258 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8260 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8261 with the following commands:
8267 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8268 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8269 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8273 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8274 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8275 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8279 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8280 Mark the current server as unreachable
8281 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8284 @kindex M-o (Server)
8285 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8286 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8287 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8290 @kindex M-c (Server)
8291 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8292 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8293 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8297 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8298 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
8299 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8305 @section Getting News
8306 @cindex reading news
8307 @cindex news backends
8309 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8310 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8311 or it can read from a local spool.
8314 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8315 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8320 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8323 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8324 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8325 server as the, uhm, address.
8327 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8328 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8329 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8330 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8332 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8333 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8334 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8336 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8341 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8342 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8343 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8345 @cindex authentification
8346 @cindex nntp authentification
8347 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8348 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8349 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
8350 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
8351 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
8352 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function.
8354 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8355 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8356 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8357 server. Available functions include:
8360 @item nntp-send-authinfo
8361 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8362 This function will used you current login name as the user name and will
8363 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
8365 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8366 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8367 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
8369 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8370 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8371 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
8372 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
8375 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8376 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8377 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8378 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8379 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8382 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8386 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8388 The default value is
8391 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8392 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8395 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8396 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8398 @item nntp-maximum-request
8399 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8400 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8401 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8402 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8403 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8404 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8405 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8407 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8408 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8409 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8410 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8411 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8412 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8413 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8414 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8415 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8416 no timeouts are done.
8418 @item nntp-command-timeout
8419 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8420 @cindex PPP connections
8421 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8422 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8423 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8424 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8425 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8426 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8427 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
8428 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8429 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8430 likely number is 30 seconds.
8432 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8433 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8434 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8435 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8438 @item nntp-server-hook
8439 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8440 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8443 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8444 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8445 @item nntp-open-connection-function
8446 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
8447 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
8448 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8449 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8450 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
8451 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
8453 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8454 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8455 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
8456 @code{nntp-open-connection-function}, this list will be used as the
8457 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8459 @item nntp-end-of-line
8460 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8461 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8462 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8463 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8465 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8466 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8467 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8471 @vindex nntp-address
8472 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8474 @item nntp-port-number
8475 @vindex nntp-port-number
8476 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8479 @item nntp-buggy-select
8480 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8481 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8483 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8484 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8485 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8486 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
8487 can be used automatically.
8489 @item nntp-xover-commands
8490 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8493 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8494 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8498 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8499 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8500 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8501 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8502 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8503 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
8504 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8505 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8506 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8507 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8508 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
8510 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8511 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8512 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8514 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8515 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8516 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8517 server closes connection.
8523 @subsection News Spool
8527 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8528 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
8529 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
8532 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8533 anything else) as the address.
8535 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8536 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8537 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8538 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8542 @item nnspool-inews-program
8543 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8544 Program used to post an article.
8546 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8547 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8548 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8550 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8551 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8552 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8553 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8555 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8556 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8557 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8558 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8560 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8561 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8562 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8564 @item nnspool-active-file
8565 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8566 The path of the active file.
8568 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8569 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8570 The path of the group descriptions file.
8572 @item nnspool-history-file
8573 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8574 The path of the news history file.
8576 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8577 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8578 The path of the active date file.
8580 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8581 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8582 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8585 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8586 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8588 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8589 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8590 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8596 @section Getting Mail
8597 @cindex reading mail
8600 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8604 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8605 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8606 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8607 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8608 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8609 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8610 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8611 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
8612 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8613 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8614 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8618 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8619 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8621 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
8622 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
8623 and things will happen automatically.
8625 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
8626 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
8629 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
8630 '((nnml "private")))
8633 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
8634 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
8635 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
8636 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
8637 like any other group.
8639 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
8642 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8643 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8644 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8648 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
8649 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
8650 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
8653 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
8654 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
8655 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8658 @node Splitting Mail
8659 @subsection Splitting Mail
8660 @cindex splitting mail
8661 @cindex mail splitting
8663 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8664 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8665 to be split into groups.
8668 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8669 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8670 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8674 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8675 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8676 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8677 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8678 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8680 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
8681 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
8684 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8685 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8686 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8687 mail belongs in that group.
8689 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8690 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
8691 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
8692 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
8693 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
8694 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
8696 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8697 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8698 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8699 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8700 thinks should carry this mail message.
8702 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8703 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8704 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8705 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8707 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8708 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8709 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8710 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8711 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8713 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8716 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8717 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8718 links. If that's the case for you, set
8719 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8720 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8722 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
8723 @kindex nnmail-split-history
8724 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
8725 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
8727 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8728 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8729 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8730 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8731 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8732 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8733 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8734 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8738 @node Mail Backend Variables
8739 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8741 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8745 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8746 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8747 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8748 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8750 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8751 @item nnmail-spool-file
8755 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
8756 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
8757 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8758 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8759 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8760 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8761 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8762 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8763 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8764 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8765 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8766 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
8767 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
8768 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
8769 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
8771 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
8773 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
8774 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
8777 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8778 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8779 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8780 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8781 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8782 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8784 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8785 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8786 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8787 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8788 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8789 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8790 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8793 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8794 @item nnmail-crash-box
8795 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8796 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8797 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8800 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8801 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8802 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8803 used for, well, anything, really.
8805 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
8806 @item nnmail-split-hook
8807 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
8808 @findex RFC1522 decoding
8809 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
8810 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
8811 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
8812 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
8813 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
8814 is one likely function to add to this hook.
8816 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8817 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8818 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8819 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8820 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8821 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8822 starting to handle the new mail) and
8823 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8824 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8825 default file modes the new mail files get:
8828 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8829 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8831 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8832 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8835 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8836 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8837 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8838 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8839 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8840 it will be used instead.
8842 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8843 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8844 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8845 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8847 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
8848 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
8851 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8852 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8853 @cindex incoming mail files
8854 @cindex deleting incoming files
8855 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8856 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
8859 @c This is @code{nil} by
8860 @c default for reasons of security.
8862 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
8863 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
8864 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
8865 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure to
8866 not lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
8869 Delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
8871 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8872 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8873 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8874 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8875 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8878 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8879 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8881 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8883 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
8884 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
8885 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
8886 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
8887 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
8892 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8893 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8894 @cindex mail splitting
8895 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8897 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8898 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8899 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8900 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8901 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8902 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8904 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8907 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8908 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8909 ;; from real errors.
8910 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8912 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8913 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8914 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8915 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8916 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8917 ;; Other mailing lists...
8918 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8919 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8921 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
8922 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8926 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8927 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8928 the five possible split syntaxes:
8933 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8936 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first
8937 element is a string, then that means that if header FIELD (a regexp)
8938 contains VALUE (also a regexp), then store the message as specified by
8942 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8943 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
8944 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
8945 be stored in one or more groups.
8948 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8949 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
8952 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
8953 this message anywhere.
8956 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
8957 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
8958 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
8963 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
8964 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
8965 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
8966 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
8967 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
8969 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8970 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
8971 are expanded as specified by the variable
8972 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
8973 the car of the cells contains the key, and the cdr contains a string.
8975 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
8976 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
8977 when all this splitting is performed.
8979 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
8980 information in the headers, you can say things like:
8983 (any "debian-\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
8986 That is, do @code{replace-match}-like substitions in the group names.
8989 @node Mail and Procmail
8990 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8995 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8996 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8997 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8998 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8999 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9001 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9002 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9005 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9006 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9007 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
9008 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9009 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9010 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9012 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
9015 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
9017 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9018 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9020 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9021 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9022 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9023 to include all your mail groups.
9025 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9026 method will be created automatically.
9028 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9029 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9030 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9031 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9032 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9033 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9034 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9035 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9037 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9038 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9039 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9040 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9041 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9043 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9044 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
9045 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9046 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9047 ever expiring the final article (i. e., the article with the highest
9048 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9050 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9051 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i. e., the incoming
9052 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9053 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9054 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9057 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9058 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9059 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9060 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9061 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9065 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9066 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9068 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9069 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9070 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9073 Doing so can be quite easy.
9075 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9076 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9077 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9078 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9079 your @code{nnml} groups.
9085 Go to the group buffer.
9088 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
9089 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9092 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9095 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
9099 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9100 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9103 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9104 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9105 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9106 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9107 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9109 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9110 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9111 using the new mail backend.
9115 @subsection Expiring Mail
9116 @cindex article expiry
9118 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9119 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9120 different approach to mail reading.
9122 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9123 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9124 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9125 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9126 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9127 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9130 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9131 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9132 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9133 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9134 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9135 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9136 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9137 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9139 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9140 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9141 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9142 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9143 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9144 column in the summary buffer.
9146 Note that making a group auto-expirable don't mean that all read
9147 articles are expired---only the articles that are marked as expirable
9148 will be expired. Also note the using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9149 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9150 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9152 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9153 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9156 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9157 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9160 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9161 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9163 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9164 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9165 doesn't really mix very well.
9167 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9168 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9169 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9170 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9173 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9174 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9175 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9176 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9179 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9181 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9183 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9185 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9187 ((string= group "important")
9193 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9194 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9196 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9197 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
9198 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
9201 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9202 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9204 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9205 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9206 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9207 easier for procmail users.
9209 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9210 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9211 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9212 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9213 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9214 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9215 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9216 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9217 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9218 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9219 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9220 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9221 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9224 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9228 @subsection Washing Mail
9229 @cindex mail washing
9230 @cindex list server brain damage
9231 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9233 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9234 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9235 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9236 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9237 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9238 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9240 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9241 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9242 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9245 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9246 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9247 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9248 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9251 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9252 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9253 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9254 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9257 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9258 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9259 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9260 Emacs running on MS machines.
9264 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9265 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9266 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9267 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9270 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9271 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9272 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9273 headers too make them look nice. Aaah.
9275 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9276 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9277 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9278 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9279 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9280 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9281 also be a list of regexp.
9283 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9284 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9287 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9288 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9291 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9292 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9293 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9297 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9298 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9299 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9303 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9304 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9305 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9312 @subsection Duplicates
9314 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9315 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9316 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9317 @cindex duplicate mails
9318 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
9319 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
9320 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
9321 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
9322 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
9323 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
9324 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
9325 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
9326 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
9327 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
9328 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
9329 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
9330 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
9332 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
9333 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
9334 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
9335 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
9337 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
9340 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
9341 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
9345 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
9346 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
9347 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
9348 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
9349 (any mail "mail.misc")
9356 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9357 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
9362 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
9363 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
9364 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
9365 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
9366 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
9369 @node Not Reading Mail
9370 @subsection Not Reading Mail
9372 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
9373 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
9374 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
9376 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
9377 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
9379 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9380 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9381 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9382 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9383 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9384 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
9385 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
9386 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
9387 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
9388 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
9389 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
9391 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
9392 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
9396 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
9397 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
9399 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
9400 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
9401 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
9404 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
9405 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
9406 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
9407 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
9408 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
9413 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
9415 @cindex unix mail box
9417 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9418 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9419 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
9420 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
9421 which group it belongs in.
9423 Virtual server settings:
9426 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
9427 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9428 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
9430 @item nnmbox-active-file
9431 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9432 The name of the active file for the mail box.
9434 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
9435 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9436 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
9442 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
9446 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9447 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9448 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
9449 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
9450 article to say which group it belongs in.
9452 Virtual server settings:
9455 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
9456 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9457 The name of the rmail mbox file.
9459 @item nnbabyl-active-file
9460 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9461 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
9463 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9464 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9465 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
9470 @subsubsection Mail Spool
9472 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
9474 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
9475 format. It should be used with some caution.
9477 @vindex nnml-directory
9478 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
9479 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
9480 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
9481 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
9483 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
9486 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
9487 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
9488 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
9489 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
9490 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
9491 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
9492 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
9493 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
9495 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
9496 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
9497 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
9498 backend when it comes to reading mail.
9500 Virtual server settings:
9503 @item nnml-directory
9504 @vindex nnml-directory
9505 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
9507 @item nnml-active-file
9508 @vindex nnml-active-file
9509 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
9511 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
9512 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
9513 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
9516 @item nnml-get-new-mail
9517 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9518 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
9520 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
9521 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
9522 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
9524 @item nnml-nov-file-name
9525 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
9526 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
9528 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9529 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9530 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
9534 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
9535 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
9536 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
9537 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
9538 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
9539 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
9540 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
9545 @subsubsection MH Spool
9547 @cindex mh-e mail spool
9549 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
9550 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
9551 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
9552 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
9554 Virtual server settings:
9557 @item nnmh-directory
9558 @vindex nnmh-directory
9559 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9561 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9562 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9563 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9566 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9567 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9568 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9569 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9570 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9571 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9572 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9577 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9579 @cindex mbox folders
9580 @cindex mail folders
9582 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9583 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9584 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9587 Virtual server settings:
9590 @item nnfolder-directory
9591 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9592 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9594 @item nnfolder-active-file
9595 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9596 The name of the active file.
9598 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9599 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9600 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9602 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9603 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9604 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9607 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9608 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9609 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
9610 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
9611 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
9612 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
9616 @section Other Sources
9618 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
9619 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
9623 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
9624 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
9625 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
9626 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
9627 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
9628 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
9632 @node Directory Groups
9633 @subsection Directory Groups
9635 @cindex directory groups
9637 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
9638 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
9641 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
9642 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
9643 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
9645 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
9646 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
9647 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the the directory name,
9648 @code{ange-ftp} will actually allow you to read this directory over at
9649 @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
9651 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
9653 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
9654 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
9655 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
9656 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
9659 @node Anything Groups
9660 @subsection Anything Groups
9663 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
9664 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
9665 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
9668 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
9669 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
9670 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
9671 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
9672 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
9673 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
9674 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
9675 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
9676 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
9677 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
9680 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
9681 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
9682 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
9683 in the article buffer, just as usual.
9685 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
9686 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
9687 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
9688 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
9690 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
9691 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
9692 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
9693 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
9694 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
9695 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
9696 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
9697 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
9702 @item nneething-map-file-directory
9703 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
9704 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
9705 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
9707 @item nneething-exclude-files
9708 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
9709 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
9710 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
9712 @item nneething-map-file
9713 @vindex nneething-map-file
9714 Name of the map files.
9718 @node Document Groups
9719 @subsection Document Groups
9721 @cindex documentation group
9724 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
9725 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
9732 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
9737 The standard Unix mbox file.
9739 @cindex MMDF mail box
9741 The MMDF mail box format.
9744 Several news articles appended into a file.
9747 @cindex rnews batch files
9748 The rnews batch transport format.
9749 @cindex forwarded messages
9758 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
9759 @cindex RFC 341 digest
9760 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
9762 @item standard-digest
9763 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
9766 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
9769 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
9770 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
9771 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
9774 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
9775 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
9776 group. And that's it.
9778 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
9779 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
9780 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
9781 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
9782 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
9783 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
9784 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
9785 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
9786 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
9787 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
9789 Virtual server variables:
9792 @item nndoc-article-type
9793 @vindex nndoc-article-type
9794 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
9795 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward},
9796 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or
9799 @item nndoc-post-type
9800 @vindex nndoc-post-type
9801 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
9802 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
9807 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
9811 @node Document Server Internals
9812 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
9814 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
9815 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
9816 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
9817 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
9819 First, here's an example document type definition:
9823 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
9824 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
9827 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
9828 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
9829 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
9830 types can be defined with very few settings:
9834 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
9835 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
9839 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
9840 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
9842 @item head-begin-function
9843 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
9846 @item nndoc-head-begin
9847 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
9850 @item nndoc-head-end
9851 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
9852 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
9854 @item body-begin-function
9855 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
9859 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
9862 @item body-end-function
9863 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
9867 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
9869 @item nndoc-file-end
9870 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
9871 regexp will be totally ignored.
9875 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
9876 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
9877 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
9878 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
9879 something that's palatable for Gnus:
9882 @item prepare-body-function
9883 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
9884 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
9885 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
9887 @item article-transform-function
9888 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
9889 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
9890 body of the article.
9892 @item generate-head-function
9893 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
9894 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
9895 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
9896 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
9900 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
9905 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9906 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9907 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
9908 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
9910 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
9911 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
9912 (subtype digest guess))
9915 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
9916 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
9917 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
9918 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
9919 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
9921 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
9922 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
9923 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
9924 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
9925 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
9926 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
9927 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
9928 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
9929 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
9930 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
9931 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
9939 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
9940 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
9941 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
9943 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
9944 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
9945 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
9948 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
9949 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
9950 that interested in doing things properly.
9952 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
9953 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
9956 First some terminology:
9961 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
9962 get news and/or mail from.
9965 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
9966 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
9969 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
9973 @item message packets
9974 These are packets made at the server, and typically contains lots of
9975 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
9976 default, where @var{X} is a number.
9978 @item response packets
9979 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
9980 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
9981 default, where @var{X} is a number.
9991 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
9992 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
9993 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
9994 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
9997 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10000 You put the packet in your home directory.
10003 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10004 the native or secondary server.
10007 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10008 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10011 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10015 You transfer this packet to the server.
10018 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10021 You then repeat until you die.
10025 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10026 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10029 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10030 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10031 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10035 @node SOUP Commands
10036 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10038 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10042 @kindex G s b (Group)
10043 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10044 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10045 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10046 process/prefix convention.
10049 @kindex G s w (Group)
10050 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10051 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10054 @kindex G s s (Group)
10055 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10056 Send all replies from the replies packet
10057 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10060 @kindex G s p (Group)
10061 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10062 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10065 @kindex G s r (Group)
10066 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10067 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10070 @kindex O s (Summary)
10071 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10072 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10073 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10074 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10079 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10084 @item gnus-soup-directory
10085 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10086 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10087 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10089 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10090 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10091 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10092 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10094 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10095 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10096 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10097 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10099 @item gnus-soup-packer
10100 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10101 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10102 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10104 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10105 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10106 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10107 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10109 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10110 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10111 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10113 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10114 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10115 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10116 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10122 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10125 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10126 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10127 you can read them at leisure.
10129 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10133 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10134 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10135 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10136 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10138 @item nnsoup-directory
10139 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10140 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10141 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10143 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10144 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10145 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
10146 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10148 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10149 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10150 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10151 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10152 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10154 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10155 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10156 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
10157 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10159 @item nnsoup-active-file
10160 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10161 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10162 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10163 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10164 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10166 @item nnsoup-packer
10167 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10168 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10169 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10171 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10172 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10173 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10174 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10176 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10177 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10178 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10181 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10182 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10183 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10190 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10192 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10193 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10194 more for that to happen.
10196 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10197 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10198 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10201 In specific, this is what it does:
10204 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10205 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10208 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10209 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10210 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10214 @subsection Web Searches
10218 @cindex InReference
10219 @cindex Usenet searches
10220 @cindex searching the Usenet
10222 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10223 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10224 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10225 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10226 searches without having to use a browser.
10228 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10229 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10230 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10231 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10232 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10234 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10235 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10236 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10237 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10238 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@code{Duplicate
10239 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10240 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10241 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10242 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10243 header---mark all articles that were posted before the last date you
10244 read the group as read.
10246 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10247 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10248 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10249 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10250 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10251 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10253 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10254 to use @code{nnweb}.
10256 Virtual server variables:
10261 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10262 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
10265 @vindex nnweb-search
10266 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10268 @item nnweb-max-hits
10269 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10270 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10273 @item nnweb-type-definition
10274 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10275 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10276 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10281 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10285 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10288 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10291 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10295 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10302 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10303 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10304 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10307 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10308 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10309 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10311 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
10317 @item nngateway-address
10318 @vindex nngateway-address
10319 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
10321 @item nngateway-header-transformation
10322 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
10323 News headers have often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
10324 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
10325 transformation should be called, and defaults to
10326 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
10327 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
10330 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
10331 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address---an article with this
10332 @code{Newsgroups} header:
10335 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
10338 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
10341 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
10346 So, to use this, simply say something like:
10349 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
10353 @node Combined Groups
10354 @section Combined Groups
10356 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
10360 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
10361 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
10365 @node Virtual Groups
10366 @subsection Virtual Groups
10368 @cindex virtual groups
10370 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
10373 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
10374 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
10375 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
10377 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
10378 regexp to match component groups.
10380 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
10381 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
10382 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
10383 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
10384 the virtual group.)
10386 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
10387 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
10390 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
10393 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
10394 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
10396 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
10397 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
10398 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
10399 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
10402 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
10405 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
10406 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
10407 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
10408 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
10409 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
10411 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
10412 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
10413 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
10415 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
10416 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
10417 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
10418 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
10419 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
10420 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
10421 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
10422 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
10423 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
10424 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
10425 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
10428 @node Kibozed Groups
10429 @subsection Kibozed Groups
10433 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
10434 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
10435 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
10436 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
10438 @kindex G k (Group)
10439 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
10442 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
10443 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
10444 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
10445 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
10447 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
10448 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
10449 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
10451 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
10452 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
10453 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
10454 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
10455 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
10456 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
10457 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
10458 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
10460 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
10461 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
10462 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
10463 Stranger things have happened.
10465 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
10466 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
10468 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
10469 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
10470 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
10471 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
10472 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
10473 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
10476 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
10477 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
10484 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
10485 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
10486 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
10489 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
10490 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
10491 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
10492 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
10493 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
10495 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
10496 before generating the summary buffer.
10498 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
10499 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
10500 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
10502 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
10503 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
10504 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
10505 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
10508 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
10509 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
10510 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
10511 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
10512 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
10513 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
10514 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
10515 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
10516 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
10517 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
10518 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
10519 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
10520 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
10521 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
10522 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
10523 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
10527 @node Summary Score Commands
10528 @section Summary Score Commands
10529 @cindex score commands
10531 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
10532 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
10533 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
10534 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
10535 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
10537 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
10538 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
10539 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
10540 score file the current one.
10542 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
10547 @kindex V s (Summary)
10548 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
10549 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
10552 @kindex V S (Summary)
10553 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
10554 Display the score of the current article
10555 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
10558 @kindex V t (Summary)
10559 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
10560 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
10561 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
10564 @kindex V R (Summary)
10565 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
10566 Run the current summary through the scoring process
10567 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
10568 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
10569 effect you're having.
10572 @kindex V a (Summary)
10573 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
10574 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
10575 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
10578 @kindex V c (Summary)
10579 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
10580 Make a different score file the current
10581 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
10584 @kindex V e (Summary)
10585 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
10586 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
10587 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
10591 @kindex V f (Summary)
10592 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
10593 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
10594 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
10597 @kindex V F (Summary)
10598 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10599 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
10600 after editing score files.
10603 @kindex V C (Summary)
10604 @findex gnus-score-customize
10605 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
10606 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
10609 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
10610 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
10611 Increase the score of the current article
10612 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
10615 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
10616 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
10617 Lower the score of the current article
10618 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
10621 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
10626 @kindex V m (Summary)
10627 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
10628 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
10629 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
10632 @kindex V x (Summary)
10633 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
10634 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
10635 expunge all articles below this score
10636 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
10639 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
10640 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
10645 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
10646 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
10648 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
10649 keys are available:
10653 Score on the author name.
10656 Score on the subject line.
10659 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
10662 Score on thread---the References line.
10668 Score on the number of lines.
10671 Score on the Message-ID.
10674 Score on followups.
10684 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
10685 what headers you are scoring on.
10697 Substring matching.
10700 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
10729 Greater than number.
10734 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
10735 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
10736 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
10740 Temporary score entry.
10743 Permanent score entry.
10746 Immediately scoring.
10751 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
10752 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
10753 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
10754 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
10756 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
10757 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
10758 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
10759 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
10760 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
10762 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
10763 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
10764 pretend they are keymaps or not.
10767 @node Group Score Commands
10768 @section Group Score Commands
10769 @cindex group score commands
10771 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
10776 @kindex W f (Group)
10777 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10778 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
10779 all the time. This command will flush the cache
10780 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
10785 @node Score Variables
10786 @section Score Variables
10787 @cindex score variables
10791 @item gnus-use-scoring
10792 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
10793 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
10794 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
10796 @item gnus-kill-killed
10797 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
10798 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
10799 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
10800 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
10801 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
10802 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
10803 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
10805 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
10806 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
10807 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
10808 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
10809 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
10811 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
10812 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
10813 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
10814 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
10816 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10817 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10818 @cindex score cache
10819 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
10820 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
10821 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
10822 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
10823 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
10824 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
10825 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
10828 @item gnus-save-score
10829 @vindex gnus-save-score
10830 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
10831 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
10832 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
10834 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10835 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10836 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
10837 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
10838 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
10839 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
10840 manually entered data.
10842 @item gnus-summary-default-score
10843 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
10844 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
10846 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
10847 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
10848 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
10849 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
10850 articles will be hidden.
10852 @item gnus-score-over-mark
10853 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
10854 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
10855 default. Default is @samp{+}.
10857 @item gnus-score-below-mark
10858 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
10859 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
10860 default. Default is @samp{-}.
10862 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10863 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10864 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
10865 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
10867 Predefined functions available are:
10870 @item gnus-score-find-single
10871 @findex gnus-score-find-single
10872 Only apply the group's own score file.
10874 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
10875 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
10876 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
10877 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
10878 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
10879 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
10880 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
10881 then a regexp match is done.
10883 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
10884 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
10886 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
10887 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
10888 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
10889 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
10891 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10892 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10893 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
10894 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
10895 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10898 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10899 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10900 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10901 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10902 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10903 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10906 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10907 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10908 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10909 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10910 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10912 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10913 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10914 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10915 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10916 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10917 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10918 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10921 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10922 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10923 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
10928 @node Score File Format
10929 @section Score File Format
10930 @cindex score file format
10932 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
10933 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
10934 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
10936 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
10940 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
10942 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
10944 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
10946 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
10951 (mark-and-expunge -10)
10955 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
10956 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
10957 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
10958 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
10962 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
10964 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
10965 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
10966 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
10968 Six keys are supported by this alist:
10973 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
10974 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
10975 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
10976 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
10977 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
10978 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
10979 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
10980 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
10981 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
10982 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
10983 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
10984 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
10985 to articles that matches these score entries.
10987 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
10988 score entry has one to four elements.
10992 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
10993 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
10997 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
10998 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
10999 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
11000 is successful. If this element is not present, the
11001 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
11002 instead. This is 1000 by default.
11005 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
11006 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
11007 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
11008 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
11009 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
11012 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
11013 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
11014 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
11015 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
11018 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
11019 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
11020 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
11021 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
11022 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
11023 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
11024 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
11025 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
11026 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
11027 instead, if you feel like.
11030 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
11031 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
11032 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
11033 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
11034 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
11035 the articles with few lines.
11038 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
11039 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
11040 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
11041 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
11042 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
11043 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
11044 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
11048 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
11049 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
11050 ISO8601 compact format first---@samp{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}. If you want to
11051 match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in every year, you
11052 could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string, for instance.
11053 (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so this will
11054 match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where the article
11055 was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the whole
11058 @item Head, Body, All
11059 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
11063 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
11064 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
11065 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
11066 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
11067 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
11068 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
11072 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
11073 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread that is
11074 started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
11075 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
11076 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
11077 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
11078 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
11079 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
11080 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
11081 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread.
11086 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11087 lower than this number will be marked as read.
11090 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11091 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
11093 @item mark-and-expunge
11094 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11095 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
11098 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
11099 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
11100 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
11101 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
11102 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
11105 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
11106 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
11109 @item exclude-files
11110 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
11111 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
11115 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
11116 ignored when handling global score files.
11119 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
11120 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
11123 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
11124 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
11125 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
11126 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
11128 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
11132 (mark-and-expunge -100)
11135 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
11136 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
11137 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
11138 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
11139 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
11141 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
11142 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
11143 ordinary scoring rules.
11146 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
11147 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
11148 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
11149 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
11150 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
11151 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
11152 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11153 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
11154 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
11155 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
11156 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
11160 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
11161 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
11162 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
11163 file for a number of groups.
11166 @cindex local variables
11167 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
11168 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
11169 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
11170 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
11175 @node Score File Editing
11176 @section Score File Editing
11178 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
11179 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
11180 with a mode for that.
11182 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
11183 additional commands:
11188 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
11189 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
11190 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
11191 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
11194 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
11195 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
11196 Insert the current date in numerical format
11197 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
11198 you were wondering.
11201 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
11202 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
11203 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
11204 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
11205 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
11210 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
11212 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
11213 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
11215 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
11216 e} to begin editing score files.
11219 @node Adaptive Scoring
11220 @section Adaptive Scoring
11221 @cindex adaptive scoring
11223 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
11224 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
11225 stupidity, to be precise.
11227 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
11228 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
11229 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
11230 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
11231 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11232 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
11233 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
11234 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
11235 variable to @code{(word line)}.
11237 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11238 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
11239 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
11240 might look something like this:
11243 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11244 '((gnus-unread-mark)
11245 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
11246 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
11247 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
11248 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
11249 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
11250 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
11251 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
11252 (gnus-ancient-mark)
11253 (gnus-low-score-mark)
11254 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
11257 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
11258 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
11259 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
11260 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
11261 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
11262 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
11265 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
11266 will be applied to each article.
11268 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
11269 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
11270 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
11271 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
11273 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
11274 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
11275 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
11276 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
11278 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
11279 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
11280 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
11281 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
11283 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
11284 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
11285 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
11286 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
11287 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
11288 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
11290 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
11291 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
11292 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
11293 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
11294 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
11295 aspirins afterwards.)
11297 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
11298 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
11299 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
11301 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
11302 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
11303 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
11305 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
11306 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
11307 let you use different rules in different groups.
11309 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
11310 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
11311 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
11314 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
11315 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
11316 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
11317 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
11318 the length of the match is less than
11319 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
11320 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
11323 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11324 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
11325 headers. If you adapt on words, the
11326 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
11327 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
11330 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11331 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
11332 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
11333 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
11334 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
11337 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
11338 word that appears in subjects of articles that are marked with
11339 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
11340 score with 30 points.
11342 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
11343 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
11344 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
11345 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
11346 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
11348 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
11349 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
11350 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
11351 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
11353 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
11354 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
11355 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
11357 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
11358 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
11359 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
11360 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
11363 @node Home Score File
11364 @section Home Score File
11366 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
11367 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
11368 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
11369 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
11371 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
11372 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
11373 could perhaps use the same home score file.
11375 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
11376 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
11381 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
11385 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
11386 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
11390 A list. The elements in this list can be:
11394 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
11395 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
11398 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
11399 the home score file.
11402 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
11405 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
11410 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
11413 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11414 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
11417 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
11418 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
11421 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11422 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
11425 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
11427 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
11428 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
11429 their own home score files:
11432 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11433 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
11434 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
11435 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
11436 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
11439 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
11440 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
11441 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
11442 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
11443 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
11445 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
11446 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
11447 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
11448 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
11449 precedence over this variable.
11452 @node Followups To Yourself
11453 @section Followups To Yourself
11455 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
11456 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
11457 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
11458 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
11459 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
11460 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
11464 @item gnus-score-followup-article
11465 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
11466 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
11469 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
11470 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
11471 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
11475 @vindex message-sent-hook
11476 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
11477 @code{message-sent-hook}.
11479 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
11480 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
11484 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11485 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11488 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
11489 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
11494 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf@@.*eyesore.no>" 1000 nil r))
11497 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
11498 is system-dependent.
11502 @section Scoring Tips
11503 @cindex scoring tips
11509 @cindex scoring crossposts
11510 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
11511 the @code{Xref} header.
11513 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
11516 @item Multiple crossposts
11517 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
11518 more than, say, 3 groups:
11520 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
11523 @item Matching on the body
11524 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
11525 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
11526 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
11527 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
11528 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
11529 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
11530 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
11533 @item Marking as read
11534 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
11535 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
11536 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
11540 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
11542 @item Negated character classes
11543 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
11544 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
11545 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
11549 @node Reverse Scoring
11550 @section Reverse Scoring
11551 @cindex reverse scoring
11553 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
11554 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
11555 like this in your score file:
11559 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
11564 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
11565 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
11568 @node Global Score Files
11569 @section Global Score Files
11570 @cindex global score files
11572 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
11573 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
11574 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
11576 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
11577 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
11578 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
11580 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
11581 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
11582 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
11583 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
11584 files are applicable to which group.
11586 Say you want to use the score file
11587 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
11588 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
11591 (setq gnus-global-score-files
11592 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
11593 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
11596 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
11597 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
11598 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
11599 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
11600 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
11602 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
11603 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
11605 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
11606 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
11607 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
11608 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
11609 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
11610 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
11612 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
11618 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
11620 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
11622 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
11624 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
11625 lowered out of existence.
11627 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
11628 articles completely.
11631 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
11632 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
11633 old articles for a long time.
11636 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
11637 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
11638 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
11639 holding our breath yet?
11643 @section Kill Files
11646 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
11647 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
11648 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
11650 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
11651 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
11652 files into score files.
11654 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
11655 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
11656 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
11657 that isn't a very good idea.
11659 Normal kill files look like this:
11662 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11663 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
11667 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
11668 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
11670 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
11671 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
11674 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
11679 @kindex M-k (Summary)
11680 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
11681 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
11684 @kindex M-K (Summary)
11685 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
11686 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
11689 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
11694 @kindex M-k (Group)
11695 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
11696 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
11699 @kindex M-K (Group)
11700 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
11701 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
11704 Kill file variables:
11707 @item gnus-kill-file-name
11708 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
11709 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
11710 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
11711 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
11712 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
11713 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
11715 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11716 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11717 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
11718 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
11721 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
11722 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
11723 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
11724 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
11725 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
11726 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
11727 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
11728 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
11729 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
11731 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11732 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11733 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
11738 @node Converting Kill Files
11739 @section Converting Kill Files
11741 @cindex converting kill files
11743 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
11744 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
11745 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
11748 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
11749 You can fetch it from
11750 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
11752 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
11753 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
11754 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
11762 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
11763 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
11764 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
11766 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
11767 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
11768 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
11769 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
11770 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
11771 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
11772 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
11773 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
11777 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
11778 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
11779 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
11780 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
11784 @node Using GroupLens
11785 @subsection Using GroupLens
11787 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
11789 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
11790 better bit in town is at the moment.
11792 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
11796 @item gnus-use-grouplens
11797 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
11798 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
11799 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
11801 @item grouplens-pseudonym
11802 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
11803 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
11804 with the Better Bit Bureau.
11806 @item grouplens-newsgroups
11807 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
11808 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
11812 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
11813 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
11814 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
11815 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
11816 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
11817 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
11820 @node Rating Articles
11821 @subsection Rating Articles
11823 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
11824 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
11825 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
11826 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
11829 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
11834 @kindex r (GroupLens)
11835 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
11836 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
11839 @kindex k (GroupLens)
11840 @findex grouplens-score-thread
11841 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
11842 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
11843 threads in rec.humor.
11847 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
11848 the score of the article you're reading.
11853 @kindex n (GroupLens)
11854 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
11855 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
11858 @kindex , (GroupLens)
11859 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
11860 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
11864 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
11865 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
11868 @node Displaying Predictions
11869 @subsection Displaying Predictions
11871 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
11872 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
11873 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
11874 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
11875 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
11877 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
11878 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
11879 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
11880 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
11881 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
11882 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
11883 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
11884 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
11885 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
11886 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
11887 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
11888 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
11889 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
11891 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
11892 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
11893 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
11894 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
11896 The following are legal values for that variable.
11899 @item prediction-spot
11900 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
11903 @item confidence-interval
11904 A numeric confidence interval.
11906 @item prediction-bar
11907 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
11909 @item confidence-bar
11910 Numerical confidence.
11912 @item confidence-spot
11913 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
11915 @item prediction-num
11916 Plain-old numeric value.
11918 @item confidence-plus-minus
11919 Prediction +/i confidence.
11924 @node GroupLens Variables
11925 @subsection GroupLens Variables
11929 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
11930 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
11931 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
11932 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
11933 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
11935 @item grouplens-bbb-host
11936 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
11939 @item grouplens-bbb-port
11940 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
11942 @item grouplens-score-offset
11943 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
11944 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
11947 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
11948 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
11949 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
11954 @node Advanced Scoring
11955 @section Advanced Scoring
11957 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
11958 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
11959 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
11960 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
11961 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
11963 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
11967 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
11968 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
11969 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
11973 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
11974 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
11976 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
11977 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
11978 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
11979 non-@code{nil} value.
11981 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
11982 operator, and various match operators.
11989 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11990 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
11991 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
11996 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11997 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
11998 then this operator will return @code{false}.
12003 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
12004 inverse of the value of its argument.
12008 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
12009 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
12010 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
12011 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
12012 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
12013 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
12014 the ancestry you want to go.
12016 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
12017 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
12018 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
12019 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
12020 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
12023 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
12024 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
12026 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
12027 when he's talking about Gnus:
12031 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12032 ("subject" "Gnus"))
12038 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
12042 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12049 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
12050 really don't want to read what he's written:
12054 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12055 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
12059 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
12060 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
12061 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
12068 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
12069 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
12070 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
12071 ("body" "white.*socks"))
12075 The possibilities are endless.
12078 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
12079 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
12081 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
12082 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
12083 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
12084 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
12085 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
12086 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
12087 @samp{subject}) first.
12089 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
12090 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
12101 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
12102 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
12108 ("subject" "Gnus")))
12115 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
12116 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
12121 @section Score Decays
12122 @cindex score decays
12125 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
12126 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
12127 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
12128 use them in any sensible way.
12130 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
12131 @findex gnus-decay-score
12132 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
12133 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
12134 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
12135 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
12136 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
12137 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
12138 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
12139 definition of that function:
12142 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
12145 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
12147 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
12149 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
12152 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
12153 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
12154 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
12155 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
12159 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
12162 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
12165 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
12169 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
12170 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
12171 the new score, which should be an integer.
12173 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
12174 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
12181 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
12182 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
12183 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
12184 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
12185 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
12186 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
12187 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
12188 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
12189 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
12190 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
12191 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
12192 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
12193 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
12194 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
12195 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
12196 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolited commercial email.
12197 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
12201 @node Process/Prefix
12202 @section Process/Prefix
12203 @cindex process/prefix convention
12205 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
12206 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
12208 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
12209 command to be performed on.
12213 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
12214 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
12215 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
12216 with the current one.
12218 @vindex transient-mark-mode
12219 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
12220 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
12222 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
12223 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
12226 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
12227 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
12229 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
12232 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
12233 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
12234 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
12235 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12237 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
12238 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
12239 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
12240 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
12241 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
12242 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
12243 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
12244 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
12248 @section Interactive
12249 @cindex interaction
12253 @item gnus-novice-user
12254 @vindex gnus-novice-user
12255 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
12256 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
12257 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
12258 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
12261 @item gnus-expert-user
12262 @vindex gnus-expert-user
12263 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
12264 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
12265 matter how strange.
12267 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
12268 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
12269 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
12270 is @code{t} by default.
12272 @item gnus-interactive-exit
12273 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
12274 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
12279 @node Formatting Variables
12280 @section Formatting Variables
12281 @cindex formatting variables
12283 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
12284 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
12285 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
12286 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
12287 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
12290 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
12291 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
12292 lots of percentages everywhere.
12295 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
12296 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
12297 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
12298 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
12301 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
12302 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
12303 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
12304 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
12305 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
12306 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
12307 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
12308 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
12310 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
12311 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
12313 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
12314 @findex gnus-update-format
12315 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
12316 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
12317 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
12318 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
12322 @node Formatting Basics
12323 @subsection Formatting Basics
12325 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
12326 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
12327 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
12329 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
12330 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
12331 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
12332 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
12333 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
12336 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
12337 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
12338 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
12339 less than 4 characters wide.
12342 @node Advanced Formatting
12343 @subsection Advanced Formatting
12345 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
12346 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
12347 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
12348 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
12350 These are the legal modifiers:
12355 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
12359 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
12364 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
12367 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
12372 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
12375 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
12378 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
12381 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
12385 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
12386 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
12387 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
12388 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
12389 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
12390 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
12391 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
12393 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
12394 last operation, padding.
12396 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
12397 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
12398 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
12399 @xref{Compilation}.
12402 @node User-Defined Specs
12403 @subsection User-Defined Specs
12405 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
12406 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
12407 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
12408 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
12409 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
12410 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
12411 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
12412 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
12413 should protect against that.
12415 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
12416 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
12417 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
12418 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
12422 @node Formatting Fonts
12423 @subsection Formatting Fonts
12425 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
12426 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
12427 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
12428 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
12431 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
12432 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
12433 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
12434 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
12435 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
12436 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
12438 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
12441 ;; Create three face types.
12442 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
12443 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
12445 ;; We want the article count to be in
12446 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
12447 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
12448 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
12450 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
12451 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
12453 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
12454 (setq gnus-group-line-format
12455 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
12458 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
12459 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
12461 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
12462 mode-line variables.
12465 @node Windows Configuration
12466 @section Windows Configuration
12467 @cindex windows configuration
12469 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
12471 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
12472 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
12473 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
12474 @code{t} by default.
12476 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
12477 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
12478 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
12481 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
12482 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
12483 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12487 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
12488 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
12489 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
12490 possible names is listed below.
12492 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
12493 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
12496 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12500 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
12501 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
12502 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
12503 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
12504 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
12505 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
12506 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
12507 size spec per split.
12509 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
12512 Here's a more complicated example:
12515 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
12516 (summary 0.25 point)
12517 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
12521 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
12522 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
12523 occupy, not a percentage.
12525 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
12526 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
12527 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
12528 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
12529 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
12532 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
12535 (article (horizontal 1.0
12540 (summary 0.25 point)
12545 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
12546 @code{horizontal} thingie?
12548 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
12549 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
12550 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
12551 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
12552 the screen is to be given to this strip.
12554 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
12555 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
12556 lines from the splits.
12558 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
12562 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
12563 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
12564 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
12565 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
12566 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
12567 size = number | frame-params
12568 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
12571 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
12572 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
12573 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
12574 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
12576 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
12577 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
12578 @cindex window height
12579 @cindex window width
12580 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
12581 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
12582 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
12583 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
12584 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
12585 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
12587 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
12588 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
12589 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
12590 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
12592 @findex gnus-configure-frame
12593 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
12594 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
12595 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
12596 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
12597 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
12598 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
12599 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
12600 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
12601 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
12602 configuration list.
12605 (gnus-configure-frame
12609 (article 0.3 point))
12617 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
12618 @code{frame} split:
12621 (gnus-configure-frame
12624 (summary 0.25 point)
12626 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
12627 (user-position . t)
12628 (left . -1) (top . 1))
12633 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
12634 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
12635 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
12636 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
12637 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
12638 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
12641 Here's a list of all possible keys for
12642 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
12644 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
12645 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
12646 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
12647 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
12648 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
12649 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
12651 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
12652 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
12653 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
12657 (message (horizontal 1.0
12658 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
12660 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
12665 @findex gnus-add-configuration
12666 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
12667 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
12668 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
12669 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
12672 (gnus-add-configuration
12673 '(article (vertical 1.0
12675 (summary .25 point)
12679 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
12680 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
12681 Gnus has been loaded.
12683 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
12684 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
12685 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
12686 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
12687 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
12691 @section Compilation
12692 @cindex compilation
12693 @cindex byte-compilation
12695 @findex gnus-compile
12697 Remember all those line format specification variables?
12698 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
12699 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
12700 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
12701 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
12702 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
12705 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
12706 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
12707 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
12708 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
12709 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
12710 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
12711 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
12715 @section Mode Lines
12718 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
12719 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
12720 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
12721 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
12722 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
12723 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
12724 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
12727 @cindex display-time
12729 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
12730 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
12731 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
12732 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
12733 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
12734 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
12735 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
12736 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
12739 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
12741 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
12742 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
12744 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
12745 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
12746 (length display-time-string)))))
12749 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
12750 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
12751 Note that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the
12752 percentage complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line;
12753 the user should configure this variable appropriately for their
12757 @node Highlighting and Menus
12758 @section Highlighting and Menus
12760 @cindex highlighting
12763 @vindex gnus-visual
12764 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
12765 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
12766 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
12769 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
12770 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
12773 @item group-highlight
12774 Do highlights in the group buffer.
12775 @item summary-highlight
12776 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
12777 @item article-highlight
12778 Do highlights in the article buffer.
12780 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
12782 Create menus in the group buffer.
12784 Create menus in the summary buffers.
12786 Create menus in the article buffer.
12788 Create menus in the browse buffer.
12790 Create menus in the server buffer.
12792 Create menus in the score buffers.
12794 Create menus in all buffers.
12797 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
12798 buffers, you could say something like:
12801 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
12804 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
12807 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
12810 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
12811 in all Gnus buffers.
12813 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
12816 @item gnus-mouse-face
12817 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
12818 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
12819 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
12823 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
12827 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
12828 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
12829 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
12831 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
12832 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
12833 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
12835 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
12836 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
12837 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
12839 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
12840 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
12841 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
12843 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
12844 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
12845 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
12847 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
12848 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
12849 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
12860 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
12861 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
12862 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
12863 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
12864 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
12868 @vindex gnus-carpal
12869 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
12870 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
12871 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
12876 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12877 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12878 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
12880 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
12881 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
12882 Face used on buttons.
12884 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
12885 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
12886 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
12888 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12889 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12890 Buttons in the group buffer.
12892 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12893 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12894 Buttons in the summary buffer.
12896 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12897 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12898 Buttons in the server buffer.
12900 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12901 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12902 Buttons in the browse buffer.
12905 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
12906 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
12907 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
12915 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
12916 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
12917 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
12918 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
12919 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
12921 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
12922 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
12923 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
12925 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
12926 been idle for thirty minutes:
12929 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12932 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
12936 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
12939 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
12940 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
12941 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12943 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
12944 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
12945 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
12946 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12948 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
12949 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
12950 @var{idle} minutes.
12952 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
12953 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
12956 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
12957 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
12958 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
12960 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
12961 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
12962 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
12963 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
12965 @vindex gnus-use-demon
12966 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
12967 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
12969 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
12970 your @file{.gnus} file:
12972 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
12974 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12977 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
12978 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
12979 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
12980 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
12981 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
12982 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
12983 @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just
12984 put those functions in your @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
12986 @findex gnus-demon-init
12987 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
12988 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
12989 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
12990 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
12991 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
12993 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
12994 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
12995 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
13004 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
13005 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
13007 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
13008 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
13009 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
13010 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
13013 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
13014 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
13015 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
13016 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
13018 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
13019 this will make spam disappear.
13021 There are some variables to customize, of course:
13024 @item gnus-use-nocem
13025 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
13026 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
13029 @item gnus-nocem-groups
13030 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
13031 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
13032 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
13033 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
13035 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
13036 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
13037 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
13038 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
13039 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
13040 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
13042 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
13045 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
13046 @cindex Chris Lewis
13047 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
13048 usenet abuse than anybody else.
13051 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
13052 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
13053 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
13055 @item jem@@xpat.com;
13057 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
13060 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
13061 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
13062 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
13065 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
13066 ones you want to listen to.
13068 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
13069 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
13071 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
13072 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
13073 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
13074 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
13076 @item gnus-nocem-directory
13077 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
13078 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
13079 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
13081 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13082 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13083 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
13084 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
13085 might then see old spam.
13093 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
13094 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
13095 over your shoulder as you read news.
13098 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
13099 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
13100 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
13101 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
13102 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
13107 @subsection Picon Basics
13109 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
13112 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
13113 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
13114 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
13115 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
13116 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
13117 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
13118 @code{GIF} formats.
13121 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases, point
13122 your Web browser at
13123 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
13125 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13126 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
13127 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
13130 @node Picon Requirements
13131 @subsection Picon Requirements
13133 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
13134 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
13137 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
13139 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13140 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
13141 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
13142 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
13146 @subsection Easy Picons
13148 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
13149 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
13152 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
13153 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13154 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
13155 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
13160 @subsection Hard Picons
13162 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
13163 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
13164 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
13165 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
13166 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
13170 @item gnus-picons-display-where
13171 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13172 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
13173 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
13174 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
13175 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
13176 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
13177 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
13181 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
13182 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
13184 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
13185 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
13186 displayed at the right time.
13188 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
13189 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13191 @item gnus-article-display-picons
13192 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13193 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
13194 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
13195 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13197 @item gnus-group-display-picons
13198 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13199 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
13200 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
13201 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
13202 is set to @code{article}.
13204 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
13205 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13206 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
13207 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13211 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
13212 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
13215 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13219 @node Picon Configuration
13220 @subsection Picon Configuration
13222 The following variables offer further control over how things are
13223 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
13224 don't need to worry about.
13227 @item gnus-picons-database
13228 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13229 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
13230 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
13231 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
13233 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
13234 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
13235 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
13238 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
13239 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
13240 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
13241 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")} is the default.
13243 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
13244 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
13245 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
13246 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
13247 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
13249 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13250 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13251 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
13252 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
13253 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
13254 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
13256 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13257 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13258 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
13259 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
13261 @item gnus-picons-buffer
13262 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
13263 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
13264 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
13273 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
13274 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
13275 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
13277 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
13278 Gnus---it's all just data that is designed to look nice to the user.
13279 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
13280 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
13281 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
13282 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
13283 @code{undo} function.
13285 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
13286 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
13287 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
13288 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
13289 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
13290 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
13291 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
13292 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
13293 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
13294 never be totally undoable.
13296 @findex gnus-undo-mode
13297 @vindex gnus-use-undo
13299 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
13300 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
13301 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
13302 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
13307 @section Moderation
13310 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
13311 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
13312 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
13315 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
13319 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
13322 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
13324 If you are the moderation of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
13329 You split your incoming mail by matching on
13330 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
13331 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
13334 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
13335 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
13338 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
13339 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
13343 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
13346 (setq gnus-moderated-list
13347 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
13351 @node XEmacs Enhancements
13352 @section XEmacs Enhancements
13355 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
13356 advantage of that. Relevant variables include:
13359 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13360 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13361 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
13362 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
13363 unusual directory structure.
13365 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13366 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13367 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
13368 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
13370 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13371 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13372 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
13373 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
13374 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
13375 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
13377 @item gnus-use-toolbar
13378 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
13379 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
13380 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
13381 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
13383 @item gnus-group-toolbar
13384 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
13385 The toolbar in the group buffer.
13387 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
13388 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
13389 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
13391 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13392 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13393 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
13395 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13396 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13397 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
13403 @node Fuzzy Matching
13404 @section Fuzzy Matching
13405 @cindex fuzzy matching
13407 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
13408 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
13410 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
13411 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
13412 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
13414 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
13415 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
13416 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
13417 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
13418 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
13421 @node Thwarting Email Spam
13422 @section Thwarting Email Spam
13426 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
13428 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
13429 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
13430 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
13431 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
13432 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
13433 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
13434 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
13435 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
13438 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
13439 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
13440 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and selects the
13441 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
13442 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrouos hair on your toes!'')
13443 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
13447 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
13448 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
13450 First, pick one (1) legal mail address that you can be reached at, and
13451 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
13452 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}.)
13455 (setq message-default-news-headers
13456 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
13459 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13460 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
13465 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
13466 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
13467 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
13473 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
13474 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
13475 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
13476 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
13478 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
13479 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
13480 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
13481 twarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
13482 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
13483 your fancy split rule in this way:
13488 (to "larsi" "misc")
13492 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
13493 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
13494 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
13495 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
13496 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
13498 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
13499 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
13500 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
13501 to non-existant domains is yucky, in my opinion.
13504 @node Various Various
13505 @section Various Various
13511 @item gnus-home-directory
13512 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
13513 defaults to @file{~/}.
13515 @item gnus-directory
13516 @vindex gnus-directory
13517 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
13518 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
13519 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
13521 @item gnus-default-directory
13522 @vindex gnus-default-directory
13523 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
13524 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
13525 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
13526 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13527 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
13528 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
13531 @vindex gnus-verbose
13532 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
13533 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
13534 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
13535 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
13536 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
13538 @item gnus-verbose-backends
13539 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
13540 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
13541 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
13543 @item nnheader-max-head-length
13544 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
13545 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
13546 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
13547 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
13548 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
13549 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
13550 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
13551 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
13554 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
13555 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
13556 This variable says how big a piece of each article to read when doing
13557 the operation described above.
13559 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13560 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13562 @cindex illegal characters in file names
13563 @cindex characters in file names
13564 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
13565 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
13566 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
13569 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13573 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
13574 Windows (phooey) systems.
13576 @item gnus-hidden-properties
13577 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
13578 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
13579 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
13580 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
13582 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
13583 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
13584 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
13585 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
13586 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
13588 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
13589 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
13590 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
13599 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
13600 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
13602 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
13604 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
13610 Not because of victories @*
13613 but for the common sunshine,@*
13615 the largess of the spring.
13619 but for the day's work done@*
13620 as well as I was able;@*
13621 not for a seat upon the dais@*
13622 but at the common table.@*
13627 @chapter Appendices
13630 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
13631 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
13632 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
13633 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
13634 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
13635 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
13636 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
13644 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
13645 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
13647 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
13648 can point your (feh!) web browser to
13649 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
13650 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
13651 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
13653 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
13654 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
13655 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
13656 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
13657 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
13658 appropriate name, don't you think?)
13660 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
13661 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
13662 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
13663 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
13665 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
13666 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
13667 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
13669 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
13670 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
13672 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
13673 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
13675 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a name that is prefixed --
13676 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
13677 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
13678 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
13679 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
13683 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
13684 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
13685 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
13686 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
13687 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
13688 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
13689 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
13696 What's the point of Gnus?
13698 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
13699 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
13700 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
13701 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
13702 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
13703 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
13704 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
13705 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
13706 keep track of millions of people who post?
13708 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
13709 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
13710 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
13711 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
13712 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
13713 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
13714 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
13715 of you to explore and invent.
13717 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
13720 @node Compatibility
13721 @subsection Compatibility
13723 @cindex compatibility
13724 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
13725 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
13726 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
13731 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
13735 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
13738 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
13741 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
13742 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
13743 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
13744 important variables have their values copied into their global
13745 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
13746 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
13748 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
13749 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
13750 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
13751 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
13752 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
13756 @cindex highlighting
13757 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
13758 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
13759 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
13760 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
13761 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
13762 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
13765 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
13766 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
13767 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
13768 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
13770 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
13771 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
13772 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
13773 to stop doing it the old way.
13775 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
13777 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
13779 @cindex reporting bugs
13781 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
13782 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
13783 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
13787 @subsection Conformity
13789 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
13790 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
13797 There are no known breaches of this standard.
13801 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
13803 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13804 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13805 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
13806 the next inspection.
13808 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
13809 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
13810 We do have some breaches to this one.
13815 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
13816 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
13819 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
13820 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
13821 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
13822 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
13823 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
13828 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
13829 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
13834 @subsection Emacsen
13840 Gnus should work on :
13845 Emacs 19.32 and up.
13848 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
13851 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
13855 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
13856 reliably, at least.
13858 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
13859 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
13860 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
13865 @subsection Contributors
13866 @cindex contributors
13868 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
13869 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
13870 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
13871 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
13872 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
13873 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
13874 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
13875 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
13876 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
13877 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
13879 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
13885 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
13888 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
13889 well as numerous other things).
13892 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
13895 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
13898 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
13899 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
13902 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
13903 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
13906 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
13909 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
13912 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
13915 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
13918 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
13919 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
13922 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
13925 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
13928 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
13931 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
13935 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
13938 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
13941 Ricardo Nassif, Mark Borges, and Jost Krieger---proof-reading.
13944 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
13947 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports.
13951 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
13960 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
13964 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
13979 Massimo Campostrini,
13983 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
13988 Michael Welsh Duggan,
13998 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
14001 François Felix Ingrand,
14002 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
14010 Peter Skov Knudsen,
14011 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
14012 Thor Kristoffersen,
14027 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
14028 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
14034 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
14039 John McClary Prevost,
14047 Philippe Schnoebelen,
14048 Randal L. Schwartz,
14067 Katsumi Yamaoka. @c Yamaoka
14069 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
14070 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
14071 (550kB and counting).
14073 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
14076 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
14077 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
14081 @subsection New Features
14082 @cindex new features
14085 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
14086 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
14087 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
14090 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
14091 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
14092 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
14096 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
14098 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
14103 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
14104 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
14107 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
14108 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
14111 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
14114 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
14115 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
14116 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
14119 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
14120 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
14121 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
14122 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
14125 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
14126 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14129 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
14130 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
14131 (@pxref{The Active File}).
14134 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
14135 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
14138 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
14139 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
14140 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
14143 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
14144 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
14145 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
14148 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
14149 the @file{.emacs} file.
14152 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
14153 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14156 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
14157 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
14160 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
14161 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14164 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
14165 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
14168 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
14169 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
14172 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
14175 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
14176 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
14179 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
14180 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
14183 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
14184 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
14187 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
14190 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
14191 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
14194 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
14198 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
14202 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
14203 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
14206 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
14212 @node September Gnus
14213 @subsubsection September Gnus
14215 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
14220 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
14221 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
14225 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
14226 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
14230 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
14234 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
14235 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
14238 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
14242 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
14245 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
14248 A @code{trn}-line tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
14251 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
14255 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
14256 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
14259 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
14263 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
14267 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
14271 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
14275 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
14278 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
14279 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
14282 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
14286 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
14287 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
14290 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
14293 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
14294 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
14295 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
14298 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
14302 The Gnus cache is much faster.
14305 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
14309 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
14310 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14313 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
14314 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
14317 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
14318 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14321 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
14322 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
14323 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
14326 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
14327 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
14330 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
14333 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14336 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14337 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
14341 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
14344 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
14347 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
14348 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
14351 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
14355 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
14358 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
14361 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
14365 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14368 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
14372 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
14375 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
14378 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
14379 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
14382 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
14383 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
14387 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
14388 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
14391 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
14395 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
14396 buffer to allow easier treatment.
14399 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
14402 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
14406 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
14410 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
14411 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
14414 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
14418 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
14419 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14422 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
14423 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14426 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
14430 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14433 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14434 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
14438 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
14441 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
14447 @subsubsection Red Gnus
14449 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
14454 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
14457 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
14458 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
14461 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
14462 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
14466 Article washing status can be displayed in the
14467 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
14470 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
14473 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
14474 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
14477 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
14481 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
14482 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}).
14485 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
14486 Server Internals}).
14489 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
14493 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
14496 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
14497 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
14500 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
14501 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
14502 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
14505 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
14506 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14509 A way to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed when
14510 generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
14513 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
14517 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
14518 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14521 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
14522 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
14525 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
14529 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
14532 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
14536 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
14537 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14540 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
14541 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14544 A new command for reading collections of documents
14545 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
14546 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
14549 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
14553 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
14554 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
14557 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
14558 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
14559 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
14562 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
14563 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
14567 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
14571 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
14575 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
14579 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
14583 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
14584 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
14587 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
14590 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
14596 @node Newest Features
14597 @subsection Newest Features
14600 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
14603 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
14607 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
14609 Really do unbinhexing.
14612 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
14613 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
14615 @file{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/rgnus/todo>} is where the actual
14616 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
14617 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
14622 @section The Manual
14626 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
14627 either @code{texi2dvi}
14629 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
14630 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
14632 to get what you hold in your hands now.
14634 The following conventions have been used:
14639 This is a @samp{string}
14642 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
14645 This is a @file{file}
14648 This is a @code{symbol}
14652 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
14656 (setq flargnoze "yes")
14659 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
14662 (setq flumphel 'yes)
14665 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
14666 ever get them confused.
14670 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
14671 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
14672 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
14673 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
14674 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
14675 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
14676 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
14683 @section Terminology
14685 @cindex terminology
14690 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
14691 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
14692 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
14693 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
14694 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
14698 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
14699 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
14700 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
14701 not posting, and replying is not following up.
14705 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
14709 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
14714 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
14715 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
14716 is all done by the backends.
14720 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
14721 default, way of getting news.
14725 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
14726 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
14730 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
14731 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
14735 A message that has been posted as news.
14738 @cindex mail message
14739 A message that has been mailed.
14743 A mail message or news article
14747 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
14752 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
14757 A line from the head of an article.
14761 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
14762 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
14766 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
14767 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
14768 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
14769 normal @sc{head} format.
14773 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
14774 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
14775 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
14776 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
14777 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
14778 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
14780 @item killed groups
14781 @cindex killed groups
14782 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
14783 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
14785 @item zombie groups
14786 @cindex zombie groups
14787 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
14790 @cindex active file
14791 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
14792 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
14793 is rather large, as you might surmise.
14796 @cindex bogus groups
14797 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
14798 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
14799 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
14803 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
14805 @item select method
14806 @cindex select method
14807 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
14810 @item virtual server
14811 @cindex virtual server
14812 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
14813 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the things as a
14814 whole is a virtual server.
14818 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
14819 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
14822 @item ephemeral groups
14823 @cindex ephemeral groups
14824 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
14825 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
14826 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
14829 @cindex solid groups
14830 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
14831 group buffer are solid groups.
14833 @item sparse articles
14834 @cindex sparse articles
14835 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
14836 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
14841 @node Customization
14842 @section Customization
14843 @cindex general customization
14845 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
14846 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
14847 for some quite common situations.
14850 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
14851 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
14852 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
14853 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
14857 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
14858 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
14860 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
14861 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
14862 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
14866 @item gnus-read-active-file
14867 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
14868 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
14869 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14870 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
14871 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
14873 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
14874 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
14875 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
14876 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
14880 @node Slow Terminal Connection
14881 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
14883 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
14884 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
14885 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
14889 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
14890 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
14891 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
14892 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
14893 horizontal and vertical recentering.
14895 @item gnus-visible-headers
14896 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
14897 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
14898 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
14899 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
14901 @item gnus-article-display-hook
14902 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
14904 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
14905 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
14906 gnus-article-hide-citation))
14909 @item gnus-use-full-window
14910 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
14911 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
14912 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
14913 want to read them anyway.
14915 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
14916 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
14919 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
14920 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
14921 lines, which might save some time.
14925 @node Little Disk Space
14926 @subsection Little Disk Space
14929 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
14930 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
14934 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
14935 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
14936 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
14937 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14940 @item gnus-save-killed-list
14941 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
14942 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
14943 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
14944 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
14950 @subsection Slow Machine
14951 @cindex slow machine
14953 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
14954 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
14956 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14957 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
14959 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
14960 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
14961 summary buffer faster.
14963 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
14964 processing a bit faster.
14967 @node Troubleshooting
14968 @section Troubleshooting
14969 @cindex troubleshooting
14971 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
14979 Make sure your computer is switched on.
14982 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
14983 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
14987 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
14988 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
14989 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
14990 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
14993 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
14997 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
14998 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
14999 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
15000 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
15001 something like that.
15004 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
15007 @cindex reporting bugs
15009 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15011 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
15012 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
15013 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
15014 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
15016 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
15017 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
15018 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
15019 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
15022 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
15023 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
15024 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
15025 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
15026 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
15027 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
15029 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
15030 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
15031 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
15034 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
15035 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
15037 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
15038 @cindex ding mailing list
15039 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
15040 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
15043 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
15044 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
15046 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
15047 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
15048 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
15049 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
15052 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
15053 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
15054 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
15055 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
15056 and general method of operations.
15059 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
15060 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
15061 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
15062 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
15063 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
15064 * Group Info:: The group info format.
15065 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
15066 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
15070 @node Gnus Utility Functions
15071 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
15072 @cindex Gnus utility functions
15073 @cindex utility functions
15075 @cindex internal variables
15077 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
15078 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
15079 Below is a list of the most common ones.
15083 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
15084 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
15085 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
15087 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
15088 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
15089 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
15091 @item gnus-group-real-name
15092 @findex gnus-group-real-name
15093 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
15096 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
15097 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
15098 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
15099 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
15101 @item gnus-get-info
15102 @findex gnus-get-info
15103 Return the group info list for @var{group}.
15105 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
15106 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
15107 Add the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
15110 @item gnus-continuum-version
15111 @findex gnus-continuum-version
15112 Take a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
15113 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
15116 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
15117 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
15118 Say whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
15120 @item gnus-news-group-p
15121 @findex gnus-news-group-p
15122 Say whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
15124 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
15125 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
15126 Say whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
15128 @item gnus-server-to-method
15129 @findex gnus-server-to-method
15130 Return the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
15132 @item gnus-server-equal
15133 @findex gnus-server-equal
15134 Say whether two virtual servers are equal.
15136 @item gnus-group-native-p
15137 @findex gnus-group-native-p
15138 Say whether @var{group} is native or not.
15140 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
15141 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
15142 Say whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
15144 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
15145 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
15146 Say whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
15148 @item group-group-find-parameter
15149 @findex group-group-find-parameter
15150 Return the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
15151 return the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
15153 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
15154 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
15155 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
15157 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
15158 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
15159 Narrow the current buffer to the body of the article.
15161 @item gnus-check-backend-function
15162 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
15163 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
15164 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
15167 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
15171 @item gnus-read-method
15172 @findex gnus-read-method
15173 Prompt the user for a select method.
15178 @node Backend Interface
15179 @subsection Backend Interface
15181 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
15182 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
15183 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
15184 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
15185 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
15186 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
15188 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
15189 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
15190 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
15191 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
15192 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
15193 been opened, the function should fail.
15195 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
15196 name. Take this example:
15200 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
15201 (nntp-port-number 4324))
15204 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
15205 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
15207 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
15208 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
15209 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
15211 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
15212 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
15213 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
15215 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
15216 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
15217 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
15218 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
15219 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
15220 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
15223 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
15224 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
15225 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
15226 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
15229 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
15232 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
15235 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
15236 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
15237 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
15238 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
15239 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
15240 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
15244 @node Required Backend Functions
15245 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
15249 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
15251 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
15252 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
15253 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
15254 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
15256 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
15257 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
15258 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
15259 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
15261 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
15262 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
15263 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
15264 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
15265 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
15266 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
15267 number, do maximum fetches.
15269 Here's an example HEAD:
15272 221 1056 Article retrieved.
15273 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
15274 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
15275 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
15276 Subject: Re: Something very droll
15277 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
15278 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
15280 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
15281 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
15282 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
15286 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
15287 these in the data buffer.
15289 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
15293 head = error / valid-head
15294 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
15295 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
15296 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
15297 header = <text> eol
15300 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
15301 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
15305 nov-buffer = *nov-line
15306 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
15307 field = <text except TAB>
15310 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
15314 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
15316 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
15317 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
15319 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
15320 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
15321 server. In fact, it should do so.
15323 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
15324 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
15327 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
15329 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
15330 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
15333 There should be no data returned.
15336 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
15338 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
15339 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
15340 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
15341 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
15343 There should be no data returned.
15346 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
15348 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
15349 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
15350 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
15351 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
15353 There should be no data returned.
15356 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
15358 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
15360 There should be no data returned.
15363 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
15365 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
15366 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
15367 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
15368 it would be nice if that were possible.
15370 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
15371 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
15372 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
15373 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
15374 its article buffer.
15376 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
15377 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
15378 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
15379 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
15380 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
15381 on successful article retrievement.
15384 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
15386 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
15387 making @var{group} the current group.
15389 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
15392 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
15395 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
15398 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
15399 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
15400 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
15401 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
15402 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
15403 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
15404 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
15405 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
15408 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
15409 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
15410 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
15414 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15416 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
15417 a no-op on most backends.
15419 There should be no data returned.
15422 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
15424 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
15427 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
15430 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
15431 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
15434 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
15435 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
15438 active-file = *active-line
15439 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
15441 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
15444 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
15445 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
15446 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
15449 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
15451 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
15452 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
15453 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
15454 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
15455 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
15456 clear if the posting could not be completed.
15458 There should be no result data from this function.
15463 @node Optional Backend Functions
15464 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
15468 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
15470 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
15471 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
15472 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
15474 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
15475 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
15476 former is in the same format as the data from
15477 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
15478 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
15481 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
15485 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
15487 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
15488 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
15489 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
15490 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
15491 should return the (altered) group info.
15493 There should be no result data from this function.
15496 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
15498 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
15499 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
15500 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
15501 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
15502 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
15503 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
15504 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
15505 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
15507 There should be no result data from this function.
15510 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
15512 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
15513 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
15514 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
15515 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
15516 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
15518 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
15519 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
15520 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
15523 There should be no result data from this function.
15526 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
15528 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
15529 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
15530 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
15531 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
15532 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
15533 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
15534 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
15536 There should be no result data from this function.
15539 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
15541 The result data from this function should be a description of
15545 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
15547 description = <text>
15550 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
15552 The result data from this function should be the description of all
15553 groups available on the server.
15556 description-buffer = *description-line
15560 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
15562 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
15563 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
15564 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
15567 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15569 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
15571 There should be no return data.
15574 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
15576 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
15577 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
15578 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
15579 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
15580 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
15583 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
15586 There should be no result data returned.
15589 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
15592 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
15593 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
15595 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
15596 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
15597 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
15598 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
15599 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
15600 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
15602 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
15603 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
15606 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15607 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15609 There should be no data returned.
15612 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
15614 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
15615 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
15616 this function in short order.
15618 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15619 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15621 There should be no data returned.
15624 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
15626 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
15627 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
15629 There should be no data returned.
15632 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
15634 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
15635 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
15636 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
15638 There should be no data returned.
15641 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
15643 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
15644 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
15646 There should be no data returned.
15651 @node Error Messaging
15652 @subsubsection Error Messaging
15654 @findex nnheader-report
15655 @findex nnheader-get-report
15656 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
15657 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
15658 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
15659 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
15660 there are many of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
15661 This function always returns @code{nil}.
15664 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
15666 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
15669 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
15670 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
15671 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
15672 takes one argument---the server symbol.
15674 Internally, these function access @var{backend}@code{-status-string}, so
15675 the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
15676 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
15679 @node Writing New Backends
15680 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
15682 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
15683 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
15684 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
15685 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
15686 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
15689 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
15690 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
15691 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
15693 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
15694 package called @code{nnoo}.
15696 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
15697 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
15704 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
15705 parameters. For instance:
15708 (nnoo-declare nndir
15712 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
15713 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
15716 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
15717 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
15718 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
15720 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
15721 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
15722 a function in those backends.
15725 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15726 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15727 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15730 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
15731 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
15732 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
15734 @item nnoo-define-basics
15735 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
15739 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15743 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
15744 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
15745 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
15747 @item nnoo-map-functions
15748 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
15749 functions from the parent backends.
15752 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15753 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15754 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
15757 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
15758 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
15759 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
15760 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
15763 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
15764 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
15765 haven't already been defined.
15771 nnmh-request-newgroups)
15775 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
15776 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
15777 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
15782 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
15785 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
15786 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
15790 (require 'nnheader)
15794 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
15796 (nnoo-declare nndir
15799 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15800 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15801 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15803 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
15804 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
15807 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
15808 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
15809 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
15811 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
15812 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
15814 ;;; Interface functions.
15816 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15818 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
15819 (setq nndir-directory
15820 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
15822 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
15823 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
15824 (push `(nndir-current-group
15825 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15827 (push `(nndir-top-directory
15828 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15830 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
15832 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15833 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15834 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15835 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
15836 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
15840 nnmh-status-message
15842 nnmh-request-newgroups))
15848 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15849 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15851 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
15852 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
15853 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
15854 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
15856 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
15857 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
15862 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
15865 The abilities can be:
15869 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
15871 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
15873 This backend supports both mail and news.
15875 This is neither a post or mail backend---it's something completely
15878 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
15879 articles and groups.
15881 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
15882 true for almost all backends.
15883 @item prompt-address
15884 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
15885 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
15886 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
15890 @node Mail-like Backends
15891 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
15893 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
15894 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
15895 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
15896 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
15899 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
15900 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
15901 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
15904 It simply just calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will a few parameters,
15905 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
15908 This function takes four parameters.
15912 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
15915 @item exit-function
15916 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
15918 @item temp-directory
15919 Where the temporary files should be stored.
15922 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
15923 performed for one group only.
15926 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
15927 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
15928 find the article number assigned to this article.
15930 The function also uses the following variables:
15931 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
15932 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
15933 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
15934 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
15938 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
15939 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
15943 @node Score File Syntax
15944 @subsection Score File Syntax
15946 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
15947 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
15948 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
15950 Here's a typical score file:
15954 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
15961 BNF definition of a score file:
15964 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
15965 element = rule / atom
15966 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
15967 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
15968 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
15969 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
15971 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
15972 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
15973 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
15974 date-header = "date"
15975 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15976 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15977 score = "nil" / <integer>
15978 date = "nil" / <natural number>
15979 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
15980 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
15981 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
15982 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
15983 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15984 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15985 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
15986 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15987 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
15988 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
15989 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
15990 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
15991 exclude-files / read-only / touched
15992 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
15993 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
15994 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
15995 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
15996 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
15997 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
15998 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
15999 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
16000 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
16001 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
16002 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
16003 eval = "eval" space <form>
16004 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
16007 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
16010 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
16011 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
16012 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
16013 one looong line, then that's ok.
16015 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
16020 @subsection Headers
16022 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
16023 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
16024 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
16025 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
16027 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
16028 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
16029 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
16030 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
16031 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
16032 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
16033 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
16035 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
16036 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
16037 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
16038 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
16039 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
16041 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
16048 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
16049 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
16051 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
16052 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
16053 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
16054 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
16056 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
16060 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
16063 is transformed into
16066 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
16069 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
16070 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
16073 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
16076 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
16077 is slightly tricky:
16080 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
16086 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
16089 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
16095 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
16102 and is equal to the previous range.
16104 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
16105 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
16106 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
16110 range = simple-range / normal-range
16111 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
16112 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
16113 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
16114 number *[ " " contents ]
16117 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
16118 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
16119 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
16120 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
16121 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
16126 @subsection Group Info
16128 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
16129 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
16130 describes the group.
16132 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
16133 second is a more complex one:
16136 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
16138 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
16139 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
16141 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@gnus.org")))
16144 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
16145 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
16146 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
16147 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
16148 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
16149 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
16150 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
16152 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
16153 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
16154 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
16156 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
16159 info = "(" group space level space read
16160 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
16161 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
16162 group = quote <string> quote
16163 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
16165 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
16166 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
16167 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
16168 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
16171 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
16172 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
16175 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
16176 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
16179 @item gnus-info-group
16180 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
16181 @findex gnus-info-group
16182 @findex gnus-info-set-group
16183 Get/set the group name.
16185 @item gnus-info-rank
16186 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
16187 @findex gnus-info-rank
16188 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
16189 Get/set the group rank.
16191 @item gnus-info-level
16192 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
16193 @findex gnus-info-level
16194 @findex gnus-info-set-level
16195 Get/set the group level.
16197 @item gnus-info-score
16198 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
16199 @findex gnus-info-score
16200 @findex gnus-info-set-score
16201 Get/set the group score.
16203 @item gnus-info-read
16204 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
16205 @findex gnus-info-read
16206 @findex gnus-info-set-read
16207 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
16209 @item gnus-info-marks
16210 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
16211 @findex gnus-info-marks
16212 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
16213 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
16215 @item gnus-info-method
16216 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
16217 @findex gnus-info-method
16218 @findex gnus-info-set-method
16219 Get/set the group select method.
16221 @item gnus-info-params
16222 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
16223 @findex gnus-info-params
16224 @findex gnus-info-set-params
16225 Get/set the group parameters.
16228 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
16229 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
16231 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
16232 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
16233 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
16234 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
16237 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
16238 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
16242 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
16243 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
16244 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
16246 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
16247 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
16248 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
16249 Gnus, that's very useful.
16251 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
16252 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
16253 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
16254 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
16255 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
16256 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
16257 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
16258 following function:
16261 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
16265 (,function ,@@args))
16269 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
16270 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
16271 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
16274 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
16275 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
16276 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
16279 @node Various File Formats
16280 @subsection Various File Formats
16283 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
16284 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
16288 @node Active File Format
16289 @subsubsection Active File Format
16291 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
16292 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
16295 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
16298 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
16299 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
16300 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
16301 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
16302 no.general 1000 900 y
16305 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
16308 active = *group-line
16309 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
16310 group = <non-white-space string>
16312 high-number = <non-negative integer>
16313 low-number = <positive integer>
16314 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
16318 @node Newsgroups File Format
16319 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
16321 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
16322 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
16323 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
16326 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
16327 Here's the definition:
16331 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
16332 group = <non-white-space string>
16334 description = <string>
16338 @node Emacs for Heathens
16339 @section Emacs for Heathens
16341 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
16342 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
16343 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
16344 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
16345 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
16346 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
16347 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
16351 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
16352 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
16357 @subsection Keystrokes
16361 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
16364 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
16367 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
16368 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
16369 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
16370 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
16371 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
16372 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
16374 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
16375 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
16376 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
16377 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
16378 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
16379 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
16380 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
16382 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
16383 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
16384 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
16385 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
16386 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
16387 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
16388 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
16390 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
16391 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
16392 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
16393 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
16394 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
16400 @subsection Emacs Lisp
16402 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
16403 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
16404 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
16405 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
16407 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
16408 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
16409 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
16410 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
16411 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
16412 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
16413 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
16416 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
16417 write the following:
16420 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
16423 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
16424 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
16425 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
16428 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
16429 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
16430 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
16431 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
16432 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
16434 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
16435 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
16436 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
16440 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
16444 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
16447 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
16448 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
16451 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
16454 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
16455 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
16458 @include gnus-faq.texi